Citystay Hostel Travel Tips: Brandenburger Tor (Brandenburg Gate)
Photograph by Stephan Rebernik via Flickr Creative Commons
This grand site is also the location for the most important moments in Berlin’s history.
Photograph by Downing Street via Flickr Creative Commons
Brandenburger Tor, also known as Brandenburg Gate, is where the US Presidents John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, and most recently Barack Obama have held court to address the people.
Photograph by Raymond Chan via Flickr Creative Commons
The historic gate was erected from 1788 to 1791, and its design as inspired by the Propylaea of Acropolis. Famed architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel, who also created many of Berlin’s neoclassical structures, built the original Quadriga statue which stands atop the gate. The original statue was destroyed during World War II, but was rebuilt by using the casts created in 1942.
Photograph via Pixabay Commons
It originally served as a customs post, but later became a symbol of the division between East and West Berlin when the Berlin Wall was built in 1961. The gate became part of the East. However, when the Wall fell in 1989, the Brandenburger Tor became a symbol of hope as it was the location where most East and West Berliners celebrated.
Photograph by Pixabay Commons
Pariser Platz , Mitte
S-Bahn/ Bus (200 and 100) : Unter den Linden