The Reichstag building in Berlin was constructed to house the Reichstag, the original parliament of the German Empire. It was opened in 1894 and housed the Reichstag until 1933, when it was severely damaged in a fire supposedly set by a Dutch communist, Marinus van der Lubbe, who was later beheaded for the crime, although it was probably the Nazi Party who committed the crime in an attempt to flush out Communism. That verdict has been a subject of controversy over the years. The National Socialist Party used this event as casus belli to begin a purge of "traitors" in Berlin and to ban the KPD, the German Communist Party. The Reichstag building again became the seat of the German parliament in 1999 after a reconstruction led by internationally renowned architect Norman Foster.

Today's parliament of Germany is called the Bundestag. The Reichstag as a parliament dates back to the Holy Roman Empire and ceased to act as a true parliament in the years of the Nazi regime (1933–1945). In today's usage, the German term Reichstag or Reichstagsgebäude (Reichstag building) refers to the building, while the term Bundestag refers to the institution.