Color photo by my father, February 1959, 2.5 years before the Wall:
the Brandenburg Gate (Brandenburger Tor) seen from
the west on Straße des 17. Juni (provocatively renamed in 1953 from
what had been Charlottenburger Chaussee for 150+ years). The gate itself and everything beyond it is in
the Soviet sector. The gate was built in 1788-1791 by King
Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia. The sculpture group on top is called the
Quadriga; originally topped by an Iron Cross and a Prussian eagle
(
see closeup). After World War II,
the East Germans considered these to be militaristic icons that the Nazis
identified with and removed them, so they are not visible in the photo above
or the 1959 one below. Upon German reunification in 1990, they were put
back. Click each photo below to see a larger version.
