Erbse auf Erde: Reichstag

Another day, another field trip.

A couple Sundays ago we were taken to the Reichstag. The Reichstag is the German parliament building and is also known as the Bundestag. German's relatively recent history makes its government's history also very recent. The German capital only moved to Berlin in 1991. Before this, the capital was in Bonn. The destruction of the wall in 1989 led to the reunification of Germany. The debate between where the capital should be was a close one. Bonn was the existing capital of West Germany, but since East and West were now one, it was being debated whether or not it was a suitable capital city. Berlin only won the vote 338-320. It is argued that Berlin, although not central to Germany, had a stronger argument to be capital because it was a unified city with both Wast and West Germans. Bonn on the other hand was heavily populated by West Germans and in West Germany. Berlin was shared by the East and West during the divide and, in the end, won the vote.

It's funny, I've seen so many pictures of the building and have seen it in person that I didn't take a picture of the whole building. So this is from the internet haha. Oh well, it's a great picture.

An artsy picture of mine to start off. This was taken in this little hallway constructed of drawers with all parliament members names on them, past and present, Hitler included. His drawer is actually supported more than the others so that people could not walk by and destroy it in passing. I don't really know if the drawers hold anything, or if it is supposed to be an art piece.

A building across the street from the Reichstag that is awesome architecturally.

Trees. I promise there will be more pictures inside the Reichstag.

Still outside, but I was loving the silhouette of the statute one the outside of the Bundestag during the sunset.

If you look at the first photo again from the internet, you will see that there is a dome like structure at the center of the building. This is called the cupola. It was designed for people to be able to walk up it. The architecture is supposed to symbolize the government in that the people are the most powerful. For the cupola lies atop of the room where parliament is held. The people are literally on top of the government.

The first look from inside the cupola.

So picturesque with the sun setting.

The center of the cupola

Happy as can be in our goofy poses.

Flag waving, sun setting.

A couple panoramas of the cupola.

The girl looking at the map was so perfectly posed! Her friend enthralled in their phones add harmony.

Still happy, acting goofy. I think it was because we had just been on an hour tour and we were finally set free to roam on our own. Taking in the amazing place we were in!

Gina told me my selfie game is improving. Only means you'll be seeing more selfies. A fun project yet to come! Get excited!
Also, my selfie game made Gina excited about selfies. Pictures galore!

Oh heyyy!

Up close and personal.

I cut off our double chins haha

Maybe it's because we were hungry?

I love the pic on the left even though the panorama messed up a bit. You can see that the cupola is open at the top. It circulates airflow and also somehow condenses the air to store up water. Don't ask me how it works, but it is incredible.

The decent.

So prettyyy

A photographers dream, this cupola!

I could've stayed up there forever!

This piece of the cupola is made up of mirrors in order to reflect light into parliament. There is a shade that moves accreting to where the sun is so that it isn't blinding light. Awesome that natural light is used though!