Brandenburg Gate

BRANDENBURG GATE

            The Brandenburg Gate is a monumental and geographical center of the great city of Berlin, Germany. It is one of the most well-known and recognizable landmarks of not just Berlin, but all of Germany. The gate has been a sign of peace, a sign of access, a sign of division, a most recently a site to remember and reminisce.

            -Originally commissioned by King Freidrich Wilhelm II of Prussia as a sign of peace

            -Built by Carl Gotthard Langhans from 1788 to 1791

            -Consist of 12 columns that create 5 passageways through the gate

            -Based on the Propylaea, which was the gate to the Acropolis in Athens

            -After his defeat of the Prussians in 1806, Napoleon was the first to utilize the gate as a sign of his newfound access to Berlin in a winning ceremony

            -Napoleon also took the gate’s Quadriga back to Paris as a symbol of victory

            -After his defeat in 1814, the Quadriga was replaced and added an Iron Cross, the new symbol of Prussian Power

            -The Nazis utilized the gate as a symbol of their party and their power

            -WWII caused bullet hole and nearby explosive damages

            -After German surrender, both East and West Germany restored the gate, in a joint effort

            -The Gate and its pedestrian and vehicle access closed with the rise of the Berlin Wall in 1961

            -During JFK’s 1963 visit of the Gate, Soviets hung large red banners across the openings to hide East Berlin from the President

            -In 1987, Reagan gave a famous speech at the gate and told “Mr. Gorbachev, come here to this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”

            -The Gate was reopened shortly after the fall on Dec. 22, 1989, with a handshake and meeting of West German chancellor, Helmut Kohl, and East German Prime Minister, Hans Modrow.

            -The Gate was refurbished in the early 2000s with a $6 million effort

            -On November 9, 2009 Chancellor Angela Merkel with Russian and Polish leaders walked through the Gate together as part of a celebration of the 20 years without the Berlin Wall

           

            Overall, this gate has been a prominent and constant sign of history for Germany throughout the years. The Germans see this gate as a symbol of pride, but also as a symbol of history and where they come from. The German culture and country as a whole has always had troubles with unification and with division. An open Brandenburg gate is a symbol as strong as the bald eagle and freedom in America. The freedom and pride Germans must feel walking through the Gate freely must be overwhelming, and I personally cannot WAIT to visit such a monumental and historical site.