The Palace of the Republic (German: Palast der Republik, pronounced [paˈlast deːɐ ʁepuˈbliːk]) was a building in Berlin that hosted the Volkskammer, the parliament of East Germany, from 1976 to 1990.

The palace was completed in 1976 to house the Volkskammer, also serving various cultural purposes including two large auditoria, art galleries, a theatre, a cinema, 13 restaurants, five beer halls, a bowling alley, billiards rooms, a rooftop ice skating rink, a private gym with spa, a casino, a medical station, a post office, a police station with an underground cellblock, an indoor basketball court, an indoor swimming pool, private barbershops and salons, public and private restrooms and a discothèque.

The palace was designed in a modernist style by Heinz Graffunder and the Building Academy of the GDR (Bauakademie der DDR), with distinctive bronze-mirrored windows as a defining architectural feature.

The palace contained a large bowling alley at the lower level, from which the canal-side terrace along the River Spree could be accessed, and featured Brunswick lane equipment and a bar.

The part of the palace open to the public featured numerous cameras for the surveillance of staff and visitors by Stasi officials.

Numerous important cultural, political, academic, and social events of the German Democratic Republic occurred at the palace after its opening.

Concerts of famous orchestras such as the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig under Kurt Masur, modern interpretations of classical music such as the Messiah of George Frideric Handel, and performances by Bulat Okudzhava (29 November 1976), Harry Belafonte (25 October 1983), Karel Gott (1983),[7] 1986 with Dara Rolins and Heidi Janků, 1987) or of the rock-band Purple Schulz (21 January 1989).

The concert was unique in that Tangerine Dream was the first Western group who was allowed by the GDR government to play in East Berlin at the time and was dubbed "the performance behind the Iron Curtain".

During the night of 22–23 August 1990, the Volkskammer decided in the palace on the accession of the GDR to the Federal Republic of Germany with effect from 3 October 1990, known as German reunification.

[2][9][10] Beginning in early 2004, the palace was used for events, such as housing an exhibition of the Terracotta Army and a special concert by the famous Berlin-based band Einstürzende Neubauten.

[15] Sixteen monumental pictures by GDR artists (Walter Womacka, Willi Sitte, Wolfgang Mattheuer, Werner Tübke, and Bernhard Heisig) presented Dreams of Communists.