Debt of the Operating Partnership (Outstanding Indebtedness - Global Revolving Credit Facility) (Details) $ in Thousands	Sep. 30, 2015 USD ($) $ / ¥ $ / CAD $ / £ $ / HKD $ / SGD $ / € $ / AUD	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($) $ / ¥ $ / CAD $ / £ $ / HKD $ / SGD $ / € $ / AUD
SGD
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Exchange rate | $ / SGD	0.70	0.75
Global revolving credit facility
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Balance as of September 30, 2015	$ 688,957	$ 525,951
Digital Realty Trust, L.P. | GBP
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Exchange rate | $ / £	1.51	1.56
Digital Realty Trust, L.P. | EUR
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Exchange rate | $ / €	1.12	1.21
Digital Realty Trust, L.P. | AUD
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Exchange rate | $ / AUD	0.70	0.82
Digital Realty Trust, L.P. | Global revolving credit facility
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Balance as of September 30, 2015	$ 688,957	$ 525,951
Weighted-average interest rate	1.65%	1.87%
Digital Realty Trust, L.P. | Global revolving credit facility | Floating Rate
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Balance as of September 30, 2015	$ 683,957	$ 514,951
Weighted-average interest rate	1.63%	1.84%
Digital Realty Trust, L.P. | Global revolving credit facility | USD | Base Rate
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Balance as of September 30, 2015	$ 5,000	$ 11,000
Weighted-average interest rate	3.35%	3.35%
Digital Realty Trust, L.P. | Global revolving credit facility | USD | Floating Rate
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Balance as of September 30, 2015	$ 50,000	$ 90,000
Weighted-average interest rate	1.29%	1.27%
Digital Realty Trust, L.P. | Global revolving credit facility | GBP
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Exchange rate | $ / £	1.51	1.56
Digital Realty Trust, L.P. | Global revolving credit facility | GBP | Floating Rate
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Balance as of September 30, 2015	$ 110,434	$ 132,716
Weighted-average interest rate	1.62%	1.61%
Digital Realty Trust, L.P. | Global revolving credit facility | EUR
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Exchange rate | $ / €	1.12	1.21
Digital Realty Trust, L.P. | Global revolving credit facility | EUR | Floating Rate
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Balance as of September 30, 2015	$ 214,822	$ 58,071
Weighted-average interest rate	1.00%	1.13%
Digital Realty Trust, L.P. | Global revolving credit facility | AUD
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Exchange rate | $ / AUD	0.70	0.82
Digital Realty Trust, L.P. | Global revolving credit facility | AUD | Floating Rate
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Balance as of September 30, 2015	$ 88,497	$ 72,676
Weighted-average interest rate	3.15%	3.74%
Digital Realty Trust, L.P. | Global revolving credit facility | HKD
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Exchange rate | $ / HKD	0.13	0.13
Digital Realty Trust, L.P. | Global revolving credit facility | HKD | Floating Rate
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Balance as of September 30, 2015	$ 88,476	$ 79,336
Weighted-average interest rate	1.36%	1.34%
Digital Realty Trust, L.P. | Global revolving credit facility | JPY
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Exchange rate | $ / ¥	0.01	0.01
Digital Realty Trust, L.P. | Global revolving credit facility | JPY | Floating Rate
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Balance as of September 30, 2015	$ 14,265	$ 13,201
Weighted-average interest rate	1.13%	1.17%
Digital Realty Trust, L.P. | Global revolving credit facility | SGD
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Exchange rate | $ / SGD	0.70	0.75
Digital Realty Trust, L.P. | Global revolving credit facility | SGD | Floating Rate
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Balance as of September 30, 2015	$ 46,475	$ 6,565
Weighted-average interest rate	2.42%	1.64%
Digital Realty Trust, L.P. | Global revolving credit facility | CAD
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Exchange rate | $ / CAD	0.75	0.86
Digital Realty Trust, L.P. | Global revolving credit facility | CAD | Floating Rate
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Balance as of September 30, 2015	$ 70,988	$ 62,386
Weighted-average interest rate	1.86%	2.39%