Brandenburg Gate

The day started out rather dreary and seemed appropriate for visiting the Berlin Wall Memorial.

However, by afternoon the sun appeared and it was the joyous feeling of unity I felt while seeing the Brandenburg Gate, a symbol of both separation and unity. I was so busy admiring the surroundings that I tripped on a slight concrete rise and did a face plant, camera in hand and held high to prevent breakage. Saving the camera was my first thought. I had to wonder about my priorities!!

The Brandenburg Gate is a former city gate, rebuilt in the late 18th century as a neoclassical triumphal arch. It is located in the western part of the city centre of Berlin, at the junction of Unter den Linden and Ebertstraße, immediately west of the Pariser Platz. One block to the north stands the Reichstag building. The gate is the monumental entry to Unter den Linden, the renowned boulevard of linden trees, which formerly led directly to the city palace of the Prussian monarchs.

During the post-war Partition of Germany, the gate was isolated and inaccessible immediately next to the Berlin Wall, and the area around the gate featured most prominently in the media coverage of the opening of the wall in 1989.

Throughout its existence, the Brandenburg Gate was often a site for major historical events and is today considered a symbol of the tumultuous history of Europe and Germany, but also of European unity and peace.