Built in 1788-89, the Brandenburg Gate is the only remaining town gate of Berlin. It was built as Berlin’s arch of triumph. The gate is located at the western end of Unter den Linden, the avenue that leads to the gate from the Alexanderplatz. Designer Carl G. Langhans modeled it after the Propylaea in Athens. The statue "Quadriga of Victory," a chariot pulled by four horses, is mounted on the top of the structure.

Heavily damaged in World War II, the gate was restored and the statue recast from the original mold in 1957-58. Access to the gate was shut off from both east and west Berliners from 1961 - 1989. December 29, 1989, saw the gate’s reopening and the grand New Year’s Eve celebration that followed caused it additional damage. Its reparation was scheduled in time for the 200th anniversary of the gate’s construction in 1991.