Berlin - Brandenburger Tor

Brandenburger Tor (Brandenburg Gate) is an 18th-century neoclassical monument in Berlin. One of the best-known landmarks of Germany, it was erected on the site of a former city gate that marked the start of the road from Berlin to Brandenburg, the former capital of the Margraviate of Brandenburg. The current structure was built from 1788 to 1791 by orders of King Frederick William II of Prussia.

The gate forms the monumental entry to "Unter den Linde"n, which leads directly to the former City Palace of the Prussian monarchs (now housing the Humboldt Forum museum), and Berlin Cathedral.

With the construction of the Berlin Wall on August 13, 1961, the structure stood in the middle of the restricted area and could not be crossed from either the west or the east. Only GDR border guards and visitor groups (mostly state guests in the GDR) led to the visitor platform by the staff were allowed access to the structure.

On June 12, 1987, US President Ronald Reagan uttered the following sentence in front of the Brandenburg Gate during a visit to Berlin:

"Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"

Twenty-eight years after the construction of the Wall, the Brandenburg Gate was reopened during the political transition in the GDR on December 22, 1989, to the cheers of more than 100,000 people.