Where is it Located?
The Reichstag is situated on the west side of Berlin, the capital of Germany, in Northern Europe. The Reichstag was initially built to house the German parliament but has been used for many other purposes over time. Prior to its construction the German parliament assembled in three separate locations until they decided to find an architect that could design a new parliamentary building.
Over the years it has been set on fire, half destroyed and vandalized by the Soviet army and used as the site for the German Reunification Ceremony in 1992. The Reichstag is now used occasionally to host some general parliamentary meetings, and as a site of public interest.
Below is a map of Germany showing the position of the city Berlin, the site of the Reichstag.
Why Should it be Included?
The Reichstag should be included on the world heritage list for a number of reasons, but most simply because of its idolistic and cultural significance in Germany. The Reichstag has taken over 100 years to build and 3 architectural contests to determine who would design it and the fact that Germany has still continued to build the Reichstag after the destruction brought around by Hitler and Stalin's Red Army is amazing in itself.
What Criteria Does it Meet?
There are 10 criteria that a world heritage site can meet, and the Reichstag meets two of these in particular. It exhibits an important interchange of human values through architecture and it also signifies a significant period in human history, a period with a lot of deception and corruption where politics could affect your daily life and politics is essentially why the Reichstag was built, to be a political hub for Germany.
The Site in Conjunction with the Criteria
The two criteria that the Reichstag relate to are displayed in the site as follows. It represents an interchange of human values simply through the sheer design and image of the Reichstag, as well as the large dome that sits at the top of the Reichstag known as the cupola where if you stand on the roof of the Reichstag and look through the clear glass, you can see the center of the German parliamentary rooms. It signifies a significant period of human history by the amount of a damage it has suffered from both the influence of Hitler and the soviet army, a time where military strength was everything and if there was somebody who needed to be "taken care of" it could be done easily. Those to features give the Reichstag more than enough reason to be put on the world heritage list by UNESCO, and therefore should be preserved for future generations who would like to see olden day architecture at its best.
What Will World Heritage Status Mean for the Site and the Country?
If the Reichstag were to be given world heritage status, it would guarantee its preservation for at least the next 50 years which could otherwise not be done without the status. The Reichstag will be well taken care of by the German government and with help from UNESCO, they will be able to ensure that future generations have the same experience of the Reichstag in the future as we do today.
Eventually, the German parliament will find somewhere else to assemble and the Reichstag will then be purely just for show and without UNESCO, it will crumble and fall way, written in the history books and forgotten about. However, if UNESCO does decide to grant the Reichstag world heritage status, even if the German parliament find someplace else to assemble, the Reichstag will still be remembered as the turning point in the history of German political housing.
What Role Will the Country Play to Support the Preservation of the Place?
If the Reichstag were included on the world heritage listings, Germany would be likely to put forward a certain amount of money towards the Reichstag's preservation and allocate resources towards its upkeep. UNESCO would also give Germany a small allowance of money solely for the preservation of the Reichstag. It is obvious that if the Reichstag were given world heritage status, the German government would care about its preservation and not just take the Reichstag's listing for granted.
That is why the Reichstag deserves to be included on the world heritage list. With a mixture of hard work and devotion, the German government can turn the Reichstag into an amazing site-politically, architecturally and culturally - remembered for years to come.
