Documents What the parliamentary district offers visitors

An attraction for tourists and Berliners alike, the dome of the Reichstag Building draws thousands of guests. On average, up to 6,000 guests visit the Bundestag each day. Two thirds of these only visit the dome – around 4,000 people per day. The dome and roof terrace of the Reichstag Building are open to registered visitors from 8.00 hrs to midnight daily, with last admission at 22.00 hrs.

When is the dome closed?

On very hot days, visitors should be aware that the temporary or complete closure of the dome may be necessary as a result of weather conditions. For organisational reasons, however, no advance notice of this can be sent to visitors who have already registered.

The dome and roof terrace

The dome and roof terrace of the Reichstag Building are open from 8.00 hrs to midnight daily, with last admission at 22.00 hrs. Visits are free of charge, however advance registration is required. Individuals and groups can register. Registration is possible via online form, as well as by fax (030/227-36436) or post (Deutscher Bundestag, Besucherdienst, Platz der Republik 1, 11011 Berlin) – but not by telephone.

Registering in time

Last name, first name and date of birth must be provided in order to register. Registered visitors who have reserved a table in the rooftop restaurant can also access the Reichstag Building, along with guests registered with the Bundestag Visitors' Service – be it for a tour of the Reichstag Building, an information presentation or to observe a plenary sitting of the Bundestag.

Register online here

Visiting without booking in advance

Guests who would like to visit the dome but have not booked in advance can register to do so at the service centre run by the Visitors’ Service near the Reichstag Building, next to the Berlin Pavilion on the south side of Scheidemannstraße. If any free places are still available, you will be issued a booking confirmation entitling you to visit the dome; please note that this must be issued a minimum of two hours before the time of your visit. You can also register to visit the dome in the following two days. The service centre does not accept bookings for visits more than two days in advance. The service centre is open from 8.00 to 20.00 hrs daily.

Last name, first name and date of birth must also be provided in order to visit without advance registration. The booking confirmation is issued to you personally and is non-transferable. Proof of identity will be checked both upon registration and at the main entrance for visitors.

Audio guides for visitors old and young

An audio guide is available for older and younger visitors to the dome. The 20-minute long electronic guide to the dome provides all the most important facts about the Reichstag Building and its surroundings, the German Bundestag, the work of Parliament, and the sights of Berlin. The easy-to-use audio guides are available on the roof terrace in eleven languages: German, English, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Polish, Russian, Turkish, Dutch and Chinese. There is also a version in "simple German" for people with difficulties reading and writing, which features very short sentences and only uses common, generally known and understandable words. 

Children aged between six and 13 have their own audio guide, a programme featuring the characters from the well-known German children’s programme “Bernd das Brot”, in which characters experience a fun-filled adventure in the Bundestag.

Audio guide for blind visitors to the dome

An audio guide is available in German for blind visitors to the dome. It describes the appearance and function of important buildings that can be seen while walking around the dome. While the standard audio guide is 20 minutes long, the more detailed descriptions in the version for blind visitors run for 45 minutes.

Blind visitors can also use portable tactile guides with eleven models of selected objects such as the Reichstag Building, Federal Chancellery or the Brandenburg Gate. In order to locate the buildings more easily, a tactile relief of the surrounding area is also provided.

Video guide for deaf visitors to the dome

The video guide for deaf visitors automatically plays short films when it connects with various "loops" along the ramp in the dome. These are signalled by the device vibrating like a mobile phone. Users can pause, fast-forward and rewind the films.

The guide includes 24 films, featuring a deaf presenter providing information in sign language on the sights that can be viewed from the respective positions.

Historical exhibition in the dome

A new parliamentary history exhibition entitled “From the Reichstag to the Bundestag” has been located in the dome since 9 November 2016. Using selected images, documents and short texts displayed across twelve display cases, the exhibition tells the story of the building from its origins to the present day. It recalls key events in German parliamentary history and presents other parliamentary locations in Germany.

The exhibition was designed by the Haus der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik Deutschland Foundation and can be viewed during a pre-registered visit to the Reichstag dome.

Restaurant opening hours

The rooftop restaurant east of the dome is open daily from 9.00 to 16.30 hrs and from 18.30 hrs to midnight. Guests who have made a reservation use the entrance below and to the right of the West Portal (West C). Tables can be reserved by calling +49 (0)30 22 62 99 33 or sending an email to kaeferreservierung.berlin@feinkost-kaefer.de .

