Debt of the Operating Partnership (Floating and Base Rate Borrowing) (Details) - Digital Realty Trust, L.P. $ in Thousands		3 Months Ended
	Jan. 15, 2016	Mar. 31, 2017 USD ($) $ / SGD $ / € $ / ¥ $ / £ $ / CAD $ / HKD	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($) $ / SGD $ / € $ / ¥ $ / £ $ / CAD $ / HKD
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Long-term debt, gross		$ 6,256,298
Global revolving credit facility
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Long-term debt, gross		$ 574,379	$ 210,077
Weighted-average interest rate		1.32%	1.39%
Interest rate basis spread	1.00%	1.00%
Global revolving credit facility | Floating Rate
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Long-term debt, gross		$ 564,379	$ 210,077
Weighted-average interest rate		1.27%	1.39%
Interest rate basis spread		1.00%
Global revolving credit facility | Prime Rate
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Interest rate basis spread		0.00%
U.S. dollar ($) | Global revolving credit facility | Floating Rate
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Long-term debt, gross		$ 80,000	$ 105,000
Weighted-average interest rate		1.91%	1.67%
U.S. dollar ($) | Global revolving credit facility | Base Rate
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Long-term debt, gross		$ 10,000	$ 0
Weighted-average interest rate		4.00%	0.00%
British pound sterling (£) | Global revolving credit facility
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Exchange rate | $ / £		1.26	1.23
British pound sterling (£) | Global revolving credit facility | Floating Rate
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Long-term debt, gross		$ 328,183	$ 11,106
Weighted-average interest rate		1.27%	1.25%
Euro (€) | Global revolving credit facility
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Exchange rate | $ / €		1.07	1.05
Euro (€) | Global revolving credit facility | Floating Rate
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Long-term debt, gross		$ 43,141	$ 15,250
Weighted-average interest rate		0.63%	0.63%
Hong Kong dollar (HKD) | Global revolving credit facility
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Exchange rate | $ / HKD		0.13	0.13
Hong Kong dollar (HKD) | Global revolving credit facility | Floating Rate
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Long-term debt, gross		$ 2,432	$ 1,728
Weighted-average interest rate		1.45%	1.66%
Japanese yen (JPY) | Global revolving credit facility
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Exchange rate | $ / ¥		0.01	0.01
Japanese yen (JPY) | Global revolving credit facility | Floating Rate
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Long-term debt, gross		$ 96,530	$ 54,273
Weighted-average interest rate		0.96%	0.92%
Singapore dollar (SGD) | Global revolving credit facility
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Exchange rate | $ / SGD		0.72	0.69
Singapore dollar (SGD) | Global revolving credit facility | Floating Rate
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Long-term debt, gross		$ 2,004	$ 11,186
Weighted-average interest rate		1.66%	1.52%
Canadian dollar (CAD) | Global revolving credit facility
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Exchange rate | $ / CAD		0.75	0.74
Canadian dollar (CAD) | Global revolving credit facility | Floating Rate
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Long-term debt, gross		$ 12,089	$ 11,534
Weighted-average interest rate		1.94%	1.92%