Brandenburg Gate

The Brandenburg Gate

The Brandenburg Gate (German: Brandenburger Tor) is a former city gate and one of the main symbols of Berlin and Germany. It is located west of the city center at the junction of Unter den Linden and Ebertstraße, immediately west of the Pariser Platz. It is the only remaining gate of a series through which one formerly entered Berlin. One block to the north stands the Reichstag building. The gate is the monumental entry to Unter den Linden, the renowned boulevard of linden trees which formerly led directly to the city palace of the Prussian monarchs. It was commissioned by King Frederick William II of Prussia as a sign of peace and built by Carl Gotthard Langhans from 1788 to 1791. The Brandenburg Gate was restored from 2000 to 2002 by the Stiftung Denkmalschutz Berlin (Berlin Monument Conservation Foundation). Today, it is considered one of Europe's most famous landmarks.

1 Design and history
2 Berlin Wall and its fall
3 Political history at the gate
4 Gallery
5 See also
6 References
7 External links

Design and history

Berlin in 1688. The future site of the Brandenburg gate should have been near the center left of the map, separating the Tiergarten from Unter den Linden. Travelers going west from the city toward Brandenburg an der Havel might pass in this direction.

Napoleon in Berlin.

The gate in 1928

When a much larger Berlin was partitioned after World War II, the central borough of the city fell into the Soviets sector, adjoining the British sector at the Brandenburg Gate.

In the time of Frederick William (1688), shortly after the Thirty Years' war and a century before the gate was constructed, Berlin was a small walled city within a star fort with several named gates: Spandauer Thor, St. Georgen Thor, Stralower Thor, Copernicker Thor, Neue Thor, and Leipziger Thor (see map). Relative peace, a policy of religious tolerance, and status as capital of the Kingdom of Prussia facilitated the growth of the city.

The Brandenburg Gate consists of twelve Doric columns, six to each side, forming five passageways. Citizens originally were allowed to use only the outermost two. Atop the gate is the Quadriga, a chariot drawn by four horses driven by Victoria, the Roman goddess of victory.

The Gate's design is based upon the Propylaea, the gateway to the Acropolis in Athens, Greece and is consistent with Berlin's history of architectural classicism (first, Baroque, and then neo-Palladian). The Gate was the first "Athens on the River Spree" by architect Carl Gotthard von Langhans. The capital Quadriga was sculpted by Johann Gottfried Schadow.

The Brandenburg Gate's design has remained essentially unchanged since its completion even as it has played different political roles in German history. After the 1806 Prussian defeat at the Battle of Jena-Auerstedt, Napoleon took the Quadriga to Paris.^[1] After Napoleon's defeat in 1814 and the Prussian occupation of Paris by General Ernst von Pfuel, the Quadriga was restored to Berlin and Victoria's wreath of oak leaves was supplemented with a new symbol of Prussian power, the Iron Cross. The Quadriga faces east, as it did when it was originally installed in 1793. At that time, only the royal family was allowed to pass through the central archway^[1], as well as members of the Pfuel family from 1814 to 1919. In addition, the central archway was also used by the coaches of Ambassadors on the single occasion of their presenting their letters of credence to the monarch.

When the Nazis ascended to power they used the Gate as a party symbol. The Gate survived World War II and was one of the few structures standing in the Pariser Platz ruins in 1945 (another being the Academy of Fine Arts). The gate was badly damaged with holes in the columns from bullets and nearby explosions. Following Germany's surrender and the end of the war, the governments of East Berlin and West Berlin restored it in a joint effort. The holes were patched, and were visible for many years following the war.

In 1990, the Quadriga was removed from the gate as part of renovation work carried out by the East German authorities.

On December 21, 2000, the Brandenburg Gate was privately refurbished at a cost of six million dollars (U.S.).

On October 3, 2002, the twelfth anniversary of German Reunification, the Brandenburg Gate was once again reopened following extensive refurbishment.

The Brandenburg Gate is now again closed for vehicle traffic, and much of Pariser Platz has been turned into a cobblestone pedestrian zone.

A Soviet flag flew from a flagpole atop the gate from 1945 until 1957, when it was replaced by an East German flag. Since the reunification of Germany, the flag and the pole have been removed.

Berlin Wall and its fall

East German border guards checking vehicles entering East Berlin the day the Wall went up.

Vehicles and pedestrians could travel freely through the gate, located in East Berlin, until the Berlin Wall was built, 13 August 1961. Then one of altogether eight Berlin Wall crossings was opened on the eastern side of the gate, usually not open for East Berliners and East Germans, who from then on needed a hard-to-obtain exit visa. On 14 August West Berliners gathered on the western side of the gate to demonstrate against the Berlin Wall, among them West Berlin's Governing Mayor Willy Brandt, who had spontaneously returned from a West German federal election campaigning tour in West Germany early the same day.

Under the pretext that Western demonstrations required it, the East closed the checkpoint at the Brandenburg Gate the same day, 'until further notice', a situation that was to last until 22 December 1989. The Wall was erected as an arc just west of the gate, cutting off access from West Berlin. On the eastern side, the "baby Wall", drawn across the eastern end of Pariser Platz rendered it off limits to East Berliners as well.

