The Reichstag dome, created by celebrated architect Sir Norman Foster, is a must-see for Berlin tourists. At the top, the view from a height of 40 meters (about 130 feet) stretches over the government quarter and Brandenburg Gate. The glass dome was the express wish of the Bundestag. The plenary hall sits just below, symbolically allowing the people to monitor their members of parliament.

Whether relaxing, demonstrating or guerrilla knitting (photo), the lawn in front of the Reichstag provides plenty of room for ideas and signals to the elected members of parliament who shape German politics. Since 1999, the Reichstag Building in the center of Berlin has been the seat of the German Bundestag.

The Reichstag has stood on the banks of the Spree since 1894. Architect Paul Wallot created this first German parliament building when there was still a monarchy: the emperor ruled, and deputies in parliament — the Reichstag — debated. At the behest of parliamentarians, the inscription "Dem deutschen Volke" ("For the German People") was emblazoned on the side of the building in 1916.

The second window balcony to the left of the main portal became the real cradle of parliamentary democracy on November 9, 1918: it was here that Social Democrat politician Philipp Scheidemann proclaimed the republic when the German Empire collapsed.

The Reichstag Building burned down on February 27-28, 1933. Then Reich Chancellor Adolf Hitler instrumentalized the fire to impose the Nazi dictatorship with terror and violence. Communist politician Marinus van der Lubbe was convicted of arson. From then on, the Reichstag Building stood empty. Only parts of the cellar were used by the Charite Clinic during World War II as a maternity ward.

From afar, the row of upright, black cast-iron slabs in front of the Reichstag Building are reminiscent of the narrow grave slabs of Jewish cemeteries. If you take a closer look, Dieter Appelt's artwork reveals the names, dates and places of death of those Reichstag deputies who were murdered by the Nazis between 1933 and 1945.

The Reichstag is not only a symbol for the beginning, but also for the end of Nazi rule. Autographs and messages from Soviet soldiers who occupied the Reichstag on May 2, 1945 are still on the walls. As a sign of victory, they hoisted the red flag on the roof of the Reichstag. This marked the end of World War II in Berlin.

This speech by Berlin Mayor Ernst Reuter in front of the ruins of the Reichstag Building, destroyed in the war, moved people. In 1948, Reuter appealed to the world not to surrender West Berlin to the Soviet Union. And he impressed the occupying Allied powers US, Great Britain and France. The result: the Berlin Airlift, which supplied West Berlin by plane for over a year.

When the Berlin Wall went up in 1961, the Reichstag was located in West Berlin, right on the border. Just behind, a tarmac strip now marks the course of the wall. To the south, the Spree River formed the second border to East Berlin. People repeatedly used the river to try to flee to the West. Since the 1970s, white crosses near the Reichstag have been a reminder of those who died in the attempt.

Following the opening of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989, the parliament building was once again in the center of Berlin. Four months later, excavators arrived to demolish the wall at the Reichstag. From October 2 to 3, 1990, hundreds of thousands of people euphorically celebrated German reunification in front of the Reichstag Building.

Ninety climbers, 100,000 square meters of silvery tarpaulins and 5 million enchanted visitors — the wrapping of the Reichstag Building in the summer of 1995 is considered the most spectacular work by artist couple Christo and Jeanne-Claude. From then on everything seemed possible, including the choice to once again make the Reichstag the seat of a democratically elected German parliament.

During a four-year conversion period, architect Norman Foster gave the Reichstag Building not only a modern interior, but also its spectacular dome. The Reichstag has been Germany's official seat of parliament since September 1999. Here, members of parliament discuss and decide on the political future of Germany in the presence of thousands of visitors in the upper galleries.

Seventy-five years ago, a bomb exploded in the Führer's Wolf's Lair headquarters, which was supposed to kill Adolf Hitler. The assassination attempt failed; Hitler survived. The resistance fighters involved were executed in the days following the attempted coup.

Claus Graf Schenk von Stauffenberg was instrumentally involved in the bomb plot of July 20, 1944. As early as 1942, the officer realized that the Second World War could no longer be won. In order to save Germany from imminent destruction, Stauffenberg and other Wehrmacht officers decided to overthrow the Hitler regime.

Fundamental political reform in Germany was the goal of the Kreisau Circle. Helmuth James Graf von Moltke and Peter Graf Yorck von Wartenburg (pictured) were the driving forces behind the movement. Some members of the Circle joined the July 20 plot in 1944 and were tried and sentenced to death after the assassination attempt failed.

Starting from 1942 a group of Munich students, led by siblings Hans and Sophie Scholl, tried to resist the National Socialists. The group, which called itself the White Rose, distributed thousands of leaflets denouncing the crimes of the Nazi regime. In February 1943 the Gestapo found the siblings and sentenced them to death.

In 1939, carpenter Georg Elser fastened explosive devices behind Hitler's lectern in the Munich Bürgerbräu brewery. The bomb detonated as planned. However, since Hitler's speech was shorter than expected, he had already left the hall before the explosion. Seven people died and 60 more were injured. Elser was arrested on the same day and taken to Dachau concentration camp, where he died in 1945.

During the Second World War, Berlin manufacturer Otto Weidt employed mainly blind and deaf Jews. His broom and brush bindery was considered an "important defense business" and could therefore not be closed down by the Nazis. Weidt managed to provide for his Jewish employees throughout the war and protect them from deportation.

Numerous artists and intellectuals already turned against the regime when Hitler came to power in 1933. Many who did not want to adapt or openly oppose the system fled into exile. Others, such as the Berlin cabaret group Katakombe, openly criticized the regime. In 1935 the theater was closed by the Gestapo and its founder Werner Finck was imprisoned in the Esterwegen concentration camp.

The Swing Jugend or Swing Youth, regarded the American-English way of life, represented by swing music and dance, as a clear opposition to the Nazi regime and the Hitler Youth. In August 1941 there was a wave of arrests, especially in Hamburg, of Swing Youths, many of whom were taken into custody or deported to special youth concentration camps.

The Gestapo used direction finders to track down illegal transmitters used by resistance groups. In the summer of 1942, more than 120 members of the Rote Kapelle were arrested. This group, centered around Harro Schulze-Boysen and Arvid Harnack, wanted to help Jews document the crimes of the Nazi regime and distribute leaflets. More than 50 members were sentenced to death and executed.

On July 19, 1953, the ceremonial unveiling of the Memorial to the German Resistance took place in Berlin in the inner courtyard of the Bendlerblock building, the place where Count Stauffenberg was executed after the failed Hitler assassination. In addition, however, the memorial also commemorates all the other courageous men and women who stood up against the Hitler regime.