Berlin: History alive (part iii)

Close to the Brandenburg gate is the German parliament, Reichstag. It seemed to be one of the most visited attractions of Berlin as there was a real long queue to see the dome. I would advise anyone who visits the city to come as early as possible in the morning to avoid a very long queue if they want to have the view from the dome. The dome on the top of the Reichstag offers a 360 degree view of the city and it lets sunlight down to the Parliament floor. The construction is really impressive.

While waiting in the long queue, we talked about whether this building we were about to visit was important just as the new Parliament building or the years of history associated with its name compelled our interest more.

Reichstag

Just like the Brandenburg gate, the Reichstag building has seen several historical ups and downs and has a strange story of its own to tell. Before its construction German Parliament assembled in various smaller houses on the Leipzeiger strasse.

In 1872 an architectural contest was held to chose the architect to build the new building. Though work couldn’t begin even after 10 years when another architectural contest was held among 189 architects. The winner was the Frankfurt architect, Paul Wallot.


On 9 June 1884, the foundation stone was laid by Wilhelm I. He died in 1888 and the construction was completed in 1894, under Wilhelm II, who was against the idea of Parliament as an institution.


In 1916, the words “Dem Duestchen volke”( to the German People ) were added though it did not please the Emperor, Wilhelm II and he even tried to block the inscription. The building’s cupola built with steel and glass was a marvel of architecture of the time


On 9 November 1918, after the World War I was over Philipp Scheidemann proclaimed the “republic” of Germany from one of its balconies. It remained the seat of Parliament of the Weimar Republic till 1933.


In 1933, it was set to fire supposedly by Marinus van der Lubbe, a Dutch socialist. The Nazis then did away with Parliament altogether. The damaged building was used for military purposes during World War II and was further destructed by air raids and also became the target of the red army in the battle of Berlin in 1945.


Though it was no more the parliament , yet it was restored in 1961 after another architectural contest. After the Reunification of Germany, the official reunification ceremony was held in the Reichstag on 3 October 1990.But there was yet another architectural contest in 1992 and another reconstruction that ended in 1999.The new beautiful cupola was made and the parliament then finally moved to the Reichstag.