Sunlight streams into the Bundestag debating chamber, through the lightwell that forms part of British architect Norman Foster’s 1990s redesign of Germany’s federal parliament building in Berlin. A double helix walkway spirals around the interior of the dome, enabling visitors to watch their politicians at work. Higher still, a roof terrace gives a panoramic view of the epicentre of German political power, including the Federal Chancellery, several ministries and the Brandenburg Gate, which is now a favoured location for major commemorations and sporting events, and also charged protests.

The Bundestag is intended to symbolise the intentions of the legislators who, under the direction of the Western occupying powers, devised the new Federal Republic’s Basic Law (constitution) in 1949. Their aim was to promote political pluralism and create a well-informed population through strong, autonomous public media that, in tandem with elected politicians, would keep a close eye on what the government does.

‘You go to the third floor of the Bundestag when you’re after political reactions. That’s where you find the party offices and get official press statements,’ says Alexandra Gubser, Berlin bureau chief for SRF, Swiss public radio and television. Before her posting to Berlin, Gubser had a similar job in France, but, she says, ‘in six years in Paris, not once did I manage to interview a minister one-on-one. People often told me media coverage in Switzerland was of little interest.’ In Berlin, ‘there’s a different understanding of the relationship with journalists. Here, politicians are accountable and they accept that.’ Gubser has interviewed three ministers in the previous six weeks.

Near the Chancellery and the Bundestag, the Federal Press Conference building provides office space for German and foreign journalists, as well as a briefing room where parliamentarians and experts meet journalists each week. This spring, the formation of the new (…)

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(1) After the French Panama Canal Company failed, engineer Philippe Bunau-Varilla lobbied the US to build a canal with locks and played a central role in Panama’s secession. The provisional government made him minister plenipotentiary and he negotiated with the US on behalf of Panama.

(2) These statistics should be interpreted with caution. Since the Panama Canal Authority counts both origin and destination, traffic between the two US coasts may be counted twice. They are still more reliable than numbers based on vessels’ flags due to the frequent use of flags of convenience.

(3) André Siegfried, Suez and Panama, Jonathan Cape, London, 1940.