Brandenburg Gate (Potsdam)

Potsdam's Brandenburg Gate (not to be confused with the more famous one in Berlin) stands at the western end of the city's main pedestrian street and marks the entrance to the Sanssouci park district. Built in 1770 to designs by Karl von Gontard and Georg Christian Unger, it is a triumphal arch in the Roman style, with a different architectural face on each side: the town-facing east side is decorated with Roman trophies and martial symbols, while the park-facing west side shows pastoral decoration — representing the transition from city to pleasure ground.

The gate is freely accessible and forms the natural starting point for walks to Sanssouci. The streets immediately behind it — Brandenburger Strasse and Jägerstrasse — contain some of the best cafes and restaurants in the old town, including Restaurant Juliette in the Dutch Quarter nearby.

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Potsdam's Brandenburg Gate was built in 1770 — sixteen years before Berlin's more famous gate of the same name. Frederick the Great commissioned it to celebrate Prussian victories in the Seven Years' War. Unlike Berlin's gate, which marks the start of Unter den Linden, Potsdam's gate stands at the end of a pedestrian zone and is flanked by cafes and market stalls. It is often overlooked by visitors heading to Sanssouci, which is a mistake.

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