Reichstag

Now (July 17th) to the Reichtstag, which is I suppose more correctly now called the Bundestag (i.e., something like the Palace of the Republic rather than Palace of the Empire). It too has, of course, a storied history. It has housed imperial parliaments under the Kaisers, then the Weimar democracy. When a fire damaged it in 1933, the Nazis blamed the communists, and then made this the excuse for abolishing what remained of German democracy by that point. The building then came full circle at the end of the second world war, when a Russian soldier, in the famous photo, waved a huge Soviet flag from atop it. It was barely on the western side of the wall during the Cold War, and seems to have been essentially abandoned during that period. But the move to make Berlin capital of the reunited Germany gave the building back its life. The dome of the structure, destroyed in the war, has lately been rebuilt by the English architect Norman Foster, who has built a wonderful glass dome which one can walk through, in ramps that spiral gracefully up to the top. The dome is entirely modern, and while its shape is essentially that of the dome that preceded it, its glass and steel are a complete contrast with the rest of the building. No doubt both the transparent materials and the fact that one can walk right through and up the thing, are meant to send positive messages about the newfound transparency of contemporary German democracy. The views from atop it are rather grand, and I loved it, despite its obvious tourist appeal. Thanks to Nicholas' stroller we were able to take the short line up (for people with stollers or wheelchairs): the dome has proved popular with tourists. But tourists aren't always wrong.