The Brandenburg Gate In Berlin

Posted on February 23, 2009
Filed Under Europe

Brandenburg Gate is not a triumph arch, like many people think, but it was built as a passage to the “New Berlin”. Located in the heart of Berlin, it is the most representative symbol of the German capital. Specifically located in Paris Square, the end of the popular avenue Unter den Linden, marking the beginning of the large Tiergarten park and the boulevard Straße des 17. Juni.

The Brandenburg Gate was designed by the architect “Carl Gotthard Langhans”. It is 26m high, 65.5 m wide and 11m long. This monument is reminiscent of the Propylaea Acrópilis in Athens. It has five entrances, of which the central is the widest, leaving two smaller doors. The areas of interior and exterior steps are covered with reliefs representing Hercules, Mars and the goddess Minerva. In 1867, seventy nine years after it was built, two gates were placed higher on both sides.

The monument is crowned with a quadriga sculpture measuring 5 meters in height. It represents the goddess of Victory mounted on a cart pulled by four horses, which are looking in direction to the city of Berlin.

In 1806, after the Battle of Jena, the chariot was brought to Paris by Napoleon to be displayed as a trophy of war. Before that happened, Napoleon was overthrown. After the siege, General Von Pfuel, commander of one of the areas of the city, recovered the statue for Berlin in 1814. That statue was restored and a cross of iron was added.

During the Second World War, the monument suffered more serious damage and the chariot was destroyed almost completely. In 1956 the city council agreed to the reconstruction despite the arguments about the divided city. Despite these problems, they worked together and rebuilt the monument again.

With the construction of the Wall in 1961, Brandenburg Gate stayed in no man’s land, there was no access to it from either east or west. Only a few soldiers and guests from the GDR had access to that monument.

After reunification in 1991, the chariot was dismantled and restored. Between January 2001 and October 2002, the Gate underwent a complete restoration. Brandenburg Gate was uncovered on 3rd October 2002 and from that moment, it has been the most representative monument of the German capital.

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