Reichstag

Parliament building with Norman Foster's glass dome open to the public

The seat of the German parliament (Bundestag) was rebuilt in the 1990s by Norman Foster, who added the famous glass dome — a double-helix spiral of ramps rising inside a transparent cupola above the debating chamber. The dome is free to visit but requires online booking in advance; it offers a 360-degree view over central Berlin and, through the transparent floor, down into the Bundestag chamber below. The symbolism — citizens walking above their representatives — was entirely intentional.

The building itself carries heavy historical freight: fire-bombed in 1933 (the Nazis blamed the Communists), symbol of German defeat in 1945, left in the east-west borderlands for decades, and now restored as a working parliament. Book the dome visit at bundestag.de well before your trip; slots fill up weeks ahead in summer.

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A story
In 1994 the artist Christo and his wife Jeanne-Claude wrapped the entire Reichstag building in silver fabric — 100,000 square metres of polypropylene. Ten days and five million visitors later, it was unwrapped again. The stunt is usually cited as one of the most-watched art events of the 20th century, and the wrapping photos from the project were part of what propelled the subsequent renovation by Norman Foster.