Newly opened Brandenburg Gate crossing on two sides of the gate.

When the Revolutions of 1989 occurred and the Wall fell, the gate symbolized freedom and the desire to unify the city of Berlin. Thousands of people gathered at the Wall to celebrate its fall on 9 November 1989. On 22 December 1989, the Brandenburg Gate crossing was reopened when Helmut Kohl, the West German chancellor, walked through to be greeted by Hans Modrow, the East German prime minister. Demolition of the rest of the Wall around the area took place the following year.

Twentieth anniversary celebrations of the Fall of the Wall at Brandenburg Gate on 9 November 2009 featuring a performance by U2.

Brandenburg Gate became the main venue for the 20th anniversary celebrations of the fall of the Berlin Wall or "Festival of Freedom" on the evening of 9 November 2009. The high point of the celebrations was when over 1000 colorfully designed foam domino tiles, each over 2.5 meters tall, were lined up along the route of the former wall through the city center. The domino "wall" was then toppled in stages converging here.^[2]

Political history at the gate

In 1963, U.S. President John F. Kennedy visited the Brandenburg Gate. The Soviets hung large red banners across it to prevent him looking into the East. In the 1980s, decrying the existence of two German states, West Berlin mayor Richard von Weizsäcker said: 'The German question is open as long as the Brandenburg Gate is closed.' ^[3]

On June 12, 1987, U.S. President Ronald Reagan spoke to the West Berlin populace at the Brandenburg Gate, demanding the razing of the Berlin Wall. Addressing CPSU General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev, Reagan said,

“

General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!

”

On July 12, 1994, U.S. President Bill Clinton spoke at the Gate about peace in post-Cold War Europe.

On November 9, 2009, Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel, walked through Brandenburg Gate with Russia’s Mikhail Gorbachev and Poland's Lech Wałęsa as part of the 20-year celebration of tearing down the Berlin Wall.

Gallery

Brandenburg Gate then and now

Napoleon in Berlin.	After the 1870 Battle of Sedan. In English, the sign reads "What a change through God's guidance"	The Brandenburg Gate in 1871	The Gate and surroundings in 2005
Brandenburg Gate, May 2008	The Quadriga atop the Brandenburg Gate	The Brandenburg Gate appears on the obverse of the 50, 20 and 10 cent German euro coins

The Berlin Wall goes up

Sign warning people they were about to leave West Berlin in 1959 before the wall's construction	Checks being done by East German guards on those crossing the border from West Berlin to the East just before the construction of the Wall in 1961.	East Germans guarding the Brandenburg Gate with a wire fence marking the border between East and West Berlin in 1961.	The Brandenburg Gate on the day construction of the Berlin Wall began, August 13, 1961
Guards line up in front of the Brandenburg Gate, closing of the border between the two parts of Germany.	Guards line up in front of the Brandenburg Gate on 14 August 1961.	From the East-Side 1968 the "Baby Wall" with flowers was the nearest point for visitors.	The Brandenburg Gate in 1982 viewed from the East Berlin side. Behind the gate is the Berlin Wall and in the foreground is the rail that was accessible from East Berlin.
The Wall in front of Brandenburg Gate in 1988.	View from the air of the Berlin Wall forming a semicircle west of the Brandenburg Gate (at foreground), Pariser Platz (just behind the gate) which was out-of-bounds to the public, and the Unter den Linden.	Ronald Reagan giving a speech on June 12, 1987	A graffiti mural of The Brandenburg Gate on the East Side Gallery of the Berlin Wall (2008)

And down

West Berlin police control the crowds which have gathered in front of Brandenburg Gate on 11 November 1989, two days after the fall of the Wall. East German guards stand on a raised platform on their side of the wall.	Crowds gather after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.	Crowds gather after the fall of the Berlin Wall in December 1989. East Germans have been allowed to cross the "baby wall" and come close to the Outer Wall.	The media gathering to cover the fall of the Wall and anticipated opening of the Brandenberg Gate crossing in November 1989.
A crane removing a section of the Berlin Wall beside the Brandenburg Gate in Dec 1989.	Cranes removing parts of the Wall to create an opening for a new crossing in the early hours of opening day on 22 November 1989.	East German Border Police Pamphlet announcing the opening of Brandenburg Gate as border checkpoint for pedestrians only.	West German chancellor Dr. Helmut Kohl, West Berlin mayor Walter Momper, West German Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher and East German president Dr. Hans Modrow at the opening of the Brandenburg Gate crossing on 22 November 1989.
East German president Dr. Hans Modrow, West German chancellor Dr. Helmut Kohl and West Berlin mayor Walter Momper inside East German territory at the opening of Brandenburg Gate border crossing.	Getting passports stamped at the Brandenburg Gate crossing on opening day.	Police personnel (NCOs and enlisted men) of the East German Volkspolizei wait for the official opening of the Brandenburg Gate 22 December 1989.	Dismantling the Wall at Brandenburg Gate in April 1990.
Passport stamp for the newly opened crossing.	Souvenir hunters chip off parts of the Wall in front of the Reichstag building in December 1989.	Celebrations on the day of the reunification of East and West Germany on 3 October 1990	Brandenburg Gate and where the Wall used to stand, marked by the row of cobblestones.