| Original caption: “Berliners sing and dance on top of the Berlin Wall to celebrate the opening of East-West German borders in Berlin. In the background is the Brandenburg Gate.” Constructed between 1788 and 1791, the Brandenburger Tor (“Brandenburg Gate”) was Berlin’s 1st Greek revival building. Designed by Carl Gotthard Langhans (December 15, 1732 – October 1, 1808), architect to the Prussian court, it was inspired by the monumental gateway at the entrance to the Acropolis in Athens. The Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (NSDAP – “National Socialist German Workers’ Party”) featured the Brandenburger Tor in their symbolic transformation of Berlin into Welthauptstadt Germania (“World Capital Germania”). A 7-kilometer-long (4.3 miles) section between the Brandenburg Gate and Adolf-Hitler-Platz (today Theodor-Heuss-Platz) was extended and put into operation in 1939. The gate survived World War II and was 1 of the damaged structures still standing in the Pariser Platz ruins in 1945 (another being the Academy of Fine Arts). The gate was badly damaged with holes in the columns from bullets and nearby explosions. 1 horse’s head from the original quadriga survived, and is today kept in the collection of the Märkisches Museum. Efforts to disguise the government district of Berlin and confuse Allied bombers had included the construction of a replica Brandenburg Gate located away from the city center. After Germany’s surrender at the end of the war, the Brandenburg Gate was located in the Soviet occupation zone, directly next to the border to the zone occupied by the British, which later became the border between East and West Berlin. In connection with the East German uprising of 1953, 3 men took down the red flag on the roof of the Brandenburg Gate and, shortly after 1200 Hours on June 17, 1953, hoisted the joint black-red-gold flag of East Germany and West Germany. 1 of the 3 men, Wolfgang Panzer, probably paid for this action with his life and was never seen again. Vehicles and pedestrians could travel freely through the gate until the day after construction began on the Berlin Wall on Stacheldrahtsonntag (“Barbed Wire Sunday”), August 13, 1961. West Berliners gathered on the western side of the gate to demonstrate against the Berlin Wall, among them West Berlin’s mayor, Willy Brandt (December 18, 1913 – October 8, 1992), who had returned from a federal election campaign tour in West Germany earlier the same day. United States President Ronald Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) spoke at this spot on June 12, 1987, where he said, “General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mister [Soviet Premier Mikhail] Gorbachev [(March 2, 1931 – August 30, 2022)], open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” The wall passed directly by the western side of the gate, closing it throughout the Berlin Wall period. Removal of the Wall began on the evening of November 9, 1989, and continued over the following days and weeks, with people nicknamed Mauerspechte (“Wallpeckers”) using various tools to chip off souvenirs, demolishing lengthy parts in the process, and creating several unofficial border crossings. | |
| Image Filename | wwii0798.jpg |
| Image Size | 1.14 MB |
| Image Dimensions | 3000 x 1995 |
| Photographer | Thomas Kienzle |
| Photographer Title | |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | November 10, 1989 |
| Location | Brandenburger Tor |
| City | Berlin |
| State or Province | Berlin |
| Country | Germany |
| Archive | |
| Record Number | |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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