Rooftop Breakfast at the Reichstag with Dome Visit Berlin

The Reichstag building, seat of the German Bundestag

The Reichstag was completed in 1894 as the seat of the parliament of the German Empire, and the inscription “Dem Deutschen Volke” (To the German People) was added above the west portal in 1916. The building burned in 1933, was badly damaged in 1945 and stood half-used during the decades when the Berlin Wall ran just behind it. After reunification it was rebuilt and since 1999 it has housed the Bundestag, the German federal parliament.

Because it is a working parliament, every visit passes a security check and needs a registered booking, which is why a Reichstag dome visit is not something you can simply walk into. This breakfast reservation solves that: your name is registered with the booking, you use the restaurant visitors' entrance on the west side, and you see one of the most symbolic buildings in modern European history from the inside.

Breakfast at the rooftop restaurant

The restaurant sits on the roof level, next to the base of the dome, with large windows facing the Tiergarten park and the government district. Your table is reserved for 1.5 hours and the full German breakfast is served at the table, so the pace is relaxed: there is time for coffee, a second look at the view and conversation before you continue to the dome.

Most guests choose this experience because breakfast is the calmest time of day on the roof. Morning light falls across the city, the terrace is quieter than in the afternoon and you start the day already inside the building. Extra dishes and drinks beyond the breakfast are ordered and paid on the spot. A Reichstag breakfast is also a smart choice in winter, when sitting in a warm dining room with a view beats queuing outside.

The glass dome and the roof terrace

The glass dome was added during the 1990s reconstruction and has become a landmark of Berlin. Two spiral ramps wind up around a mirrored cone that reflects daylight down into the plenary chamber below, so from inside the dome you can literally look down onto the seats of parliament. At the top a viewing platform opens to the sky, and along the way the audio guide starts automatically and points out the sights you see through the glass.

Is the Reichstag dome worth visiting? For most travellers the answer is yes: the views stretch from the TV Tower to the Victory Column, and the building itself tells the story of Germany in one place. Allow about 30 to 45 minutes for the ramps and the roof terrace after breakfast. The dome is occasionally closed for cleaning or for parliamentary reasons, in which case the terrace usually stays open.

Around the Reichstag: Platz der Republik and the government district

The Reichstag faces the wide lawn of Platz der Republik, with the modern Federal Chancellery and the parliamentary office buildings lining the bend of the Spree. A riverside path connects them, and boats on the Spree pass right by the government quarter. The Tiergarten, Berlin's great central park, begins just south of the building.

How to get to the Reichstag is easy: the U5 underground line stops at Bundestag station, Berlin Hauptbahnhof is a short ride or about 15 minutes on foot, and the Brandenburg Gate is only around five minutes away. That makes this breakfast a perfect first stop before the Brandenburg Gate, the Holocaust Memorial and Unter den Linden, all of which you can reach on foot afterwards.