Politics and Past Times

Noch mal, Guten Tag!

Hello Again!

Week 2 in Berlin has been so, so good to us! We have been getting out into the city daily, practicing our German with locals, and learning about the history, the food, the politics...everything imaginable!

Touring the Reichstag

On Wednesday we went on a tour of the Reichstag, the German Parliament building. The tour was in two parts: first, we toured the Dome which gives stunning 360-degree views of the entire city and then we toured the actual building itself and learned about the historical significance of different parts of the building as well as its uses in today's political scene.

Our tour was very informative and we learned some interesting facts about the impressive symbol of German democracy:

The original facade was designed by German architect Paul Wallot and opened in 1894 and was in use until 1933 when it was severely damaged after being set on fire.

It caught fire on February 27th, 1933. Some thought it was a communist arson attack although many believe that it was orchestrated by the Nazis as a ‘false flag operation’, to enable Adolf Hitler to step up his state security operations and crack down on civil liberties.

It went through a full-scale reconstruction after the German reunification in 1990 led by British architect Norman Foster. Who focused his design on representing the transparency of the government which was highly sought after by the German people, particularly following the Cold War.

It is known for its sleek, modern designs of steel and glass, with the architectural Dome design described as a sculpture of light where the effects of transparency are heightened by the inverted cone at the center which is completely covered in 360 degrees of mirrors.

After its completion in 1999, it once again became the meeting place of the German parliament: the modern Bundestag.

We were able to glimpse so many parts of the Reichstag including Chancellor Angela Merkel's office, the plenary where the various parties discuss and vote on policies, a congressional library (Bundestag = German version of Congress) and some graffiti that remains on the walls from the years the Reichstag was within Soviet control. All in all, it was an amazing day and an awesome tour!

Tomorrow we forge on with our busy week that includes a tour of the Olympic Stadium in Berlin and this weekend we head to Greifswald in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. I look forward to updating you on these trips and more, so please keep checking back for more photos and fun travel tidbits from our second full week in Berlin!

Danke und bis bald!

Julianne