The city has come under fire for not lighting up the gate in the Russian flag colors after Monday's St Petersburg attack. A Berlin senator has said the monument should no longer be used a symbol of solidarity.
Image: Reuters/F. Bensch
Advertisement
It's sadly become a recurring gesture, but nevertheless remains a symbolic expression of solidarity. Berlin has in recent years chosen to honor the victims of terror attacks by lighting up its iconic Brandenburg Gate in the colors of the targeted country's flag.
In the past 18 months, the city has honored the victims of the terror attacks in Paris, Brussels, Istanbul and, most recently, London.
However, on Monday, following the deadly blast in St Petersburg, in which 14 people were killed and some 50 injured, the Berlin monument remained dark and inconspicuous in the night sky.
Brandenburg Gate lit up to support Istanbul attack victims
00:33
This browser does not support the video element.
The Berlin Senate's decision not to light up the Brandenburg Gate in the colors of the Russian flag drew strong criticism from Germany's Left Party. Berlin's senator for culture and Left Party lawmaker, Klaus Lederer, even proposed on Tuesday that the gesture be stopped altogether.
Writing on his Facebook page, Lederer said that the senate's decision not to light up the Brandenburg Gate indicated that the German capital followed a "hierarchy among terror victims."
Lederer added that the gesture risked becoming arbitrary and an almost daily occurrence. It should therefore be lit up one last time in the colors of the Russian flag and then never again, he said.
Earlier, Left party lawmaker Dietmar Bartsch said the decision not to light up the gate was a disappointment and that the "victims of terrorism, regardless of where the attack occurred, deserve the same respect and condolences."
An honor reserved for twin cities?
Berlin's senate explained on Monday night that it would not night light up the Brandenburg Gate because St Petersburg was not a twin city of Berlin's - unlike London, Paris, Brussels and Istanbul.
Last week, a city spokesperson told local broadcaster rbb that city mayor Michael Müller had decided that the gate should only be illuminated following of terror acts in partner cities, with certain exceptions.
Such exceptions would include when the gate was lit up in the colors of the Israeli flag in January following an attack on four soldiers in Jerusalem, and in the colors of the rainbow flag following an attack on an Orlando gay club. The city of Berlin said it made exceptions in these two instances because both cities were places with which the German capital shares a "special relationship."
The gate was not illuminated in the colors of the French flag following the Bastille Day attack in Nice last year in which 86 people were killed. However, the French embassy located just a few meters away was.
Dresden honors its twin city
Officials for the eastern German city of Dresden said on Tuesday that it would light up the facade of its Palace of Culture in the Russian flag that evening.
In a letter to the governor of St Petersburg, Dresden's mayor Dirk Hilbert wrote: "Our thoughts during these difficult hours are with the families of the victims, as well as the wounded."
Dresden and St Petersburg are twin cities.
dm/rc (dpa, AFP, epd)
The Brandenburg Gate, Berlin landmark
The Brandenburg Gate — the famous symbol of German unity. Finished in 1791, it was and is the dramatic setting of European history. Currently it's the main stage for the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Image: picture-alliance/Dumont/S. Lubenow
Celebrations: 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall
In recent history, the Brandenburg Gate has been an authentic site of the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. In celebration of the 30th anniversary, US artist Patrick Shearn has created a colorful, feather-light art installation. It brings together 30,000 wishes, memories and messages from people from all over the world and allows you to once again reflect on the subject of borders.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/P. Zinken
Monumental symbol of unity
There used to be 18 city gates to enter the Customs Wall of Berlin in the 19th century. As the only remaining one, the Brandenburg Gate withstood the city's tumultuous history to become an unmistakable landmark of the German capital. The 26-meter (85-foot) high sandstone structure might not be as imposing as other comparable monuments, but it's definitely a symbolic heavyweight.
Image: picture-alliance/chromorange/SPA
Athens on the River Spree
This picture shows the former city gate in 1764. Commissioned by Friedrich Wilhelm II, the Brandenburg Gate was inaugurated on August 6, 1791. The architect Carl Gotthard Langhans was inspired by the gateway to the Acropolis in Athens for this neoclassical monument. Berlin had established its reputation as a cultural hub in the 18th century; a poet dubbed the city "Athens on the River Spree."
