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

Hitler abolished freedom of speech and justified phone taps the day after the Reichstag fire in February 1933.

From Salon • Nov. 15, 2023

"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

If he follows the example of his speech to the Reichstag, there will be a charm offensive with multilingual cultural references and jokes, this time delivered in the interests of the entente cordiale.

From BBC • Sep. 6, 2023

When the Reichstag building burned down, which became the pretext for Hitler’s suppression of political dissent, Szilard was dismayed by the failure of his German friends to grasp the developing reality.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik