The Reichstag, the base of the German Parliament, is one of Berlin's most historical landmarks. It is near to the Brandenburger Tor and prior to the unification, it was right at the side of the wall. With its central location there are many Ferienwohnungen Berlin around.

After the founding of the German Empire in 1872, there had been a necessity for an enormous parliamentary edifice in Berlin. Paul Wallot planned an grand neo- renaissance building, 137m long and 97m wide ( 450×318 ft ).
The building was made between 1884 and 1894, typically subsidized with wartime reparation cash from France. The well-known words 'Dem Deutschen Volke' ( To the German folk ) was just added in 1916. It was to the discontentment of Wilhelm II who had attempted to dam the adding of the inscription for its democratic significance. After World War I had stopped and Wilhelm had abdicated, in the revolutionary days of 1918, Philipp Scheidemann announced the establishment 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 the Weimar Republic ( 1919-1933 ), which was still called the Reichstag.

In 1933 fire broke out in the building, destroying a lot of the Reichstag. It is to date still unclear who started the fire, but the Communists were blamed. It gave a boost to Hitler's Party, the NSDAP, who would shortly come to power.

The building was damaged even more at the end of the war, when the Soviets entered Berlin. The image of a Red military Soldier raising the Soviet flag on the Reichstag is one of the most famed 20th century photographs and symbolized Germany's defeat.

The central dome and most of the ornamentation were removed during the reconstruction after the war. After the unification the choice was made to move the Bundestag from Bonn back to Berlin.
Before reconstruction started, the Reichstag was wrapped by the North American artists Christo and his spouse Jeanne-Claude in 1995, tempting millions of visitors. 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.
during the reconstruction, the building was first just about totally gutted, taking out everything except the outer walls, including all changes made by Baumgarten in the 1960s. Although not undisputed for its absence of respect for the building's original design and furniture, the reconstruction, completed in April 1999, is widely regarded as a success . The Reichstag is one of the most visited attractions in Berlin, not least because of the gigantic glass dome that was erected on the roof as a gesture to the first 1894 cupola, giving a powerful view over the town, particularly at night.
The design by Sir Norman Foster added a glass dome over the plenary hall. At first the topic of much squabble, the dome has changed into one of the town's most recognized landmarks. Since April 1999, the Reichstag is once again the seat of the Bundestag. You can visit the Reichstag and walk all of the way to the top of the dome.

The Reichstag dome is the large glass dome at the very top of the building. The dome has a 360-degree outlook of the surrounding Berlin cityscape. The central hall of the parliament below can also be seen from the cupola, and natural light from above pumps out down to the parliament floor. Abig sun shield tracks the movement of the sun electronically and blocks direct daylight which might bedazzle those below. Building work was finished in 1999 and the seat of parliament was moved to the Bundestag in Apr of that year. The dome is open to anyone without prior registration, although the waiting queues can be particularly long, especially in summertime. The best is to go there very early from your Berlin Ferienwohnung