TheNeo-Renaissance building was constructed between 1884 and 1894 in theTiergarten district on the left bank of the RiverSpree to plans by the architectPaul Wallot. It housed both the Reichstag legislature of theGerman Empire and the Reichstag of theWeimar Republic. The Reich's Federal Council also originally met there. The building was initially used by the Reichstag forNazi Germany, but severe damage in theReichstag fire of 1933 prevented further use and the Reichstag moved to the nearbyKroll Opera House. The 1933 fire became a pivotal event in the entrenchment of the Nazi regime. The building took further damage duringWorld War II, and its symbolism made it an important target for theRed Army during theBattle of Berlin.
After the war, the building was modernised and restored in the 1950s and used for exhibitions and special events, as its location inWest Berlin prevented its use as a parliament building by either of the two Germanies. From 1995 to 1999, the Reichstag was fundamentally redesigned byNorman Foster for its permanent use as a parliament building in the nowreunified Germany. The keys were ceremonially handed over to thePresident of the Bundestag,Wolfgang Thierse, on 19 April 1999. A landmark of the city is the redesigned walk-in glass dome above the plenary chamber, proposed by artist and architectGottfried Böhm.
The termReichstag, when used to connote adiet, dates back to theHoly Roman Empire. The building was built for the Diet of theGerman Empire, which was succeeded by theReichstag of theWeimar Republic. The latter would become theReichstag ofNazi Germany, which left the building (and ceased to act as a parliament) after the1933 fire and never returned, using theKroll Opera House instead; the termReichstag has not been used by German parliaments since World War II. In today's usage, the wordReichstag (ImperialDiet) refers mainly to the building, whileBundestag (Federal Diet) refers to the institution.
Construction of the building began well after theunification of Germany in 1871. Starting in 1871, and for the next 23 years, the parliament met in the former property of theKönigliche Porzellan-Manufaktur Berlin, atLeipziger Straße 4. In 1872, an architectural contest with 103 participating architects was carried out to erect a new building, a contest won byLudwig Bohnstedt. The plan incorporated theKönigsplatz (today'sPlatz der Republik), which was then occupied by the palace of a Polish-Prussian aristocrat,Athanasius Raczyński. That property was unavailable at the time.[3]
In 1882, another architectural contest was held, with 200 architects participating. This time, the winner—theFrankfurt architectPaul Wallot—would actually see hisNeo-Baroque project executed. The direct model for Wallot's design wasPhiladelphia'sMemorial Hall, the main building of the 1876Centennial Exhibition.[4] Wallot adorned the building's façade with crowns and eagles symbolising imperial strength. The building's four corner towers represented the four German kingdoms at unification,Prussia,Bavaria,Saxony andWürttemberg, and the heraldiccoat of arms of each kingdom, as well as smaller devices representing various German city-states, flanked the main entrance, celebrating the process of unification.[5] Some of the Reichstag's decorative sculptures, reliefs, and inscriptions were by sculptorOtto Lessing.
On 29 June 1884, the foundation stone was finally laid byWilhelm I, at the east side of the Königsplatz. Before construction was completed byPhilipp Holzmann A.G. in 1894,[6] Wilhelm I died (in 1888, theYear of Three Emperors). His eventual successor,Wilhelm II, took a more jaundiced view of parliamentary democracy than his grandfather. The original building was acclaimed for the construction of an originalcupola of steel and glass, considered an engineering feat at the time. But its mixture of architectural styles drew widespread criticism.[7]
In 1916, the iconic wordsDem deutschen Volke ("To the German People") were placed above the main façade of the building, much to the displeasure of Wilhelm II, who had tried to block the adding of the inscription for its democratic significance. During the revolutionary days of 1918, two days beforeWorld War I ended and just hours afterWilhelm's abdication was announced,Philipp Scheidemannproclaimed the institution of a republic from one of the balconies of the Reichstag building on 9 November. The building continued to be the seat of the parliament of theWeimar Republic (1919–1933), which was still called the Reichstag. Up to 42 protesters died during theReichstag Bloodbath of 13 January 1920, when workers tried to protest against a law that would restrict their rights; it was the bloodiest demonstration in German history.[8][9][10]
On 27 February 1933, there was anarson attack on the Reichstag building, precisely four weeks afterNazi leaderAdolf Hitler was sworn in asChancellor of Germany. Despite the firefighters' efforts, most of the building was gutted.[11]Marinus van der Lubbe, a Dutch"council communist", was the apparent culprit; however, Hitler attributed the fire toCommunist agitators. He used it as a pretext to claim that Communists were plotting against the German government, and induced PresidentPaul von Hindenburg to issue theReichstag Fire Decree suspending civil liberties, and pursue a "ruthless confrontation" with the Communists.[12][13][14]
Following theReichstag fire, the building was not used for parliamentary sessions for the next 12 years of Nazi rule. Instead, the nearbyKroll Opera House was modified into a legislative chamber and served as the location of all parliamentary sessions, whilst the Reichstag building became the setting for political exhibitions.[11] In 1939, the library and archive were moved elsewhere, and the windows bricked up as the building was made into a fortress. By 1943, the building was used as a hospital, and a radio tube manufacturing facility byAEG. During theBattle of Berlin in 1945, it became one of the central targets for theRed Army to capture, due to its perceived symbolic significance.[15][16][17]
The Reichstag building in 1970, before reconstruction. Note the missing dome.
