Much of the former government area around the Reichstag and Brandenburg Gate was an empty wilderness while the Berlin Wall was in existence. With reunification, and the decision to move the Federal government to Berlin from Bonn, this area became a great building site, with many vast new buildings being constructed. There are several new or rebuilt bridges crossing the Spree as well -- symbolising east-west unity.

The Reichstag Building itself -- now once more the seat of the Lower House of the Federal Parliament (Bundestag). The dome was designed by the British architect Sir Norman Foster, and gives magnificent views. (Unfortunately I've only ever been there at night or on dull, damp days!) The inscription under the pediment is "Dem Deutschen Volke" -- "To the German People" -- apparently a part of the original design, but only added as a patriotic gesture in 1916. 

New government buildings along the Spree. The Siegessäule (Victory Column) in the Tiergarten is just visible in the distance.

Two of the new Parliamantary office buildings, the Marie-Elisabeth-Lüders-Haus (right) and the Paul-Löbe-Haus (centre).
The restored Reichstag building is visible on the left, with the Bundeskanzleramt (Federal Chancellor's Office) visible in the distance to the right of it.

 Part of the Bundeskanzleramt with the bridges across the River Spree
linking the former east and west.

Part of the Marie-Elisabeth-Lüders-Haus, showing the connecting bridges across the Spree.

On the other side of the river, the vast Hauptbahnhof Berlin (Berlin Main Railway Station) is still under construction (October 2005).

In September 2006 the station was largely complete, and has to be seen to be believed. There is as least as much of it beneath the ground as there is above it!

This is an entrance to the new Bahnhof Potsdamer Platz (Potsdam Square railway station). The ruins of the old building were demolished after World War II, and the underground station itself was sealed up for as long as the Berlin Wall ran close by.

The next three pictures are of a block of buildings designed by Aldo Rossi. I like their bright and colourful facades --
very welcome in a city that can be rather grey at times!

This is a new office-block on the Markgrafenstraße.

 The Ludwig-Erhard-Haus in Fasanenstraße. Erhard is credited with creating the West German "Economic Miracle" ("Wirtschaftswunder") of the 1950's, and this building named after him contains the Berlin Stock Exchange.

The Chapel of the Reconciliation in Bernauer Straße (see also Divided City). It stands on the site of a church that was blown-up due to its proximity to the Berlin Wall. The new chapel is built entirely of loam and wood. The cross embedded in the ground is the original one from the old church steeple that fell there when the tower was dynamited in 1985.