The first in a convoy of trains arrived in Berlin to move Germany's government back from Bonn VIDEO CNN's Chris Burns reports on the monumental task of moving Germany's government offices from Bonn to Berlin Windows Media 28K 80K

July 6, 1999
Web posted at: 8:21 p.m. EDT (0021 GMT)

BERLIN (CNN) -- The first in a month-long convoy of trains arrived in Berlin Tuesday as Germany began the mammoth task of moving its entire government 600 kilometers (380 miles) east from Bonn.

All of Parliament's 669 lawmakers, along with a supporting staff of 3,400 and another 6,000 government employees, must be ready for business in Berlin by September 7.

Two dozen trains have been chartered to move 30,000 pieces of furniture, 28,000 boxes of books, 1,300 computers and an estimated 40 kilometers (25 miles) of files.

"It's a historic moment today," said Hans Schmidt, manager of a consortium of 90 moving firms working on the project. "It's the move of the century. We haven't had a move like this in the past 100 years, and hopefully the Bundestag won't be moving again in the next 100."

After an absence of 66 years, the parliament will return to the refurbished Reichstag. The building was damaged by fire at the beginning of the Nazi era in 1933 and nearly destroyed by Allied bombs in 1945 as the Third Reich collapsed.

When the Cold War divided the country, East Germany inherited Berlin as its capital. West Germany established its federal seat at Bonn in 1949.

Parliament voted in 1991, soon after Germany was reunified, to return to Berlin.

The government of Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, which began its migration from Bonn several months ago, also will be ready for work there in early September.

Because of construction delays, Schroeder's new office won't be ready until 2001. Until then, his government will conduct business from the building that housed East Germany's Communist government.

Correspondent Chris Burns, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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