Guided tours of the Bundestag

90 minute tours of the Reichstag Building take place each day at 10.30, 13.30, 15.30 and 18.30 hrs in the weeks in which Parliament is not sitting. There are also tours for families with children aged between six and 14 on Saturdays at 10.00, 12.30 and 14.30 hrs as well as on Sundays and certain public holidays at 10.00 and 12.30 hrs. The installation “The Daughter of the Regiment” in the Jakob Kaiser Building can also be viewed on these tours. The 36-piece work by English artist Tacita Dean is on loan from the Haus der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik Deutschland.

Art and architecture guided tours take place on Saturdays, Sundays and certain public holidays at 11.30 hrs in the Reichstag Building and at 14.00 and 16.00 hrs in the Paul Löbe Building and Jakob Kaiser Building. Tours for groups of foreign visitors with a minimum of six and a maximum of 25 people are available in the following languages: Danish, English, French, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish.

Register online here

Christo collection on the Wrapped Reichstag 1995

Around 400 exhibits by the artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude involved with the Wrapped Reichstag in summer 1995 can be viewed on the presidential level of the Reichstag Building. These include original pieces, models, documents, photos and sketches by Christo relating to the Wrapped Reichstag from 24 June to 7 July 1995.

Visitors can view the Christo exhibits on weekends during the art and architecture guided tours of the Bundestag focussing on the Reichstag Building (starting at 11.30 hrs), Paul Löbe Building (14.00 hrs) or Jakob Kaiser Building (16.00 hrs). Registration is possible via online form, as well as by fax (030/227-36436) or post (Deutscher Bundestag, Besucherdienst, Platz der Republik 1, 11011 Berlin).

Presentations in the Bundestag

The 45 minute presentations in visitors’ gallery of the plenary chamber start on the hour on Mondays between 9.00 and 17.00 hrs and Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays between 10.00 and 16.00 hrs. Presentations are held in English on Tuesdays at midday and in French at 13.00 hrs.

Visitors who have registered for a presentation use the left entrance at the Reichstag Building’s west portal (West A). It is not possible to attend a presentation or a tour of the buildings without prior registration in writing or online.

Register online here

The Marie-Elisabeth Lüders Building as a giant film screen

The Marie-Elisabeth Lüders Building in the parliamentary district in Berlin is being transformed into a giant film screen every day since Tuesday, 23 May, until the Day of German Unity on Tuesday, 3 October 2017. Starting at dusk each evening, a film, light and sound production is projected onto the facade of the building.

This thirty-minute installation is entitled “To the German People – A journey through parliamentary history from the Reichstag to the Bundestag”. It shows the history of parliamentarianism in Germany and of the Reichstag Building in Berlin.

“Long Time Shadows” exhibition in the Schadow Building

The exhibition “Long Time Shadows” featuring photograms by Floris Neusüss is being displayed in the side wing of the Schadow Building on Schadowstraße 12-13 in Berlin-Mitte until Sunday, 15 April 2018. It can be visited free of charge from Tuesday to Sunday from 11.00 to 17.00 hrs. No registration is necessary.

Born in 1937, the artist is one of the main exponents of experimental photography in Germany. His work focuses on the photogram in all its variety. This technique harks back to photography’s early period. It is achieved without using a camera, with the object depicted placed between a source of light and as-yet unexposed photographic paper. When the light shines on the object, a shadow falls on the photographic paper directly underneath, creating a negative image – the shadow’s silhouette is white (with characteristic fading around the edges) as a result of the photographic paper being left unexposed or barely exposed, while the remaining paper is in contrast exposed and thus turns black.

Parliamentary history exhibition in the Deutscher Dom

Finally, the German Bundestag’s historical exhibition “Milestones, Setbacks, Sidetracks. The development of the parliamentary system in Germany” can be visited in the Deutscher Dom at Gendarmenmarkt 1 in Berlin-Mitte. Each year around 300,000 visitors come to this exhibition, which since autumn 2013 has presented the stage of development in the parliamentary democracy after 1949 in Germany in a new way.

The exhibition can be visited free of charge from Tuesdays to Sundays from 10.00 – 18.00 hrs. Audio guides are available in German, English and French (email: historischeausstellung@bundestag.de).

How to get to the Reichstag Building

The Reichstag Building can be reached on foot from the following public transport stations and stops:

Hauptbahnhof (main station): Long distance trains, regional trains, suburban rail (S-Bahn), underground (U-Bahn) line 55
Friedrichstraße: Regional trains, S-Bahn, U-Bahn
Brandenburger Tor: S-Bahn
Reichstag/Bundestag: underground line 55, bus lines 100, M 85 (from 21 July 2017)