The Brandenburg Gate

The Brandenburg Gate is the only surviving Berlin city gate, their original name is the Gate of the World. They were built by Karl Gottgard Langgans in 1789-1791. and are the first significant work done in the style of Berlin classicism. The decoration of the facade belongs to the hand of Johann Gottfried Shadov; he also designed the six-meter quadriga, which is ruled by the victory goddess Victoria.nAfter winning Berlin, Napoleon ordered to dismantle the chariot and transport it to Paris. After defeating Napoleon, the goddess Victoria returned to Berlin and received the Iron Cross, created by Friedrich Schinkel.nDuring World War II, the Brandenburg Gate was seriously damaged, the quadriga was completely destroyed. From 1945 to 1957, the flag of the USSR flew in quadriga, which was then replaced with the flag of the GDR (since 1989, after the unification of Germany, there is no flag on the gate).nOn August 3, 1961, a wall blocked the passage through the gates. The gates were located on the territory of East Berlin. But the ordinary inhabitants of East Berlin did not have access to the gate, since they were fenced off from the eastern part by a “mini-wall”. On New Year’s Eve in 1990, the quadriga suffered from the inordinate manifestations of joy about the unification of the country. In August 1991, the restored sculptural group again took its rightful place.