Berlin update #18




Inside the Reichstag Building... This building has been part of some amazing parts of history and survived them all. A breif bio below from Wikipedia. The building was renovated recently with the addition of a modern cupola designed by Norman Foster which gives a 360 view of the city, and innovatively funnels light into the building below.

The Reichstag building in Berlin was constructed to house the Reichstag, the first parliament of the German Empire. It was opened in 1894 and housed the Reichstag until 1933, when it was severely damaged in a fire supposedly set by Dutch communist Marinus van der Lubbe, who was later beheaded for the crime. That verdict has been a subject of controversy over the years.[1] The National Socialist German Workers Party used this event as casus belli to begin a purge of traitors in Berlin and to ban the Communist Party of Germany.

The building remained in ruins until the reunification of Germany, when it underwent reconstruction led by internationally renowned architectNorman Foster. After its completion in 1999, it became the meeting place of the modern German parliament, the Bundestag.

The Reichstag as a parliament dates back to the Holy Roman Empire and ceased to act as a true parliament in the years of the Nazi regime (1933–1945). In today's usage, the German term Reichstag or Reichstagsgebäude (Reichstag building) refers to the building, while the term Bundestag refers to the institution.