BBC News Online: World: Europe

The Reichstag: A turbulent history

The Reichstag has strong associations with the country's tumultuous modern history.

The last time it operated was during the Nazi era.

Regular meetings will not be held in the building until the new parliamentary session begins in September when the government is due to have moved over from Bonn - another step in the German Governments' return to a united Berlin.

Originally built in 1894, the Reichstag has undergone a four-year renovation led by British architect Sir Norman Foster.

Topped by a completely rebuilt glass dome, lined with a viewing gallery for the public to look down upon the workings of their representatives, the new building is meant to symbolise the openness and transparency of 50 years of federal democracy.

(For a tour of the new Reichstag click here)

But the building's renovation has not ignored its past.

Triumphant anti-German graffiti scrawled across the building's walls by Soviet soldiers who stormed the building in 1945 will remain intact, as will the bullet holes left from the storming of Berlin that finally brought an end to World War 2.

"A lot of events have passed over that building and left their imprint on the fabric," says Sir Norman Foster.

"I think it has more integrity to reveal and accept the history, making it tangibly visible for present and future generations."

However, the $11bn project has not been without its critics.

Some feel the money has been unwisely spent at a time of rising German unemployment.

Democratic cradle

Others feel the perceived ties between the building and the rise of Hitler and the Third Reich make it an inappropriate venue for democratic debate.

But supporters of the return to the Reichstag point to the building's original place as the cradle of German democracy during the Bismarck era of Prussian rule.

In fact, the Reichstag fire of 1933 meant Hitler never actually governed from there.

Then Hitler, as the newly-installed chancellor, blamed communists for the blaze. Most historians believe either Hitler's National Socialist party itself was responsible or that a Dutch hitchhiker, Marinus van der Lubbe, committed the arson attack independently.

Whoever was responsible, Hitler used the fire as a pretext to push through an emergency law disempowering parliament and outlawing all political opposition.

Divide and rule

Post-war Germany was carved into East and West, with two respective capitals established on East Berlin and the small town of Bonn, on the Rhine.

"The German Bundestag, the German Parliament, was placed in Bonn because it was a clear sign that this was a provisionary institution as long as Germany was divided," says Professor Wende, Director of the German Historical Institute.

"The modern German constitution had, so to speak, the (goal) of re-unification as a political task for the German Republic, and when this had been achieved in 1990, of course Bonn had to be replaced by a permanent capital."

Nonetheless with reunification in 1990, parliament's reoccupation of its traditional home did not have universal support and MPs voted only narrowly in favour of the move.

What's in a name?

One group of MPs has also expressed concern at the continued use of the name "Reichstag" - "reich" means empire in German - and demanded it should be replaced by the more neutral "plenary area" or "Deutscher Bundestag" since Germany no longer has an empire.

Professor Wende says such opposition is misplaced.

"One has to make clear that when the German parliament, the parliament of the German Federal Republic, moves to a building which is called Reichstag, it is actually moving into a building where one can find one of the important roots of German democracy," he says.

But some controversies still linger on, such as the shape of the German eagle to be displayed. The current eagle is considered fat and efforts have been made to slim down the bird which has been Germany's symbol for 1,000 years.

Relevant Stories

Reconstructing the Reichstag (06 Oct 98 | Europe)

Internet Links

Adolf Hitler adresses the Reichstag
Countdown to the Reichstag
The History Place - Reichstag on Fire

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

In this section

Violence greets Clinton visit
Russian forces pound Grozny
EU fraud: a billion dollar bill
Next steps for peace
Cardinal may face loan-shark charges
Vodafone takeover battle heats up (From Business)
Trans-Turkish pipeline deal signed
French party seeks new leader
Jube tube debut
Athens riots for Clinton visit
UN envoy discusses Chechnya in Moscow
Solana new Western European Union chief
Moldova's PM-designate withdraws
Chechen government welcomes summit
In pictures: Clinton's violent welcome
Georgia protests over Russian 'attack'
UN chief: No Chechen 'catastrophe'
New arms control treaty for Europe
Mannesmann fights back (From Business)
EU fraud -- a billion-dollar bill
New moves in Spain's terror scandal
EU allows labelling of British beef
UN seeks more security in Chechnya
Athens riots for Clinton visit
Russia's media war over Chechnya
Homeless suffer as quake toll rises
Analysis: East-West relations must shift