Brandenburg Gate
Brandenburger Tor
A neoclassical city gate completed in 1791. During the Cold War it stood right beside the Berlin Wall and became a symbol of division; after 1989 it became a symbol of German reunification.
The Brandenburg Gate was designed by architect Carl Gotthard Langhans, modeled on the Propylaea of the Athenian Acropolis, and built between 1788 and 1791. It is 26 meters tall, with twelve Doric columns forming five passageways. On top is Schadow's Quadriga, the goddess of victory driving a four-horse chariot. In 1806, after Napoleon captured Berlin, the statue was carried off to Paris. In 1814, after Prussia recovered it, an Iron Cross and an eagle were added to the scepter in her hand. The gate was badly damaged in World War II. After the Berlin Wall went up in 1961, it was cut off inside the death strip and became the most famous symbol of the East-West division. In 1987, President Reagan delivered his 'Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall' speech here. On December 22, 1989, the gate reopened, and 100,000 people celebrated here. Today it faces Straße des 17. Juni and the Tiergarten park to the west, while the reconstructed Pariser Platz lies to the east, surrounded by the French Embassy, the American Embassy and the Hotel Adlon Kempinski. The gate itself is free and open around the clock, and the square is a pedestrian zone. The Reichstag is a 3-minute walk to the north, the Holocaust Memorial is a 5-minute walk to the south, and Museum Island is a 20-minute walk east along Unter den Linden, so the gate is usually the starting point of a Berlin visit. Getting there: exit at Brandenburger Tor station on S-Bahn lines S1, S2 or S25, or on U-Bahn line U5; bus 100 also passes by. On New Year's Eve, before Christmas and during major holidays, the square is closed for events. For a photo without crowds, come before 7 a.m.; the gate under evening lights photographs just as well. The Hotel Adlon Kempinski beside Pariser Platz, west of the gate, has been a filming location for films such as All Quiet on the Western Front, and nearby the 'House of Silence' is a quiet space for reflection.
Opening hours
Open all day
Nearby sights
- Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe
- Reichstag Building
- Potsdamer Platz
- Topography of Terror
- Gemäldegalerie
- Gendarmenmarkt
- Checkpoint Charlie
- Museum Island