Never ending waiting queue Photo

Photographer’s Note

Here you can see a part of the "Reichstag" in Berlin, the meeting place of the German parliament, the Bundestag.

The Reichstag building was constructed to house the Reichstag, the first parliament of the German empire. It was opened in 1894. The Reichstag as a parliamt dates back to the Holy Roman Empire and ceased to act as a true parliament in the years of the Nazi regime (1933–1945).
The building caught fire on 27 February 1933, under circumstances still not entirely clear.
The building, having never been fully repaired since the fire, was further damaged by air raids. During World War II, in 1945 it became one of the central targets for the Red Army, most probably for its symbolic significance. Today, visitors to the building can still see Soviet graffiti on smoky walls inside which were preserved during the reconstructions after reunification.
The official German reunification ceremony on 3 October 1990, was held at the Reichstag building.

However, at that time, the role of Berlin had not yet been decided upon. Only after a fierce debate, considered by many one of the most memorable sessions of parliament, the Bundestag concluded on 20 June 1991, with quite a slim majority in favour of both government and parliament returning to Berlin from Bonn - by the way one of the most expensive decisions ever concluded by the Bundestag - and the move still is in progress.

During the reconstruction, the building was first almost completely gutted, taking out everything except the outer walls. Although not undisputed for its lack of respect for the building's original design and furniture, the reconstruction, completed in April 1999, is widely regarded as a success. The Reichstag is one of the most visited attractions in Berlin, not least because of the huge glass dome that was erected on the roof as a gesture to the original 1894 cupola, giving an impressive view over the city, especially at night.

The waiting queue in front of the building never ends. One can visit the cupola from 8 a.m. to midnight and 2 million visitors do it year after year.

In workshop you can see Reichstag and its glass cupola from another side.

You also can see the whole building HERE.

bema, Budapestman, saxo042, Uhu, mvdisco has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

mesutilgim (36687) 2009-06-15 22:53

Guten morgen lieber Frank,
Dies galt auch fuer mich, zuletzt am 23 September vergangenen Jahres.
Solche Szenen gibt es ueberall auf der Welt aber hier der Clou; irgendwo im Sueden (İtalien oder Spanien) wird da immer mit eisenbarrieren etc mitgeholfen. Made in Germany Version entsteht immer aus eigener Initiative !
Gutes Standpunkt und vor allem recht schoenes Licht.
Danke schoen und
mfg
MESUT ILGIM

bema (8677) 2009-06-15 23:00

Guten Morgen Frank,

da ist Dir aber ein schönes Bild von unserem Reichstag gelungen; sehr schöner Blickwinkel und klasse Farben..

wünsche eine schöne Woche.. Gruß Bernd

snunney (34732) 2009-06-16 0:57

Hello Frank,
A good composition of this iconic building. The crowds of people waiting to enter contribute much to the atmopshere. Very good colours and sharpness. A building with a lot of history.

Budapestman (41686) 2009-06-16 4:30

Hi Frank,
Splendid daily life shot with spectacular composition, excellent shot of this place. Have a nice day!
George

asajernigan (14090) 2009-06-16 6:01

Frank,
This is an amazing building and you have presented it nicely here. The angle of the shot is nice using the queue to create a lead line for the shot. The lighting and colors are fine with good sharpness and DOF. Your note is very informative as usual. This is a place that I must add to my next trip to Germany.
TFS,
Asa

batalay (20858) 2009-06-16 7:51

Hello Frank.

This TE-package is wonderfully complemented by a very good photograph and an outstanding note. I know for the first time about the history of the building. Although I've visited Germany a few times (the last time in 1992), I have not yet seen Berlin. I hope very much to rectify that omission.

Warm regards,

Bulent

saxo042 (15544) 2009-06-16 8:45

Hi Frank,
Your note here is really interesting and contains a lot of facts. The photo is also interesting and a very good piece of daily life in Berlin! The workshop is maybe even better ;)
Kind regards
Gunnar

Uhu (7374) 2009-06-16 9:04

Oh yeah, I was there also. Quite impressive building, Reichstag. Queue was not that big - and may I say that half of that queue were Russians. Even the girl on the security personnel, which let us in, was genuinely Russian-speaking - I think some German from the former USSR.
I understand why, we all read about Reichstag in the schooltime - because of WW II, of course.
Wedll it's great, in my humble opinion, that I can go and take a look at Reichstag as a tourist, and that hundreds of Germans visit St-Petersburg and crouds on Aurora Cruiser and in Smolny Convent, and as the guide told me, these Germans (usually Ost ones) intentionally wants to see exactly these revolutionary symbols - obviously, because they read about them in their schoolbooks, back then, 30 years ago, in DDR.
***
Something really changes for good with a course of time, may I say!
Great photo and very good note!

jasmis (50248) 2009-06-16 12:23

I don't know if it is it proper comparison, but I have seen such queue in front of Lenin's Musoleum lately :)))

Seriously: Important place, fine wide presentation with detailed note.
Regards my dear friend.

Aviller (3106) 2009-06-17 13:15

Hallo,

wirklich ein interessanter Winkel, der die Schlange sehr gut zeigt. Kein Wunder, dass man bei den Sicherheitskontrollen lange rumsteht. Mir gefällt auch die Platzierung des Eingangs im rechten Teil des Bildes.

mvdisco (11480) 2009-06-17 16:31

Bonjour Frank,
Jolie prise de vue du Parlement Allemand Le "Reichstag"
superbe architecture et détails.
belles couleurs naturelles et présentation.
Excellent cliché
bonne journée
Michel

Jakab (3466) 2009-06-21 15:37

Hallo Frank,
die Fenster verraten Dich, Du hast das Polfilter nicht richtig verdreht. Aber wichtiger ist, dass der Eingang des Reichstags mit der üblicher Schlange hier am TE erscheint, ergänzt mit einem tollen Kommentar. (Es ist übrigens interessant, wie bescheiden der Reichstag ist, verglichen mit der Bedeutung, Macht und den Ambitionen des damaligen Reichs. Denken wir an London, Paris, Wien oder Budapest - all diese Hauptstädte erbauten ihre imposanten Parlamente in der zweiten Hälfte des 19-ten Jahrhunderts.)
Viele Grüße
László

burraburra (843) 2009-06-21 18:28

Hello Frank,
Your Reichstag is a magnificant building. Great POV. Great colours. Excellent note. Thanks for sharing.
Warm regards,
Graham.