Berlin, Reichstag

We don’t remember just which year this photo was taken, but the Reichstag, Germany’s Capitol, the habitat of the German Legislative body since 1894, stood just west of the Berlin Wall for all those terrible years. Hitler managed to blame a young Communist, Marinus van der Lubbe, for setting fire to the building on February 27, 1933. Van der Lubbe confessed, was soon convicted, and was decapitated on January 10, 1934. Hitler used that incident as part of his excuse to take more control of the German Government.

After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the German Federal Government decided to use the building as a parliament once again. From 1994 to 1999 the Reichstag was reconstructed, taking into consideration both the historical implications and its function as a modern working parliament. A glass dome, which was at first the subject of great controversy, has now become one of the newest landmarks in the city. Since 1999 the Reichstag building has once again been the seat of the German Bundestag.