Quadriga returns – 1814

The Brandenburg Gate rises before you, its grand columns holding a story of loss and triumph. In 1806, after defeating Prussia, Napoleon took the Quadriga—the four-horse chariot sculpture that crowns the gate—and carried it to Paris as a symbol of his victory. What had once represented peace now marked Prussia’s defeat.

When Napoleon abdicated in 1814, the Prussian army discovered the Quadriga in the Louvre. They arranged for its return to Berlin, where it was carefully reinstalled atop the gate. This time, the goddess of peace was changed into the goddess of victory, holding a Prussian eagle and an Iron Cross, celebrating the country’s resilience and the end of French domination. The journey back to Berlin was impressive in its own right.

Transported in fifteen crates, the sculpture traveled through several European cities, greeted with celebrations at each stop. Once it arrived, it was restored at the Grunewald Hunting Lodge before being placed back on the gate, now facing east toward the city center.