The model for the gate from antiquity was the Propylaea, the entrance gate to the Acropolis in Athens - Carl Gotthard Langhans, who was commissioned with the design, took his cue from these. Actually, the new gate should be named Friedenstor, but since the arterial road towards Brandenburg an der Havel was located at the other end of the boulevard, the current name came about, under which the Brandenburg became one of the most famous sights, if not the whole of Germany.
The Quadriga
The bronze sculpture of the Quadriga, created by the artist Gottfried Schadow, has stood on the roof of the Brandenburg Gate since 1794. Napoleon captured the work of art in 1806, and it was only after the defeat at the Battle of Leipzig in 1814 that the Quadriga found its way back to Berlin - Karl Friedrich Schinkel added the insignia of Prussia to the ensemble of statues at this time. Since the restoration of the gate after World War 2, the original sculpture is no longer on the roof - it was almost completely destroyed in 1945.