Reichstag dome
A glass dome above the debating chamber, where you literally walk on top of Parliament.
Duration
1 hr – 1 hr 30 min
Best time
Evening slot
Open
Every day
Entry price
Free
The building was burned in 1933, bombed in 1945, left in ruins through the division, and returned to the German parliament in 1999 after Norman Foster's rebuilding. The graffiti left by Soviet soldiers in 1945 was kept inside, at the express request of the members.
The glass dome sits above the debating chamber and is climbed by two spiral ramps. The symbolism is explicit: citizens walk above their representatives, and a central mirror sends daylight down into the chamber.
Getting there
S-Bahn and U-Bahn to Brandenburger Tor, then five minutes on foot. The visitor entrance is the glass pavilion on the west lawn.
Rules on site
Access is free but registration is compulsory, online, with names and identity documents — often several days ahead. Without registration and without papers, you do not get in.
Other places in Berlin
East Side GalleryThirteen hundred metres of Wall left standing and painted by a hundred and eighteen artists.
Brandenburg GateThe arch where Germany was split apart and then stitched back together.
Museum IslandFive museums on an island in the Spree, including the bust of Nefertiti and the Ishtar Gate.
- Memorial to the Murdered Jews of EuropeTwo thousand seven hundred and eleven concrete stelae of uneven height, crossed by losing your way in them.