You are standing next to one of Europe's most
famous landmarks and the most iconic site
in Berlin; the Brandenburger Tor.
This monument, also known as "the Brandenburg
Gate", was designed by Carl Gotthard Langhans
and constructed 1788-1791 on order by the
Prussian king, Fredrik Vilhelm II.
The gate used to be a part of the old city
wall and was one of a total of eight gates
leading into the city.
As much of the architecture at that time,
the gate design is inspired by ancient Greek
architecture and has many resemblances to
the gateway to the Acropolis in Athens.
The gate itself is 26m high, 65,5m wide and
11m deep.
As you can see; on the top of the gate stands
a large statue.
This is the quadriga; the four horse drawn
chariot.
The chariot is driven by Victoria, the Roman
goddess of victory.
The quadriga was built 1793 and designed by
Johann Gottfried Schadow as a symbol of peace.
What many people do now know is that even
though the gate itself has remained more or
less intact over the years, the statue on
top of it has been changed several times.
After the Prussian defeat against the French
commander Napoleon I in 1806, Napoleon ordered
that the statue would be transported to Paris
as a sign of the French superiority.
It only remained there for eight years until
the Prussians recaptured it and brought it
back to Berlin.
The roman goddess driving the chariot, Victoria,
originally carried an olive wreath with a
roman eagle on top of it.
However, back in Berlin the statue underwent
a drastic change.
Instead of carrying the olive wreath, symbolizing
peace, a banner-like symbol was added instead.
As you can see, on the top of the banner is
now the Prussian coat of arms; the Prussian
eagle.
Under the eagle you can see a wreath of oak
leaves and inside it the Iron Cross.
The Iron Cross was the military symbol of
the Prussian kingdom and was later used by
Germany as well.
With that the so called "Gate of Peace" became
the "Gate of Victory".
After the statue had been brought back from
Paris, the neighboring square was also renamed
"Praiser Platz", the Paris Square, as a symbol
of the Prussian victory.
After the Second World War, the Brandenburg
Gate was one of the few standing buildings
in the area; though it was badly damaged by
bullet holes and nearby explosions.
After the war had ended and Berlin had been
divided into two, both the West Berlin and
the East Berlin governments restored the monument
in a joint effort.
The west was in charge of restoring the statue
while east was in charge of restoring the
gate itself.
Not surprisingly, the cooperation did not
proceed without complications.
Before moving the statue to the top of the
gate, the communist government removed the
Iron Cross and sawed off the Prussian eagle
from Victorias banner, as it was seen as a
symbol of the Prussian and the Nazi military.
Let's just say it didn't improve the relationship
between West and East.
During the Cold war and the rise of the Berlin
wall, the gate became inaccessible to West
Berliners and in a large extent also to East
Berliners.
As the walls collapsed, the gate once again
became the symbol of freedom and unity it
is today.
On December 22, 1989, the Brandenburg Gate
re-opened when Helmut Kohl the West German
chancellor, walked through to be greeted by
Hans Modrow, the East German prime minister.
The gate became the central place of celebration
and the icon for the German reunion.
After the German reunification, the Prussian
eagle and the Iron Cross were restored in
1990, which until then had been kept in an
East Berlin museum.
Some argued that restoring the eagle and the
cross was wrong, as they were symbols that
had been used by the Nazis.
However, as the symbols originally were founded
during the liberation war against Napoleon,
and not during the world war one and two,
the protests had little support.
The monument has received several restorations
during the last decade and luckily for you
and I, no traffic is allowed through the gate
anymore.
This to ensure that the gate is as accessible
to visitors as possible and to make sure it
remains intact.
During the years, many famous speeches as
been held at the Brandenburg Gate, including
speeches by John F Kennedy, Ronald Reagan,
Bill Clinton, Dalai Lama, to name a few.
As you now know, the monument and its symbolism
have played a central part throughout the
history and will surly continue to in the
future.
