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

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

From Salon • May 17, 2025

The Nazi Party also got 37% in the July 1932 Reichstag elections.

From Salon • Aug. 5, 2024

"It's not like Berlin in 1945, when you stuck a flag over the Reichstag and that was that."

From BBC • Oct. 28, 2023

The emperor credited von Tirpitz with persuading the Reichstag to expand the country’s fleet to rival Britain’s.

From Seattle Times • Oct. 1, 2023

Hitler then asked the Nazi-controlled Reichstag to pass an Enabling Act, a law that gave Hitler the sole power to make laws.

From "Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti