(architect of the Reichstag building in Berlin) also participated in the jury. Bluntschli was aware that the Federal Palace East had created a fait accompli and that without a dome, the parliament building would hardly stand out among the symmetrical buildings. He abandoned his architectural restraint and tried to outdo his competitor with a pompous domed building reminiscent of the Palais du Trocadéro in Paris. In comparison, Auer's design appeared moderate and restrained. Nevertheless, the jury could not reach a decision as it still considered a dome over a vestibule room to be "monstrous". On 30 June 1891, the Federal Council acted on its own authority and decided in favor of Auer. The National Council approved the decision on 24 March 1893 and the Council of States followed suit on 30 March 1894. Auer drew up the plans and took into account the criticism of his professional colleagues. By extending the dome space to form a Greek cross, he removed the character of a vestibule. He designed the staircase as a bridge-like structure standing freely in space, following the example of the Opéra Garnier in Paris. He also took up the suggestion of the to give the domed hall a higher consecration by installing statues. The sculptor Anselmo Laurenti made a plaster model, which was presented to the Swiss Society of Engineers and Architects in 1895 and exhibited at the National Exhibition in Geneva the following year. Auer intended to represent Switzerland symbolically in the parliament building through the use of stone deposits all over the country. In order to realize this goal, he assigned a central role to this ideal in his planning. This goal was not fully achieved but nevertheless, all significant stones of Switzerland were used. They embody the diversity of the country according to petrographic, geological and federal aspects. Particularly noteworthy is the almost complete use of stones that had been used for exclusive purposes since the 18th century by the workshop in Bern and the Doret workshop in Vevey. Swiss limestones dominate the architecture of the Federal Palace. Other materiel from Swiss quarries include marble, sandstone, gneiss, granite, and serpentinite. Carrara marble and from Belgium, France and Italy were used for sculptures. No fewer than 30 types of stone from 13 different cantons and half-cantons were used in the construction of the building. Almost all of Switzerland's tectonic structural units are represented, dating back in