Reichstag Building in Berlin

Germany and its government haven’t always gotten the best wrap. And understandably so. There’s a lot of dark history in Germany. But Germany has taken and continues to take efforts to repair its reputation. One way in which Germany is doing so is by allowing spectators to witness meetings among the House of Parliament in Berlin. These meetings take place in the Reichstag Building.

The Reichstag Building is in the neighborhood of Tiergarten. Tiergarten also holds one of the largest parks in Berlin, one that reminds me of Central Park in New York City. It’s also near Brandenberg Gate and the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. The city is oozing with history and the Reichstag Building is among it all.

Our walk to the government building led us through several neighborhoods, included breakfast at a wonderful cafe, and eventually a walk along the Spree river. With storm-filled clouds waiting in the distance, the sun shined a little brighter once we got our first sneak peek of the Reichstag Building. The building was first built in 1884 but has since been rebuilt and restructured. The building survived a fire, bombings from World War II, and then redesigned to include the dome that the building is now famously known for.

To get into the building, we had to make reservations online beforehand. I’m not certain how we managed to, but we got the last two spots for the week that we visited. Registering and getting into the building is free and even includes an audio tour. Something to note is to arrive before your actual entrance time to go through security and screening. We almost missed our entrance time because we didn’t get there earlier. You can register for your time slot here.

After getting our free audio tour, we walked into the dome itself. Inside the dome is a large mirrored cone that mirrors natural sunlight into the dome itself and the parliament chamber. The magnitude of the cone stopped me in my footsteps. It’s stunning. You walk around the mirrored cone in a spiraling fashion until you reach the rooftop of the building itself.

The rooftop is a sight to see. Even if you’re not interested in the politics, government, or history side of the building, the view is worth visiting the building alone. From the top, there is a full 360-degree view of Berlin. You can overlook the neighboring park, see the museums that fill Museum Island, and the Fernsehturn from afar. For us, that also meant watching the storm come in. We watched the clouds slowly move closer, but as they did so, they also sank closer towards us. We could see the rain falling before it even got to us. When it did get to us, the rain came down in a hard pour, the sound of the drops echoing off of the glass done. It quickly turned to hail. As people rushed inside, we meandered our way into the glass dome, pressed against the edge, and listened to the hail as it bounced off the building.

Once the hail stopped and the rain turned to a mist, we ventured back outside to walk along all four sides of the roof. On each corner stood either a German or European Union flag, whipping in the wind as the storm passed by. As we walked along the walkways with the fresh air on our cheeks, I had a sense of accomplishment. We had spent months planning and preparing to get us to Berlin. I quit my job, we sold our cars, gave up our apartment, and condensed what we owned. And here we were, in Berlin. We had made it. And not only had we made it there, but we were also making it home.