Brandenburger Tor by junge1
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Description
The Brandenburger Tor, or Brandenburg Gate, was built by Carl Gotthard Langhals from 1788 to 1791. Atop is the Quadriga with Viktoria, the goddess of victory driving the Quadriga. The Quadriga currently faces East. The Quadriga was made by Johann Gottfried Schadow.
Over the years the Brandenburg Gate has played different political roles in German history. After Prussia's defeat in 1806 by the French at the Battle of Jena-Auerstedt, Napoleon took the Quadriga to Paris.
After Napoleon's defeat in 1814 and the Prussian occupation by General Ernst von Pfuel, the Quadriga was restored to Berlin and Viktoria's olive wreath was exchanged for the Iron Cross.
The Nazis used the Brandenburg Gate as their symbol.
The Brandenburg Gate survived WWII. After the end of WWII the governments of East Berlin and West Berlin restored it in a joint effort.
Vehicles and pedestrians could travel freely through the Gate until August 1961 when the Berlin Wall was erected. From then until 1989 when the Berlin Wall was torn down it symbolized the division between the East and West.
On 22 December 1989 the Brandenburg Gate re-opened.
This picture was taken on 4 January 2006.
Thank you for viewing and commenting on my previous uploads.
Comments (17)
jeroni
Superb shot
Kartika
Excellent!
sharky_
Very nice shot.... Aloha
artaddict2
Great iconic image, thanks for the good background information as usual Sig.
ledwolorz
Fantastic photo.
virginiese
I've seen this gate too ! A great capture and I appreciate your historical comment !
timtripp
wonderful image of a piece of historically important real estate.
SapUS59
excellent image and capture, a very beautiful place.
JeffG7BRJ
Thank God that it did survive WWII, such a wonderful piece of architecture, a national treasure with such a checkered past, thank God also that it survived the East / West divide for those twenty eight years. Superb image Sig and thanks for the history lesson, I believe that a good narrative is a great bonus and adds to the image itself. If people do not know what or why, how can they fully appreciate it. Bravo!!!!! Thanks for sharing, and special thanks for your comment on the Evacuees. Yes indeed it did concern the common people to a great extent, like you said 'On both sides'.
MrsLubner
Massively iimpressive photo for content and size. Fabulous information.
Janiss
Ha "La porte de Brandebourg", wie ich es mag. Ich bin dazu so sehr von Mal übergegangen, wenn ich nach Berlin ging! Ich bete dieses photo an, und ich nehme dich es, um es in meiner geheimen Schublade zu stellen Sig!
Richardphotos
amazing history and capture.something I have heard of sice I was a child in school
jocko500
wonderful image
mizoli
Excellent composition!
CavalierLady
Beautiful and impressive place! Thanks for showing!
moochagoo
quite interesting story and picture.
KarmaSong
A beautiful capture of this famous monument. I wish I'd been in Berlin in 1989 to see it when the Berlin wall was pulled down and discarded. Excellent capture, Sig!