THE symbol of Berlin: Brandenburg Gate. It was only one of a total of 18 city gates. Construction work began in the year of the French Revolution, and it was the first building in Berlin's architectural history to be based on models from Greek antiquity. The gate has five openings which are eleven metres in depth and separated by walls, and their ends are covered by Doric columns. On top is the five metre high copper "Quadriga" with the goddess of victory. Originally, it was even suggested that the gate should be entitled "Peace Gate". In 1807 the Quadriga was taken away to Paris by Napoleon, but in 1814 it was brought back in a triumphal procession. After war damage, the gate was restored in the 1950s, and with the renovated Quadriga (which was again restored in 1990/91), the gate spent the years from 1961 to 1989 in no-man's-land close to the Wall to West Berlin.