Investment in Unconsolidated Joint Ventures (Narrative) (Details) $ in Millions	9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2016 USD ($) property joint_venture	Sep. 30, 2015 USD ($)
Schedule of Equity Method Investments [Line Items]
Number of properties \| property	144
Amortization expense, present value of future insurance profits \| $	$ 0.0	$ 0.0
2001 Sixth Avenue, 2020 Fifth Avenue, 33 Chun Choi Street
Schedule of Equity Method Investments [Line Items]
Number of joint ventures \| joint_venture	3
2001 Sixth Avenue
Schedule of Equity Method Investments [Line Items]
Ownership percentage in joint ventures	50.00%
2020 Fifth Avenue
Schedule of Equity Method Investments [Line Items]
Ownership percentage in joint ventures	50.00%
33 Chun Choi Street Hong Kong
Schedule of Equity Method Investments [Line Items]
Ownership percentage in joint ventures	50.00%
Prudential Real Estate Investors and Griffin Capital Essential Asset REIT, Inc.
Schedule of Equity Method Investments [Line Items]
Number of joint ventures \| joint_venture	2
PREI
Schedule of Equity Method Investments [Line Items]
Ownership percentage in joint ventures	20.00%
Number of joint ventures \| joint_venture	1
Number of properties \| property	10
GCEAR
Schedule of Equity Method Investments [Line Items]
Ownership percentage in joint ventures	20.00%
Number of properties \| property	1

Equity Method Investment, Difference Between Carrying Amount and Underlying Equity, Amortization

No definition available.

Name:	dlr_EquityMethodInvestmentDifferenceBetweenCarryingAmountandUnderlyingEquityAmortization
Namespace Prefix:	dlr_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Number of Joint Ventures

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	dlr_NumberofJointVentures
Namespace Prefix:	dlr_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The percentage of ownership of common stock or equity participation in the investee accounted for under the equity method of accounting.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 323
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 3
-Subparagraph (a)(1)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=66011266&loc=d3e33918-111571

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_EquityMethodInvestmentOwnershipPercentage
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

The number of real estate properties owned as of the balance sheet date.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_NumberOfRealEstateProperties
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ScheduleOfEquityMethodInvestmentsLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_ScheduleOfEquityMethodInvestmentEquityMethodInvesteeNameAxis=dlr_A2001SixthAvenue2020FifthAvenue33ChunChoiStreetMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_ScheduleOfEquityMethodInvestmentEquityMethodInvesteeNameAxis=dlr_ThousandAndOneSixthAvenueMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_ScheduleOfEquityMethodInvestmentEquityMethodInvesteeNameAxis=dlr_A2020FifthAvenueMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_ScheduleOfEquityMethodInvestmentEquityMethodInvesteeNameAxis=dlr_ThirtyThreeChunChoiStreetHongKongMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_ScheduleOfEquityMethodInvestmentEquityMethodInvesteeNameAxis=dlr_PrudentialRealEstateInvestorsandGriffinCapitalEssentialAssetREITInc.Member
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_ScheduleOfEquityMethodInvestmentEquityMethodInvesteeNameAxis=dlr_PrudentialRealEstateInvestorsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_ScheduleOfEquityMethodInvestmentEquityMethodInvesteeNameAxis=dlr_GriffinCapitalEssentialAssetREITInc.Member
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: