Brandenburg Gate, (Berlin, Germany);1788-1989 2002-Present; 18th Century NeoClassical

King Frederick William II ordered the construction of the gate after the Batavian Revolution where the Prussians were able to regain the power of the country. The designer was Carl Gotthard Langhans and at the time he was one of the first German architects to step away from Baroque and begin NeoClassicism. Langhans intent was to use the gate to represent victory.  He got his inspiration from Propylaea in Athens' Acropolis. The word Propylaea means the entryway of a specific place. In Greece it marked the separation of the city to a temple or spiritual place. In Berlin, the Brandenburg Gate marked the entrance to the Unter den Linden and Ebertstrasse, which started off as a simple road but as the monarchy grew in power, the street were completely lined with lime trees and used for only royals to walk under.

The Brandenburg Gate was one of eighteen that surrounded the Berlin Custom Walls, unfortunately it's the last one standing. This completely sandstone gate is monumental is size, 20m x 65m x 11m.The gate has five arches that are separated by Doric columns. The 12 Doric columns support the 11 meter transverse beam. Following the typical neoclassical elements, the gate has a simple exterior while the interior is completely decorated with mythical Hercules figures. The middle arch is slightly wider for royalty to go under, while the two outer arches were for commoners.

Quadriga

On top of the gate it had the Quadriga, which is a bronze statue of Nike, the goddess of Victory, riding on a chariot with four horses. It was such a renowned statue that during Napoleon's rule, he walked under the arches and ordered the statue to be taken back to Paris. When his empire fell because of the Prussians, they took back the statue and placed it where it belong, with an addition of the cross to show their victory over the French.

As the Nazi Party was rising to power and gaining more followers in the country the use of the gate changed again. Hitler and his storm troopers would march to the presidential palace through the gate as people cheered. I believe that Hitler was trying to represent the use of the gate where only royalty was allowed under to raise his view of power.

Once the Berlin Wall was built the access was completely blocked off from the West to East. Many rallies and protests took place on the West side of the wall and in November 1989 when the wall came down, the monument was re-established as a symbol of unity. One of the biggest symbols of unity was when an American conductor, Leonard Burstein held two concert, on the East and West side of Berlin. He conducted an orchestra made up of musicians from the U.S.A, France, England, and the Soviet Union. To honor the momentous occasion he changed the last movement of the song, which was “Ode to Joy” and rewrote the word joy to freedom. The two concert on the West side finished exactly when the Wall was made permanently open.

At the beginning the gate was used strictly for the royal family to walk under or if a general was receiving an award. Now this one monument shows the history of turmoil and peace the country has gone through, and is completely open to the public.

Works Cited

“Unter Den Linden.” VisitBerlin.de, www.visitberlin.de/en/unter-den-linden.

“Propylaea.” Ancient History Encyclopedia, www.ancient.eu/Propylaea/.

“Carl Gotthard Langhans (1732-1808).” Carl Gotthard Langhans: Biography of German Architect, www.visual-arts-cork.com/architecture/carl-gotthard-langhans.htm.

“Startseite.” Link to: Startseite Berlin.de, www.berlin.de/en/attractions-and-sights/3560266-3104052-brandenburg-gate.en.html.

Fletcher, Banister. “Secular Architecture.” Sir Banister Fletcher's A History of Architecture., edited by John Musgrove, Butterworths, 1987, pp. 924–930.