The Brandenburg Gate was commissioned by Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia, one of the most contradictory rulers of his time, so much so that he was nicknamed “ der dicke Lüderjahn” by his subjects, the fat scallywag.įriedrich Wilhelm called for an alliance between Prussia, the Netherlands, and Great Britain in the style of the Delian League of Athens, with himself in the role of Pericles. THE ORIGIN OF THE BRANDENBURG GATE: THE CONSECRATION OF A KINGīrandenburger Tor stands on what was the border of the Prussian capital, beyond which were the forests of Brandenburg and the hunting reserve of Berlin: the Tiergarten.

The appearance of the Brandenburg Gate has scarcely changed over the years, but its meaning has varied dramatically through the different phases of Berlin’s history. Undoubtedly, this is a must for those visiting the German capital and is, of course, an integral part of our guided tours of Berlin in English.Ī symbol of German reunification in 1990, the Brandenburg Gate is a perfect example of how a monument is not just a construction or a building, but above all it is what the visitor’s gaze projects onto it.įrom its construction in the late eighteenth century to the present, the Brandenburg Gate has been admired by generations of Berliners and has been associated with very different feelings and symbols: from the consecration of Prussia as a power of Central Europe, to the saddest moments of Nazism and the Berlin Wall. The Brandenburg Gate ( Brandenburger Tor) is one of the most important monuments in Berlin and perhaps the most famous in Germany.

Berlin brandenburger tor