Reichstag

American  

[rahyks-tahg, rahykhs-tahk] / ˈraɪksˌtɑg, ˈraɪxsˌtɑk /

noun

German History.

1. the lower house of the parliament during the period of the Second Reich and the Weimar Republic.

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Reichstag British  

/ ˈraiçstak, ˈraiksˌtɑːɡ /

noun

1. Also called: diet.  (in medieval Germany) the estates or a meeting of the estates

2. the legislative assembly representing the people in the North German Confederation (1867–71) and in the German empire (1871–1919)

3. the sovereign assembly of the Weimar Republic (1919–33)

4. the building in Berlin in which this assembly met and from 1999 in which the German government meets: its destruction by fire on Feb 27, 1933 (probably by agents of the Nazi government) marked the end of Weimar democracy. It was restored in the 1990s following German reunification

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Etymology

Origin of Reichstag

< German: Reich diet

Example Sentences

It’s more like Chinese artist Ai Weiwei’s “Study of Perspective” series of photographs, where his outstretched hand raises a middle finger aimed toward symbolic power centers — the White House, Tiananmen Square, the Eiffel Tower, the Reichstag, etc.

From Los Angeles Times

The prospect of another coalition crisis and early elections did not sit well with Stephanie and Bernd Nebel, two visitors to Berlin from Munich who spoke with AFP outside of the Reichstag, the seat of Germany's parliament.

From Barron's

The leading architect's previous work has included the Gherkin office block and the Great Court of the British Museum in London, and the Reichstag dome in Berlin.

From BBC

The Reichstag, or national parliament, was grossly gerrymandered in favor of the upper classes, and the government was not responsible to its lawmakers, but rather to a capricious monarch.

From Salon

This was no accident: The previous year had seen the Reichstag fire and Adolf Hitler’s rise to full power.

From Salon