The Parliament Building

Space for encounters

The Parliament building itself was officially opened in 1961. The cube shaped building (20m high and built on an area of 54 x 54m) envelopes the windowless Debating Chamber. Grouped around the Debating Chamber on the main and first floors are smaller committee rooms and the offices of the parliamentary groups, the State Government and the State Parliament Administration.

The fossils embedded in the great slate wall in the entrance hall come from the area around Holzmaden at the foot of the Swabian Alb and are at least 140 million years old. The portrait busts lining the sidewall to the right represent former Presidents of the State Parliament. The triptych "Paraphrases on the national colours" on the staircase up to the main floor was painted by the Stuttgart-based artist Otto Herbert Hajek.

In the Debating Chamber, the 138 members of the 15th State Parliament – with the exception of the leaders of the parliamentary groups – usually sit in alphabetical order. The broadcasting booths of Südwestrundfunk – the public broadcasting company for the southwest of Germany – of private broadcasters and an area for TV cameras, are located behind the MPs. Newspaper correspondents have reserved seats in the press gallery just above the government benches. The public gallery provides seating for around 240 members of the public.

The lobby hall on the main floor – graced by an impressive equestrian statue by the Italian sculptor Marino Marini and the tapestry designed by the French artist Jean Lurçat in the seating area next to the Schofer Room – offers an ideal arena for meetings and formal events.

The members' building on the other side of Konrad-Adenauer Street – the "Haus der Abgeordneten" – is linked to the Parliament building by a tunnel. This eight-storey building, which began being used by MPs in 1987, houses 210 offices, including rooms for MPs, as well as general purpose and parliamentary group meeting rooms. The members' building also contains an information centre, a printing shop, a publications office, archive and records rooms, a technology section and an underground garage.