True or False – Brandenburg Gate Edition: Which Facts About this Famous Berlin Landmark are Correct?

True or False – Brandenburg Gate Edition: Which Facts About this Famous Berlin Landmark are Correct?

Welcome to our sightseeing quiz:   Find the mistake’. Today, we’re taking you to Germany, to the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. Here are three interesting facts  about Berlin’s famous landmark. But watch out: one of them is false! Can you guess which one it is?

Fact 1: Tourists love to visit the Brandenburg Gate! It has a total of five passageways. Many people don’t know that the middle passageway was once reserved for royalty. It was only after the monarchy ended in 1918 that members of the public were allowed to walk through this middle path.

What do you think? Was the inner passageway really reserved for the royal family?   Maybe we made it all up!  But let’s hear the second story. Fact 2: The Brandenburg Gate is crowned by  the Quadriga a statue in which four horses   pull the triumphal chariot of the goddess of victory.

What most people don’t know, is that when Napoleon conquered Berlin in 1806,  he took the Quadriga to Paris. Eight years later,  Prussian troops captured Paris and took the iconic statue back to Berlin. Truth or lie? Did Napoleon truly  take the Quadriga to Paris?

Or are  we trying to trick you with the next one? Fact 3: When the Berlin Wall was built in 1961,   the Brandenburg Gate stood in the middle of  East Berlin’s restricted area. What many people don’t know is that in 1987, US President Ronald Reagan gave a famous speech at the Brandenburg Gate.

To the applause of thousands  of guests, he declared: “I am a Berliner!” What do you think? Which of our  three facts is incorrect? Was the center passageway really  reserved for the royal family?   Did Napoleon steal the Quadriga or not?

Or is the quote, ‘Ich bin ein Berliner’, from Ronald Reagan untrue. Which fact did we fabricate? What is the mistake? Have you reached a decision? Here comes the correct answer. Number 3 is not true! ‘Ich bin ein Berliner!’ was said by John F. Kennedy in 1963,

In front of the Schöneberg town hall. Ronald Reagan stood at the Brandenburg Gate on   June 12, 1987, and HIS famous sentence was:   ‘Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate!’ Two years later, in 1989, the Berlin wall  and the Brandenburg Gate were reopened.

It now stands as a symbol of a reunited Germany.    That concludes today’s guessing game about famous sights in Europe. I hope you enjoyed it! Stay tuned on our YouTube channel to find out when   it’s time to Find the Mistake again!

How much do you know about Germany? Brandenburg Gate is one of the most famous buildings in Berlin. Here are three facts about its history, but one of them is incorrect. Watch the video to the end to find out which ones are true and which is made up!

CREDITS:
Presenter: Aisha Sharipzhan
Narrator: Darren Smith
Author: Kerstin Schmidt
Editor: Friederike Rohrmann

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