The building, which is the largest government headquarters in the world, is part of the "Federal Ribbon" (German: Band des Bundes) in the Spreebogen [de].

Federal Chancellor Konrad Adenauer used the Museum Koenig for the first two months and then moved the Bundeskanzleramt into Palais Schaumburg until a new Chancellery building was completed in 1976.

The spectacular and controversial monumental building ensemble of the new Federal Chancellery was designed by the Berlin architects Axel Schultes and Charlotte Frank in a joint venture with Royal BAM Group's subsidiary Wayss & Freytag and the Spanish firm Acciona,[2] during the term of Chancellor Helmut Kohl.

After the groundbreaking ceremony on February 4, 1997, and four years of construction, the building was opened on 2 May 2001 by Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, completing the German government's move from Bonn to Berlin following reunification.

On the honorary court, which is formed by the line construction and the two office wings, there is the oxidized rust-red Berlin sculpture of the Basque artist Eduardo Chillida, consisting of two abstract crossing hands as a symbol of German reunification, remotely reminding of Henry Moore's Large Two Forms in front of the old Federal Chancellery (Bonn).

The central wing of the building itself is structured with four columns each with tree planting, in front of the main entrance is a spanning tent roof.

It is considered the world's largest government headquarters, being around eight times the size of the White House in Washington DC.

The main work in the chancellery is the monumental iron sculpture Berlin by the Spanish sculptor Eduardo Chillida.

The 5.5-metre-high and 87.5-ton sculpture, with its two almost touching arms, evokes associations such as rapprochement, division and unification, which can be understood as intended political symbolism.

The former chancellors then chose a portrait, which was then purchased by the Chancellery: Konrad Adenauer was painted by Hans Jürgen Kallmann in 1963.

Mainly by journalists and tourist guides, the building is being nicknamed "elephant loo", "Kohlosseum" (referring to former Chancellor Helmut Kohl) or "laundry machine".