Brandenburg Gate

The Brandenburg Gate is a historic landmark in Germany, formerly a symbol of the division of the city and the world, as it once separated East and West Berlin.

The only one of the city gates of Berlin to survive.

Brandenburg Gate is Berlin’s signature attraction – no other landmark is a more potent reminder of recent German history.

It was built in 1788–91 by Carl Langhans (1732–1808), chief architect to Frederick William II of Prussia, the sandstone gate was modelled on the Propylea, the gateway to the Acropolis in Athens in neoclassical style. It is crowned by a Quadriga of Victory, a bronze sculpture of the goddess of victory riding a chariot drawn by four horses.

When Germany was divided in 1961 the gate stood isolated in the middle of a restricted area by the Berlin Wall, in East Berlin. A conspicuous symbol of a divided city; it was reopened on 21 December 1989.

It has now become a focal point for New Year celebrations with over five million people welcoming in the millennium there. Since the first event in 1995, New Year at the gate has become the world’s largest open-air celebration of its kind.