19th Century Brandenburg Gate

Thirty years of peace fell on Berlin until on March 14, 1848, when about ten thousand politcal demonstrators marched through the gate from the Tiergarten to the Royal Palace with their "Address to the King," demanding political reform. Seven days later, after nine soldiers and 183 demonstrators were killed in a clash on the 18th, the king rode through the city promising the creation of an assembly to create a consitution.

The prosperity enjoyed by Prussia under Prime Minister Otto von Bismarck allowed the city of Berlin to expand significantly, rendering the town wall and gates useless and by 1865 only the Brandenburg Gate remained. Renovations to the gate reflected its now essentially symbolic role, with the tradition of victorious armies marching through occuring in 1864 (Denmark), 1866 (Austria), and the 1871 defeat of France, which resulted in the unification of Germany.