Peer to Peer

Above: The Reichstag building in Germany Below: The Manhattan Municipal Building

The Reichstag Building in Germany has many connections both physically and analytically to the Manhattan Municipal Building. Aesthetically the Reichstag uses classical elements such as Corinthian columns, arcades of windows, and side flagging towers with an extravagant central entrance. This building uses concrete and stone, similar to the Municipal building. The building is horizontal while the Municipal building is an early skyscraper. The Municipal building needed to be large in order to house its many governmental offices of the growing city of New York. The Reichstag on the other hand was probably built horizontally because it represents the unification of the German government. It is similar to the U.S.’s Capital building in that its function is important, but the symbolism behind it is far greater. Although the Reichstag was built approximately twelve years before the Municipal building, it was still influenced by the classical style of governmental buildings in the U.S. Germany was experiencing many changes in their government and the Reichstag building represents a fair and democratic society through its use of classical elements. In my essay I talk about how Stalin reshaped the Russian government through the building of renaissance and classically inspired governmental buildings. He took his inspiration directly from such buildings as the Manhattan Municipal building, and one could say that the Reichstag building also influenced him.