Brandenburger Tor Potsdam Stadtseite 2015

The Potsdam Gate () on the '' Luisenplatz'' in

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and largest city of the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the Havel, River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...

, was built in 1770–71 by

Carl von Gontard Carl Philipp Christian von Gontard (13 January 1731 in Mannheim – 23 September 1791 in Breslau) was a German architect who worked primarily in Berlin, Potsdam, and Bayreuth in the style of late Baroque Classicism. Next to Knobelsdorff, he was c ...

and

Georg Christian Unger Georg Christian Unger (25 May 1743 – 20 February 1799) was a German architect who was a pupil of the architect Carl von Gontard and served Frederick II of Prussia. Among his works were the Brandenburg Gate in Potsdam and the Gendarmenmarkt in Ber ...

by order of

Frederick II of Prussia Frederick II (; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was the monarch of Prussia from 1740 until his death in 1786. He was the last Hohenzollern monarch titled ''King in Prussia'', declaring himself '' King of Prussia'' after annexing Royal Prus ...

, to celebrate his several victories in the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...

. An unusual feature of the Brandenburg Gate is that the two long sides are very different in style, and designed by two architects.

designed the inner or city-facing side, and his pupil, Georg Christian Unger, the side facing out to what was then the countryside. Both use the

Corinthian order The Corinthian order (, ''Korinthiakós rythmós''; ) is the last developed and most ornate of the three principal classical orders of Ancient Greek architecture and Ancient Roman architecture, Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric or ...

. Gontard made the inner side as a rendered facade with only

pilaster In architecture, a pilaster is both a load-bearing section of thickened wall or column integrated into a wall, and a purely decorative element in classical architecture which gives the appearance of a supporting column and articulates an ext ...

s and trophies, while Unger designed the outer side more elaborately in the style of the

Arch of Constantine The Arch of Constantine () is a triumphal arch in Rome dedicated to the emperor Constantine the Great. The arch was commissioned by the Roman Senate to commemorate Constantine's victory over Maxentius at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in AD 312 ...

with projecting Corinthian pairs of columns and more prominent decorative sculpture. The two side entrances for pedestrians were not added until 1843, under Frederick William IV, in order to cope with the increase in pedestrian traffic. Since the city wall was demolished around 1900 the Brandenburg Gate has been a free-standing structure. It stands at the western end of ''Brandenburger Straße'', which runs in a straight line up to the Church of Peter and Paul Church, Potsdam.

History

Previously, from 1733, there was another, simpler gate on the same spot, which resembled a castle gateway. Together with the city wall, a form of toll or excise barrier, and the other gates it was intended to prevent desertion and smuggling. Towards the end of the

, Frederick the Great had the old gate demolished and built, in its stead, this new Brandenburg Gate, as a symbol of his victory. For that reason the Brandenburg Gate resembles a Roman

triumphal arch A triumphal arch is a free-standing monumental structure in the shape of an archway with one or more arched passageways, often designed to span a road, and usually standing alone, unconnected to other buildings. In its simplest form, a triumphal ...

. Its prototype was the

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. The Roman influence of its architectural style can be seen, for example, in the double columns of

as well as the design of the

attic An attic (sometimes referred to as a '' loft'') is a space found directly below the pitched roof of a house or other building. It is also known as a ''sky parlor'' or a garret. Because they fill the space between the ceiling of a building's t ...

. At that time people had to pass the Brandenburg Gate if they wanted to make their way to the town of Brandenburg, hence the name. The gate leads walkers into the city centre pedestrian zone of ''Brandenburger Straße'' in an easterly direction up to priory church of St. Peter and St. Paul.

Sources

* Paul Sigel, Silke Dähmlow, Frank Seehausen und Lucas Elmenhorst, Architekturführer Potsdam, Dietrich Reimer Verlag, Berlin 2006, .

External links

{{Coord, 52.399539, N, 13.048003, E, type:landmark_region:DE-BB, display=title, format=dms Buildings and structures completed in 1771 Gates in Potsdam Classicism Triumphal arches in Germany Prussian cultural sites Heritage sites in Brandenburg Neoclassical architecture in Germany 1771 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire Frederick the Great