The changes are so fast and furious that Bernd Buhmann, spokesman for the Berlin Tourist Bureau, says even Berliners can find it disorienting. Even though Berlin is still very much in transition, there are plenty of sites to visit in this historic city. The first and most important stop on a tour of Berlin today is the parliament building, or Reichstag. The renovations were executed by British architect Sir Norman Foster, whose design was meant to emphasize that the new Germany has nothing to hide. Visitors can traverse a circular walkways up to the top of the dome, which affords a stunning view of the entire city.
Parliamentarians meet in the chamber just below the dome.
A short walk from the Reichstag is Pariser Platz and Brandenburg Gate. Once an eerie no-man's land dividing East and West Berlin, it is now a beautifully landscaped, bustling visitors' mecca. Many of the buildings destroyed here during World War II have been rebuilt, and other new structures have cropped up around the square. The Brandenburg Gate has been backdrop for parades celebrating nine years of reunification and 50 years of the Federal Republic of Germany. Berlin's former city center was mostly destroyed during the war and left vacant after the wall went up around it in 1961.