The
Brandenburg Gate, a symbol of Berlin, was erected in 1791. It is
crowned by a quadriga, the work of Johann Gottfried Schadow,
representing the goddess of victory in a chariot pulled by four
horses.
In 1806, Napoleon took the quadriga with him, to decorate the triumphal arch of the Carrousel in Paris. But finally he preferred the Venice horses he had stolen from St. Mark's Basilica during the Italian Campaign. Unused, the Berliner quadriga will remain eight years in Paris, admired by no one because it was locked up in boxes.
In 1814, after Waterloo, the quadriga returned to Berlin in triumph.
Enclosed by the wall, the Brandenburg Gate was inaccessible to Berliners both from the West and from the East, as it was in the middle of the no man's land which separated the two parts of the city. Ttherefore it became the symbol of the division of Berlin.
The gate is now represented on the German coins of fifty centimes of euro and others, as a symbol of the recovered unity.
In 1806, Napoleon took the quadriga with him, to decorate the triumphal arch of the Carrousel in Paris. But finally he preferred the Venice horses he had stolen from St. Mark's Basilica during the Italian Campaign. Unused, the Berliner quadriga will remain eight years in Paris, admired by no one because it was locked up in boxes.
In 1814, after Waterloo, the quadriga returned to Berlin in triumph.
Enclosed by the wall, the Brandenburg Gate was inaccessible to Berliners both from the West and from the East, as it was in the middle of the no man's land which separated the two parts of the city. Ttherefore it became the symbol of the division of Berlin.
The gate is now represented on the German coins of fifty centimes of euro and others, as a symbol of the recovered unity.
The picture was taken in 1925.
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