and to take in customs revenue. Instead the Brandenburg Gate rose to fame as a symbol for the German partition. It divided one city and at least one nation. Longstanding it was located in back of the Berlin Wall. Nobody was allowed to take a closer look at it or to come in its area, because this zone was the strictly observed borderline between East Berlin and West Berlin. Not until 1991 the Brandenburg Gate was opened after the political system changed. At the present it is a real gate to the historical heart of Berlin. Enter it and you can experience the reunited town.
Carl Gotthard Langhans rebuilt an older Gate from 1734 to this splendid and magnificent building from 1789 until 1791. He had no idea, that his town gate should become so famous in the future. While in France the revolution took place to get rid of absolutism, it was the time of Prussian aristocratic in Berlin. A rigid imagination of Berlin architecture consisted. At this time the Brandenburg Gate should become the 18th town gate. Carl Gotthard Langhans dared to build something new. He found his inspiration at the Greek antique and took the Propyläen of the Athen Arkopolis as an example. Many architects followed his example. It's no wonder that Berlin is also called "Spree-Athen" - it is situated on the river Spree and its still present monumental buildings remind the Greek antique.
All other town gates were constructed simple. Two pillars formed the gates.
But not the Brandenburg Gate. It has fife passages. Each single pillar is eleven meters deep and has a doric column of sandstone in front of it. On both sides of the gate were gate lodges. Berlins splendour boulevard "Unter den Linden" ends directly in front of the gate. Of cause the king expected a representative and monumental building. The width averages 65 meters and its altitude comes up to 26 meters. The absolute highlight of the gate is the Quadriga, designed by Gottfried Schadow. When Napoleons troops marched through the Brandenburg Gate in 1806 the Quadriga was more or less kidnapped. It was transported to Paris by ship. Some years later the sculpture came triumphant home after the Germans invasion in 1814. That's the reason why the Quadriga is a symbol for independent wars. As a mark of trophy Schinkel set up the Iron Cross on the staff of the goddess Victoria. Did you know, that only the imperial family had the allowance to drive trough the middle passage of the Brandenburg Gate until 1918, when the Emperor Wilhelm II abdicated.
It's a near-miracle that East and West worked together in the fifties of the 20th century to restore the Brandenburg Gate after bombs destroyed it in the Second World War. Difficult opinions complicated it, but the understanding of a German historical building and its importance brought the best result. A new Quadriga was set up on the gate. The original moulds are still in the hands of a West Berlin company by the name of Noack. The Iron Cross on the staff within the Prussian Eagle wasn't installed again. The East was too much afraid of a negative statement, because an interpretation could remind the National Socialism. After reunification of East and West the Iron Cross found again its place beside Victoria and her chariot. These were the best conditions for reconstruction of "Pariser Platz" in its historical dimensions too. Today Berlins visitors look at the Berlin Gate and the modern "Pariser Platz" in amazement and marvel at the traditional flair and the great background. It lost nothing of its charming charisma. The Brandenburg Gate changed its appearance from a part of the Death Strip to an entrance to the historical heart of Berlin. Today it is the last existing town gate of Berlin.
Text: A.K. / Übers. C.D.
