Today we visited the Bundestag. This was the original parliament and government building before WWI. It was originally called the Reichstag.
When Hitler rose to power, this was the building that was set on fire. Hitler blamed this fire on the Communist and used this incident to help him win the election and gain full power over Germany. It is still unknown exactly who started the fire and if there were collaborators, regardless the incident started the dark period of Nationalist Social control in Germany. Once Hitler assumed power, he never used this building for his government. Instead his government was located East Prussia. All the speeches seen on history channel and movies were given in the Berlin opera house. During the war and when Berlin was under fire and bombing during the war, this building was under gun fire and soldiers often fought here. This picture shows the bullet holes from battle. 
Later after the WWII and the east and west were divided, this building was located on the western side. However, West Germany did not use this as the government seat. Instead all government was held in a southern Germany town called Bonn. Later after the Cold War and Unification, the government of Germany moved back to Berlin. A series of renovation and modifications were made to this building. In addition to restoring the historic building famous English architect, Sir Norman Foster helped with the whole renovation and the creation of the cupola. The cupola is a glass dome that rest on top of the building. The dome is exactly over the parliament meeting area, so the idea is that as parliament is in session, the members can look up and see the people. Right next to this building is again the cobblestones showing where the wall divided the city. Our tour guide Jurgen and Cindy made the Atlantik-Brucke bridge between east and west. This is a picture of me and the other teachers who are on the trip. 
Then we went to KPM the royal porcelain factory. We learned how the Royal Procelain company was created and how they learned the process of making porcelain from the Chinese and how the company changed and adapted during the Enlightenment period and modern times. Famous European leaders purchased porcelain from here. Josephine Bonaparte (Napoleon’s wife) also bought a set, but did not end of paying for it because of the Franco-Prussian War. We saw the long process of making porcelain and how they use molds and everything is hand made,
which is why it is so expensive. After lunch and the factory, we headed back to the train station. We passed the beautiful Victory Towercreated to celebrate the Franco-Prussian War. 
Dresden is the next city. We are now more than half way through the trip. We spent two hours on the train, then saw major artifacts from Dresden: Jewels, amber, paintings, and bronze. It was a beautiful museum. By the time we finished, we drove one more hour to our hotel then a dinner with guest and now bed. We've been so busy. Everyday is 8 a.m.-10 p.m. until we are done with our guest and in our room. No free time, but scheduled meetings all day. It's exhausting, but I'm learning alot.
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