The Brandenburg Gate in Berlin has seen its share of history. It was built in the last decade of the 18th century. Twenty years later it saw the downfall of Napoleon. The French troops had taken the Quadriga (the four horses and the carriage on top) to Paris and General Blücher found it in Paris and brought it back to its original place.

After the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/71 it saw the victory parade and until the end of the first World War only the Prussian Emperor and his immediate family as well as honoured guests were allowed to use the middle passage.

The Nazis celebrated their seizure of control over the German state with a massive torchlight possession through its arches. The gate then was quite heavily damaged during the fights in Berlin at the end of World War II.

On 17 June 1953 it was one of the sites of the uprising in East Germany. From 1961 to 1989 it couldn’t be crossed at all because it stood on the border between the two German states.

Today it is almost a casual place.

FOWC with Fandango: Historic

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