This was announced by the press office of the Bundestag on 9 March 2020 following consultations between the President of the Bundestag, Wolfgang Schäuble, and the parliamentary directors of the parliamentary groups. Further possible measures are to be decided in the context of an ongoing risk assessment. The walk-in dome designed by the architect Sir Norman Foster on the historic Reichstag building is considered a tourist attraction. According to the Bundestag it is visited by more than two million people every year.

Schäuble had already called on the members of parliament last week to carefully observe the hygiene measures. Business trips, especially to high-risk areas, should be limited to what is absolutely necessary. "In addition, in the event that major public events in Berlin are generally cancelled, I intend to close the roof terrace and dome to public traffic", Schäuble wrote at the time. The dome and the roof terrace of the Reichstag are to remain closed up to and including April 30, 2020.