Brandenburg Gate

The Brandenburg Gate is a Neoclassical triumphal arch at Pariser Platz in Berlin-Mitte, designed by Carl Gotthard Langhans and completed in 1791 on the orders of Prussian King Frederick William II. Its sandstone colonnade deliberately echoes the Propylaea of the Athenian Acropolis, a signature gesture of Greek Revival architecture. The crowning Quadriga, sculpted by Johann Gottfried Schadow, originally depicted a goddess of peace — Napoleon had it hauled to Paris in 1806 as war booty, and when it was returned after his defeat, the Prussians recast it as a symbol of victory instead. Through the 20th century the gate became an involuntary stage for history: Nazi torchlight processions, the death strip of the Berlin Wall running directly alongside it, and finally the euphoric crowds of reunification on the night of 9 November 1989. Open and freely walkable around the clock, the gate anchors Berlin's largest New Year's Eve celebration each year.

Neoclassical city gate by Carl Gotthard Langhans, completed in 1791. A symbol of reunification, today a meeting point between Pariser Platz and the Tiergarten.