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Reichstag refers both to a building and to an assembly.
The Reichstag building in Berlin, Germany has successively been: the seat of the Parliament of the German Empire (1892-1918), the Weimar Republic (1919-1933) and reunified Germany (1999-present).
On February 27, 1933, only four weeks after Hitler had become Reichskanzler (prime minister), the Reichstag building was burned out to a shell. A Dutch Communist named Marinus van der Lubbe was found at the scene and charged with arson. He was later found guilty and executed by guillotine. Claiming the fire had been caused by a Communist conspiracy the Nazi government restricted civil rights, guaranteed in the constitution, and started to prosecute the political opposition.
During the prior centuries of the Holy Roman Empire of German Nation, the Reichstage or Imperial Diets were held in Regensburg. There never was a centralized government of the German states. After the 1871 formation of the German Empire the Historical Commission of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences started to collect imperial records (Reichsakten) and imperial diet records (Reichstagsakten). In 1893 the commission published the first volume. At present the years 1524 - 1527 and years up to 1544 are being collected and researched. A volume dealing with the 1532 Reichstag in Regensburg including the peace negotiations with the Protestants in Schweinfurt and Nuremberg, by Frau Dr. Rosemarie Aulinger of Vienna was published in 1992.
The enormous amount of records in numerous archives and libraries in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Italy, Spain, Denmark, England and Poland needs to be made available, gathered and worked through.
A list on internet titled Das Reich um 1500- Dynasties-Dukedoms-Residences, Ducal Courts and Residences in the empire (Reich) in the late middle ages identifies the thousands of different localities. It gives an indication of the monumental task of locating and working on these official records, spread over large areas by the many different rulers, who all had the choice of their preferred seat of residence and government.
See also: Bundestag