Image: Gemeinfrei
The Peace Gate
A quadriga conceived by the sculptor Johann Gottfried Schadow was added to the ensemble in 1793. This sculpture of a chariot drawn by four horses was driven by Eirene, the Greek goddess of peace. While the values of the French Revolution were finding their way to Prussia, the gate on the road to Brandenburg was named Friedenstor - the Peace Gate.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/P. Zinken
War trophy
Despite these noble ideals, the Peace Gate would quickly be afflicted by war. In 1806, Napoleon's victorious soldiers marched through it and seized the entire Quadriga, bringing it back to Paris as a war trophy. Although the plan was to exhibit the looted sculpture, it stayed packed in boxes in the French capital.
Image: Gemeinfrei
The triumphal return
After Napoleon's defeat, the Quadriga returned to Berlin in 1814 thanks to General Ernst von Pfuel. From then on, his family was allowed to use the central archway of the gate, otherwise reserved to royalty - normal citizens were restricted to the outer lanes. The statue was redesigned by Karl Friedrich Schinkel to represent Victoria, the goddess of victory, holding a cross and a Prussian eagle.
Image: Gemeinfrei
Nazi propaganda
On January 1933, the Nazis celebrated Hitler's seizure of power with a torchlight procession through the Brandenburg Gate. The gate was to be included in the creation a great East-West city axis in the planned "Welthauptstadt Germania," the ambitious vision of architectural renewal of the capital of Germany after the planned victory of World War II.
Image: Ullstein
After World War II
The Brandenburg Gate was badly damaged during World War II, but remained standing. As it was located in the sector occupied and administered by the Soviet Union, the Soviet flag was flown atop the gate from 1945 until 1957, when it was replaced by an East German flag. Little was left of the Quadriga - the horse's head that survived is now kept at the Märkisches Museum.
Image: picture alliance/akg-images
Restoration in 1957
Luckily, a plaster cast of the Quadriga had been prepared in 1942, allowing the sculpture to be recreated. Despite arguments, the authorities of East and West Berlin managed to agree that the gate should be restored. The Quadriga was returned to the top of the gate in 1957. However, the East Berlin government had the iron cross and the Prussian eagle removed from the sculpture shortly afterwards.
Image: picture-alliance/akg-images/G. Schuetz
No man's land
When the Berlin Wall was built on August 13, 1961, access to the Brandenburg Gate from West Berlin was blocked, as the wall formed an arc just outside the western side. A smaller wall was also built on the eastern side, making the gate off limits to East Berliners too. The sign on this picture of the western side warns: "Caution! You are now leaving West Berlin."
Image: picture-alliance/akg-images/Pansegrau
'Tear down this wall!'
The Brandenburg Gate served as the backdrop for Ronald Reagan's famous speech on June 12, 1987, where he called, "Mr. Gorbachov, tear down this wall!" Loudspeakers made those words audible on the east side as well. West German President Richard von Weizsäcker also used the gate as a metaphor by declaring: "The German question is open as long as the Brandenburg Gate is closed."
When the Berlin Wall came down on November 9, 1989, thousands of people came to celebrate at the Brandenburg Gate, which served as a symbol of freedom and unity. The passage served as a border crossing as of December 1989, until Germany officially reunified in October 1990. The monument was completely refurbished in 2000.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Dramatic lighting effects
Every year the Brandenburg Gate offers a remarkable backdrop for lighting effects during the Festival of Lights in October. After different terrorist attacks, colored tributes to the victims have also illuminated the gate, such as here after the 2016 Orlando attacks on a gay club.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/J. Carstensen
Famous meeting point
Today, tourists all go to Pariser Platz to get their picture of Berlin's famous monument. It is also the location of several large events, whether for protests or parties, such as on New Year's Eve. During football championships, tens of thousands of people gather on the "fan mile" to watch the games and celebrate together.
Image: Imago/Leber
A place of remembrance
Having witnessed and survived the most dreadful and joyful periods of Europe's history in the last more than 200 years, the Brandenburg Gate remains a symbol of hope for the centuries to come.
