Reichstag
A fire in 1933, a battle in 1945, a dome in 1999 — you walk inside Germany's working parliament.
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Paul Wallot's Neo-Renaissance shell went up between 1884 and 1894. The 1933 fire inside it became the pivotal event in the entrenchment of the Nazi regime. The Red Army singled it out as a symbol during the Battle of Berlin. Norman Foster's 1995–1999 redesign turned it back into the seat of the Bundestag — and placed a walk-in glass dome directly over the live plenary chamber.
What to look for
- The walk-in glass dome above the plenary chamber, conceived by artist and architect Gottfried Böhm
- Wallot's 1884–1894 Neo-Renaissance exterior — the same fabric that survived fire, war, and Cold War limbo
- The River Spree and Platz der Republik framing a building that spent decades in West Berlin unable to function as a parliament for either Germany
Platz der Republik, Tiergarten district, left bank of the River Spree; the glass dome is walk-in and sits above the active chamber.
Reichstag is one of 37 sights worth the detour in Berlin, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Berlin pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Berlin
- Berlin WallBuilt to keep citizens in, not enemies out — and the death strip of anti-vehicle trenches and beds of nails makes that intent impossible to misread.
- Brandenburg GateFor 28 years a wall sealed it shut — now you walk straight through.
- Berlin Olympic Stadium (Olympiastadion)Designed for the 1936 Olympics and still hosting European finals — the bowl has barely left the world stage.
- Pergamon MuseumThe Pergamon Altar and the collections of the Vorderasiatisches Museum once filled this hall — closed since 2023, with the North Wing returning in 2027.
- Fernsehturm BerlinA 368-metre Cold War statement that outlived the government that built it — and now stands for the city that absorbed it.
- Museum IslandFive museums on one island, built across a century by Prussian kings — now a UNESCO site for showing how museums themselves evolved.