The Reichstag, Berlin | Seat of the German Parliament

The Reichstag building (German: Reichstagsgebäude) is a historical edifice in Berlin, Germany, constructed between 1884 and 1894, and is a must visit attraction. Unfortunately I was unable to visit its beautiful glass dome and the roof terrace as they are only open for registered visitors and the next available date was not before the week after I was there :(

A bit of history… After the founding of the German Empire in 1872, there was a need for a large parliamentary building in Berlin. A competition was held and out of 183 submissions, a design by Paul Wallot was chosen. The German architect created this imposing neo-Renaissance building, 137m long and 97m wide (450 x 318 ft), mainly funded with wartime reparation money from France, a result of Prussia’s defeat of France in 1871. The famous inscription ‘Dem Deutschen Volke’ (To the German People) was added later, in 1916, by emperor Wilhelm II.

At the end of the World War II, when the Soviets entered Berlin, the building was severely damaged and fell into disuse; the parliament of the German Democratic Republic (the Volkskammer) met in the Palast der Republik in East Berlin, while the parliament of the Federal Republic of Germany (the Bundestag) met in the Bundeshaus in Bonn. After the unification the Bundestag was moved from Bonn to Berlin up to today.