Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
TOP SIGHT
BRANDENBURGER TOR & PARISER PLATZ
DANI RODRIGUEZ/GETTY IMAGES ©
A symbol of division during the Cold War, the landmark Brandenburger Tor (Brandenburg
Gate) now epitomises German reunification and often serves as a photogenic backdrop for
festivals, concerts and New Year's Eve parties. Carl Gotthard Langhans found inspiration in
Athens' Acropolis for the elegant triumphal arch, completed in 1791 as the royal city gate. It
stands sentinel over Pariser Platz, a harmoniously proportioned square once again framed by
banks as well as the US, British and French embassies, just as it was during its 19th-century
heyday.
Crowning the Brandenburger Tor is the
Quadriga
, Johann Gottfried Schadow's sculpture of
the winged goddess of victory piloting a chariot drawn by four horses. After trouncing Prus-
sia in 1806, Napoleon kidnapped the lady and held her hostage in Paris until she was freed
by a gallant Prussian general in 1815.
