The Reichstag building is a very elegant piece of architecture from the late 1800s and is topped by a glass dome, it originally housed the Imperial Diet of the German Empire. One of the many lovely buildings in the very open area in the middle of Berlin which was severely bombed during World War 2 and not rebuilt due to the occupation of the city by the allies after the war. The city stagnated due to the lack of finances and differing views of the protagonists of the cold war.