United States Holocaust Memorial Museum logo
<p>The Berlin Fire Brigade extinguishes the <a href="/narrative/11083/en">fire at the Reichstag</a> (German parliament). Berlin, Germany, February 27, 1933.</p>

Tags

Reichstag

More information about this image

All Content Tagged 'Reichstag'

<p>The Berlin Fire Brigade extinguishes the <a href="/narrative/11083/en">fire at the Reichstag</a> (German parliament). Berlin, Germany, February 27, 1933.</p>
Photo
Berlin fire brigade extinguishes fire at the Reichstag
<p>Ernst Thaelmann, leader of the German Communist Party, was detained during a <a href="/narrative/11082/en">mass arrest</a> of Communists following the fire that virtually destroyed the <em>Reichstag</em> (German parliament) building. Germany, date uncertain.</p>
Photo
Communist leader Ernst Thaelmann
<p>Dome of the Reichstag (German parliament) building, damaged by <a href="/narrative/11083/en">fire</a> on February 27, 1933. Hitler used the arson to convince President Hindenburg to declare a state of emergency, <a href="/narrative/11461/en">suspending constitutional safeguards</a>. Berlin, Germany, 1933.</p>
Photo
Damaged dome of the Reichstag
<p>This election poster calls on Germans to vote in support of Hitler's hand-picked candidates to the Reichstag (the German parliament). The poster details Hitler's actions and reads, in part: 'In 8 months two and a quarter million Germans have work and bread again! Class warfare and its parties are eliminated! The Bolsheviks are smashed. Particularism is overcome! A Reich of order and cleanliness is established. One People. One Reich. One Leader. This is what Hitler has accomplished..."</p>
Artifact
Election poster
<p>Fire brigade arrives at the Reichstag (German parliament) building. Despite fire-fighting efforts, the building was virtually <a href="/narrative/11083/en">destroyed by fires</a> set at several places in the building. Berlin, Germany, February 27, 1933.</p>
Photo
Fire brigade arrives at the Reichstag
<p>Firemen in the Reichstag (German parliament) building after it was <a href="/narrative/11083/en">damaged by arson</a>. Berlin, Germany, February 27, 1933.</p>
Photo
Firemen inside the Reichstag
<p><a href="/narrative/43/en">Adolf Hitler</a> (hand on rail) with Hermann Göring (second to left of Hitler) and Joseph Goebbels (third to left of Hitler) at the site of the <a href="/narrative/11083/en">fire that damaged the <em>Reichstag</em></a> (German parliament) building. Berlin, Germany, February 1933.</p>
Photo
Hitler, Goring, and Goebbels view the damaged Reichstag
<p>Joseph Goebbels (standing) testifies for the state during the Reichstag Fire Trial before the Supreme Court. Leipzig Germany, 1933.</p>
Photo
Joseph Goebbels during the Reichstag Fire Trial
<p>Hermann Göring recites the preamble to the Nuremberg Laws at the seventh Nazi Party Congress. The laws would define German citizenship by blood and forbade marriages between Germans and Jews. A special session of the Reichstag (German parliament) enacted the laws, marking an intensification of Nazi measures against Jews.</p>
Film
Nuremberg Laws proclaimed
<p>Onlookers in front of the <em>Reichstag</em> (German parliament) building the day after it was <a href="/narrative/11083/en">damaged by fire</a>. On this same day, the Nazis implemented the <a href="/narrative/11461/en">Decree of the Reich President for the Protection of the People and the State</a>. It was one of a series of key decrees, legislative acts, and case law in the gradual process by which the Nazi leadership moved Germany from a democracy to a dictatorship. Berlin, Germany, February 28, 1933.</p>
Photo
Onlookers view the damaged Reichstag
<p>This footage shows the <em>Reichstag</em> (German parliament) building on the day after it was set on fire. Blaming Communists for the incident, Hitler suspended constitutional guarantees and expelled Communist and Socialist deputies from the parliament. Shortly after the decree was issued, the Nazis established <a href="/narrative/4656/en">concentration camps</a>  for the internment of <a href="/narrative/11082/en">political opponents</a>.</p>
Film
Reichstag fire
<p>Dome of the Reichstag (German parliament) building, damaged by <a href="/narrative/11083/en">fire</a> on February 27, 1933. Hitler used the arson to convince President Hindenburg to declare a state of emergency, <a href="/narrative/11461/en">suspending constitutional safeguards</a>. Berlin, Germany, 1933.</p>
Media Gallery
Reichstag Fire
<p>Dome of the Reichstag (German parliament) building, damaged by <a href="/narrative/11083/en">fire</a> on February 27, 1933. Hitler used the arson to convince President Hindenburg to declare a state of emergency, <a href="/narrative/11461/en">suspending constitutional safeguards</a>. Berlin, Germany, 1933.</p>
Article
Reichstag Fire Decree
<p>On the night of February 27, 1933, an unemployed Dutch construction worker named Marinus van der Lubbe set fire to the Reichstag (German parliament) building, causing serious damage. The Nazis blamed the Communists for the fire and claimed emergency powers to crush all opposition. Bolstering Nazi claims, the police also arrested three Bulgarian members of the Communist International, who were in Germany at the time, and a leading German Communist. Despite Nazi claims, however, responsibility for the fire is unclear. The German Supreme Court found only van der Lubbe guilty. The Court acquitted the other defendants because there was insufficient evidence of their involvement. This footage shows scenes during the trial and some of the damage to the Reichstag building in Berlin.</p>
Film
Reichstag fire trial
<p>The Reichstag (German parliament) building burns in Berlin. Hitler used the event to convince President <a href="/narrative/19342/en">Hindenburg</a> to declare a state of emergency, <a href="/narrative/11461/en">suspending important constitutional safeguards</a>. Germany, February 27, 1933.</p>
Photo
The German parliament building burns in Berlin
<p>Onlookers in front of the <em>Reichstag</em> (German parliament) building the day after it was <a href="/narrative/11083/en">damaged by fire</a>. On this same day, the Nazis implemented the <a href="/narrative/11461/en">Decree of the Reich President for the Protection of the People and the State</a>. It was one of a series of key decrees, legislative acts, and case law in the gradual process by which the Nazi leadership moved Germany from a democracy to a dictatorship. Berlin, Germany, February 28, 1933.</p>
Article
The Reichstag Fire

Thank you for supporting our work

We would like to thank The Crown and Goodman Family and the Abe and Ida Cooper Foundation for supporting the ongoing work to create content and resources for the Holocaust Encyclopedia. View the list of all donors.