About this place
Standing at the western edge of Potsdam's old town on the broad expanse of Luisenplatz, the Brandenburg Gate is a monument to royal pride carved in pale sandstone. Frederick the Great ordered the old customs gate demolished and replaced in 1770 and 1771, not out of fear of invasion but as a boast: a triumphal arch modelled on ancient Rome to announce that Prussia had survived the ruinous Seven Years' War. Its most curious feature is that it wears two faces. Carl von Gontard designed the restrained inner side that greets the city, while his pupil Georg Christian Unger shaped the far grander outer side, borrowing directly from the Arch of Constantine with bold pairs of Corinthian columns. Today the gate stands free of the vanished city wall, framing the head of the lively Brandenburger Strasse and welcoming a constant stream of walkers who still pass beneath its arches every day.
Key facts
- 1771 year — Completed for Frederick the Great to celebrate his survival of the Seven Years' War
- 2 facades — Two rival architects designed the front and back in completely different styles
- 20 years — It predates Berlin's far more famous Brandenburg Gate by roughly two decades
📍 Klement-Gottwald-Straße, 14467, Potsdam