Brandenburg Gate

Brandenburg Gate

The Brandenburg Gate (Brandenburger Tor) is a neoclassical building located in the capital of Germany, Berlin. It was commissioned by Prussian King Frederick William II and built between 1788 and 1791 to commemorate Prussia’s victory in the Seven Years' War.

The Brandenburg Gate is the symbol of Berlin as well as a national emblem of Germany. It has witnessed many important historical events in Berlin, Germany, Europe, and even the world.

The Brandenburg Gate is situated in the heart of Berlin. To its east lies the end of Pariser Platz (German: Pariser Platz) and Unter den Linden (German: Unter den Linden), while to its west marks the beginning of Platz des 18. März (German: Platz des 18. März) and Straße des 17. Juni (German: Straße des 17. Juni).

The Pariser Platz on the eastern side of the Brandenburg Gate is named in commemoration of the Prussian army's occupation of Paris during the Liberation War in 1814. Unter den Linden stretches eastward from the Brandenburg Gate through the heart of Berlin, all the way to Museum Island and the Berlin TV Tower, and is one of the most magnificent streets in Europe.

The Platz des 18. März on the western side of the Brandenburg Gate is named to remember the German March Revolution of March 18, 1848, and the first free elections of the People's Chamber in East Germany on March 18, 1990. Straße des 17. Juni commemorates the popular uprising in East Germany on June 17, 1953. It runs westward from the Brandenburg Gate, passing the Berlin Victory Column, and cutting through Berlin Zoo and Technische Universität Berlin.

The eastern side of the Brandenburg Gate faces the old city of Berlin, while the western side leads outside the city. Therefore, the eastern side is considered “inside the gate” and the western side “outside the gate.”

Brandenburg Gate (Brandenburger Tor), www.sintu.com, Xintu Travel Network

Architecture:

The Brandenburg Gate is 26 meters high, 65.5 meters wide, and 11 meters deep. It is a sandstone building in the neoclassical style, modeled after the Propylaea of the Acropolis in Athens, and was designed by Prussian architect Carl Gotthard Langhans.

The Brandenburg Gate is supported by 12 Doric columns, each 15 meters tall with a base diameter of 1.75 meters, holding up a flat roof—six columns on each of the eastern and western sides, carved in the Ionic style. Walls between the front and back columns divide the gate into five passageways, with the central one slightly wider, designed for members of the royal family. Until the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1918, only royalty and their invited guests were permitted to use the central passage. The inner walls of the gate feature relief sculptures depicting Hercules, the greatest hero of Roman mythology, Mars the god of war, and Minerva, the goddess of wisdom and protector of artists and craftsmen.

At the highest point of the gate’s central top is a approximately 5-meter-high bronze statue of the Goddess of Victory (Nike in Greek mythology, Victoria in Roman mythology). The winged goddess rides a four-horse chariot facing east toward the city of Berlin. In her right hand she holds a scepter adorned with an oak wreath containing an Iron Cross, atop which perches an eagle with outstretched wings wearing the crown of Prussia. The sculpture symbolizes victory in war and was created by Prussian sculptor Johann Gottfried Schadow.

The north and south wing buildings connected to the Brandenburg Gate were originally used for guards and checkpoints. After the Berlin city wall was demolished, they were converted into open colonnaded halls to match the style of the Brandenburg Gate.

The solemnity and grandeur of the Brandenburg Gate fully reflect the majesty of the Prussian Kingdom’s capital during its peak.

Address: Pariser Platz 1, 10117 Berlin (Mitte)

Transportation: S-Bahn (light rail): S1, S2, S25 to Unter den Linden station; Buses: routes 100, 200, 248, 257, 348