The Brandenburg Gate and Pariser Platz
Built by C. G. Langhans in 1788-1791 and modeled on the Propylaea (the gateway to the Acropolis), the Classical-style Brandenburg Gate at the end of the magnificent Unter den Linden boulevard has repeatedly been at the forefront of historical events. Its allegorical group of sculptures, Gottfried Schadow’s Victory and Quadriga, pays homage to Frederick the Great as the prince of peace. Napoleon took the sculptures to Paris after defeating the Prussians, but they were returned again in 1814, whereupon the olive wreath in the goddess’s hand was replaced with the Prussian eagle and Iron Cross. When the Berlin Wall was built, the Brandenburg Gate became a symbol of the division of Germany until its reopening in the autumn of 1989 heralded German reunification.
The redesign of the Pariser Platz, which, after the Second World War in the shadow of the Wall became unusable in terms of urban development, has in the meantime taken on a concrete form. The Hotel Adlon set an elegant example. Reopened in 1997, its foyer attempts to recreate the atmosphere at the hotel in the 1920s, and together with the palace of painter Max Liebermann, rebuilt by the architect Josef Paul Kleihues, the Adlon gives the square its own particular stamp.
