Reichstag

A grand old stone parliament building, crowned by a great modern dome of glass and steel, stands near the river at the heart of the government quarter. This is the Reichstag, the home of the German parliament, and one of the few places where you can climb, free, into the symbolic heart of a nation's democracy.

The building dates from the late nineteenth century, raised as the parliament of a newly unified empire, a heavy, monumental structure that has stood through every turn of the country's modern history.

Its history is dramatic and dark. It was gutted by a notorious fire in the 1930s that helped a dictatorship tighten its grip, battered in the war, and then left as a scarred ruin on the edge of the divided city for decades.

After reunification, the building was restored and crowned with a striking new glass dome by a famous British architect, a deliberate symbol of a transparent, open democracy rising from a troubled past.

That dome is the highlight for visitors. You can climb a spiralling ramp inside it, up and around, with views out over the city in every direction and down, through the glass, into the parliament chamber below, the people literally above their representatives.

The glass and the openness are the point: the design lets visitors look down into the workings of government, a built statement that power should be visible and accountable, rising from a building once misused by tyranny.

The views from the dome are among the best in the city, taking in the government quarter, the park, the great gate, and the spread of the modern capital, especially fine at sunset and after dark.

Visiting the dome is free, but security is tight and you must register in advance, giving your details ahead of time, so a little planning is needed to get in.

The building sits in the government quarter by the river, beside the chancellery and the park, and within a short walk of the great gate and the boulevard, so it folds into a day in the historic and political centre.

For all the grandeur, the lasting impression is the meaning: a parliament scarred by history, rebuilt to be seen through, with citizens walking above the chamber where laws are made.

Climb the spiral of the glass dome at dusk, with the city glowing below and the parliament chamber visible beneath your feet, and the idea of an open, accountable democracy takes built form around you. When you come back down, the heavy old stone and the light new glass tell the country's whole modern story in one building.