When theCold War emerged, the building was physically withinWest Berlin, but in ruins. During theBerlin Blockade, an enormous number of West Berliners assembled before the building on 9 September 1948, and MayorErnst Reuter held a famous speech that ended with"Ihr Völker der Welt... schaut auf diese Stadt..." ("You people of the world...look upon this city...").[18]
In 1956, after some debate, the West German government decided that the Reichstag should not be torn down, but be restored instead under the guidance of Paul Baumgarten. The cupola of the original building, which had also been heavily damaged in the war, was dismantled, and the outside façade made simpler with the removal of ornaments and statues. Reconstruction started in 1961, and was complete by 1971.[19]
The artistic and practical value of his work was the subject of much debate after German reunification. Under the 1971Four Power Agreement on Berlin, Berlin was formally outside the bounds of either East or West Germany, and so the West German parliament, theBundestag, was not allowed to assemble formally in West Berlin. This prohibition was obeyed even thoughEast Germany had declaredEast Berlin its capital, violating this provision. Until 1990, the building was thus used only for occasional representative meetings, and one-off events, such as a free concert given by British rock bandBarclay James Harvest on 30 August 1980[20] and byTangerine Dream on 29 August 1981.[21] It was also used for a widely lauded permanent exhibition aboutGerman history calledFragen an die deutsche Geschichte ("Questions on German history").
The officialGerman reunification ceremony on 3 October 1990 was held at the Reichstag building, includingChancellorHelmut Kohl,PresidentRichard von Weizsäcker, former ChancellorWilly Brandt and many others. The event included huge firework displays. The following day the parliament of the united Germany assembled as a symbolic act in the Reichstag building.[22]
However, at that time, the role ofBerlin had not yet been decided upon. Only after a fierce debate, considered by many as one of the most memorable sessions of parliament, on 20 June 1991, did theBundestag conclude with quite a slim majority in favour of bothgovernment and parliament returning to Berlin fromBonn.On 21 June 1994,Norman Foster was asked to include a dome solution in his draft reconstruction proposal, which he included in his 10 February 1995 plans.[23]
Before reconstruction began, theReichstag was wrapped by the Bulgarian-American artistsChristo and his wifeJeanne-Claude in 1995, attracting millions of visitors.[24] The project was financed by the artists through the sale of preparatory drawings and collages, as well as early works of the 1950s and 1960s.[25][26]
During the reconstruction, the building was first almost completely gutted, taking out everything except the outer walls, including all changes made by Baumgarten in the 1960s. Respect for the historic aspects of the building was one of the conditions stipulated to the architects, so traces of historical events were to be retained in a visible state. Among them were bullet holes and graffiti left by Soviet soldiers after the final battle for Berlin in April–May 1945. However, graffiti considered offensive was removed, in agreement with Russian diplomats at the time.[27]
Reconstruction was completed in 1999, with the Bundestag convening there officially for the first time on 19 April of that year.[28] The Reichstag is nowthe second most visited attraction in Germany, not least because of the huge glass dome that was erected on the roof as a gesture to the original 1894 cupola, giving an impressive view over the city, especially at night.[29]
The large glass dome at the very top of the Reichstag has a 360° view of the surrounding Berlin cityscape. The main hall (debating chamber) of the parliament below can also be seen from inside the dome, and natural light from above radiates down to the parliament floor. A large sun shield tracks the movement of the sun electronically and blocks direct sunlight which would not only cause large solar gain, but dazzle those below. Construction work was finished in 1999 and the seat of parliament was transferred to theBundestag in April of that year. The dome is open to visitors by prior registration.[30]
Zenter, Christian; Bedurftig, Friedemann, eds. (1997). "Reichstag fire".The Encyclopedia of the Third Reich. Translated by Hackett, Amy. Boston: Da Capo Press.ISBN0306807939.
