Brandenburg Gate

Standing before the Brandenburg Gate, you are looking at the definitive symbol of Berlin and, arguably, of Germany itself. This neoclassical masterpiece has stood for over two hundred and thirty years, surviving through the rise…

Let us examine the structural brilliance of the gate itself. Built between seventeen eighty-eight and seventeen ninety-one, this is the only remaining city gate of Berlin. …

Looking up to the summit of the gate, you see the Quadriga, a bronze sculpture created by Johann Gottfried Schadow in seventeen ninety-three. It depicts the winged goddess Victoria driving a four-horse chariot. …

Step through the gate into Pariser Platz. This square was named in eighteen fourteen to celebrate the Prussian occupation of Paris. …

If you turn around and look through the gate toward the west, your eyes follow the Strasse des 17. Juni, a massive boulevard that cuts straight through the Tiergarten. …

The Brandenburg Gate has been the backdrop for some of the most consequential speeches of the twentieth century. Because it was located right at the border of East and West, it became a powerful symbolic stage. …

To truly experience the Brandenburg Gate, one must see it after the sun goes down. The gate is illuminated by hundreds of carefully placed lights that highlight the texture of the sandstone and the dramatic shadows of the columns. …

As we depart from the Brandenburg Gate, take one last look at the goddess Victoria driving her chariot toward the heart of the city. We have seen how this gate evolved from a Prussian entrance to a symbol of imperial victory, a…