Brandenburg Gate, Berlin

Brandenburg Gate: The 233-Year-Old Structure That Changed Meaning Three Times

The Brandenburg Gate was completed in 1791, a neoclassical triumphal arch at the western end of Unter den Linden, designed by Carl Gotthard Langhans after the Propylaea gateway of the Athenian Acropolis. The Quadriga copper horse-and-chariot on top arrived in 1793. Napoleon had it removed to Paris in 1806 after his victory at Jena; it came back in 1814 with modifications – a Prussian eagle and Iron Cross were added to make it a symbol of German victory rather than neutral classicism.

That pattern of appropriation continued. In 1933, the gate became a backdrop for Nazi torchlight processions. After 1945, it ended up on the east side of the Berlin Wall, stranded in the death strip, inaccessible to both sides of the city. On December 22, 1989, the Wall was opened at the gate and crowds from East and West Berlin met there. The most recent symbolism – German reunification, the end of the Cold War – has become its dominant reading.

The Gate and Pariser Platz

The gate is 26 metres high and 65.5 metres wide, with five passageways. The outer two were originally reserved for royal use. It is built from sandstone quarried near Berlin and was most recently cleaned and restored in 2002.

Pariser Platz, the square in front of the gate, was completely bombed out in 1945 and rebuilt after 1990. The French Embassy (by Christian de Portzamparc) and Frank Gehry’s DZ Bank building bracket the square. The area is pedestrianised except for authorised vehicles.

The gate is lit at night with warm white light that gives the sandstone a different quality than the grey-white of daytime. Arrive around 8pm in summer when the light is transitioning between the two.

The Holocaust Memorial

Immediately south of the gate, the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe consists of 2,711 concrete stelae of varying heights covering 19,000 square metres, designed by Peter Eisenman and completed in 2005. Walking into the memorial from the edges, the ground descends and the stelae rise around you until the sky narrows to a strip above. The underground information centre documents individual Jewish families affected by the Holocaust. The memorial is free and permanently open; the information centre has standard opening hours.

The Reichstag

The German parliament building, 600 metres north of the gate, has the glass dome designed by Norman Foster for the 1999 renovation. Access to the dome is free but requires advance booking on the Bundestag’s official website. The booking opens 3 days in advance and fills quickly for weekend slots. The dome gives panoramic views over the city from above the legislative chamber.

Berlin Beyond the Gate

The gate is a starting point rather than a destination in itself. Museum Island (five UNESCO-listed museums including the Pergamon Museum, currently under partial renovation), the East Side Gallery (1.3km of preserved Berlin Wall with murals from 1990), Markthalle Neun in Kreuzberg (Thursday evening street food market), and the Neue Nationalgalerie (Mies van der Rohe’s glass pavilion, renovated 2021) are all more rewarding than extended time on Pariser Platz.

Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) opened in 2020, nine years late. It is 18km southeast of the city; the train takes about 30 minutes to Friedrichstrasse.