Why go
It is built on the site of a former city gate that marked the start of the road from Berlin to the town of Brandenburg an der Havel. It is located in the western part of the city centre of Berlin within Mitte, at the junction of Unter den Linden and Ebertstraße, immediately west of the Pariser Platz.
What to look for
- Walk through the surviving city gate and compare the Quadriga from Pariser Platz and the Tiergarten side.
The full story
The gate is the monumental entry to Unter den Linden, the renowned boulevard of linden trees, which led directly to the royal City Palace of the Prussian monarchs. It was commissioned by King Frederick William II of Prussia as a sign of peace and built by architect Carl Gotthard Langhans from 1788 to 1791. Having suffered considerable damage in World War II, the Brandenburg Gate was restored from 2000 to 2002 by the Stiftung Denkmalschutz Berlin (Berlin Monument Conservation Foundation). During the post-war Partition of Germany, the gate was isolated and inaccessible immediately next to the Berlin Wall. The area around the gate was featured most prominently in the media coverage of the tearing down of the wall in 1989, and the subsequent German reunification in 1990.
Useful to know
- Visit in daylight for the clearest reading of the architecture and surrounding urban space.
- Combine the stop with nearby sights on foot, allowing extra time only for any separate interior component.
Your next visit
Estimated · Declared scenario and planning estimates; no live opening, weather, queue or booking service.
Outdoor visit · 15–25 min
Public square and exterior only.