How tall is the brandenburg gate?

Answer 1

The Brandenburg Gate is over 26 meters tall, just a little over 13 times the height of the average human.

· Brandenburg Gate also known as Brandenburger Tor

· Built in the 18 century - constructed 1778 - 1791

· The plan and model of the new gate was presented in 1769

· Gate was located near the border between East and West Berlin

· Monumental gate was designed by Carl Gotthard Langhans (1732-1808)

· Commissioned by emperor Friedrich Wilhelm II

· 65.5 metres wide and 28 metres tall

· Bronze quadriga that tops the gate was built by Johann Gottfried Schadow in 1793 - driven by the goddess of peace
The Brandenburg Gate is 26 m high, 65.5 m wide and 11 m deep. It is made of sandstone and has 5 passage ways, of which the central passage wider than the others is and is flanked on either side by a gate house, each containing a statue of the Roman gods Mars and Minerva. The design of the gate is based upon the Acropolis in Athens.

The top of the gate is crowned by a roughly 5 m high copper statue of the winged goddess Victoria riding a chariot pulled by four horses (Quadriga).

Answer 2

The Brandenburg Gate was built by Zeidler and Wimmel, stonemasons, and is 26 m high, 65.5 m wide and 11 m deep. It is made of sandstone and has 5 passage ways, of which the central passage wider than the others is and is flanked on either side by a gate house, each containing a statue of the Roman gods Mars and Minerva. The design of the gate is based upon the Acropolis in Athens.

In the 1730s a tarif wall (Zollmauer) was built around Berlin and with it a number of gates, including, in 1734, the Brandenburg Gate. It remainded in its original form until the last decade of the 18th Century, when it was redesigned in its current form. It was dedicated to Frederick II (Friedrich II) on August 6 1791. In 1793 the familiar 5m high bronze Quariga with the goddess Nike (or Victoria) was placed on top. The gate was originally built on the Berlin to Brandenburg road in order to allow and control entry into the city and to levy tariffs on goods being brought into the city. Brandenburg an der Havel lies approx 70 km (approx. 44 miles) due West of Berlin.

After the defeat of Prussia at the Battle of Jena and the fall of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806 by Napoleonic France, the Quadriga was plundered on the personal orders of Napoleon and taken to Paris where it was to be displayed as looted art, however following Napoleon's defeat in 1814, Prussian troops found the bronze still in its boxes. It was reurned to Berlin, where it was restored and returned to the gate.

The tarrif wall was pulled down in the 1860s and all other gates except the Brandenburg Gate were demolished. The gate and the bronze were severely damaged during the Second World War (only the head of one of the horses survived) but in 1956 both East and West Berlin worked together to rebuild the gate in it's former glory. The work took just over 1 year to complete and was finished on 14 December 1957.

In August 1958, the East Berlin authorities "stole" the Quadriga and removed the Prussian symbols, stating that emblems of Prussian "militarism" were not to be displayed. Having removed the Prussian Eagle and the Iron Cross, they returned the bronze.

With the errection of the Berlin Wall on 13 August 1961, the Brandenburg Gate suddenly found itself in no-man's land and therefore closed to traffic. This later prompted Federal President Richard von Weizsäcker to declare "Solange das Brandenburger Tor geschlossen ist, ist die Deutsche Frage geöffnet" offen (As long as the Brandenburg Gate is closed, the German question is open) and on 12 June 1987 US President Ronald Reagan declared, "Mr Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"

The gate was finally reopened on 22 December 1989 to the cheers of over 100,000 people. In 2000, the gate underwent a 22 month renovation and was rededicated on 3 October 2002 on the Day of German Unity (Tag der Deutschen Einheit).