The Return of the Quadriga

The kidnapped Quadriga came to symbolize to the nation the rule of the French yet it took Napoleon's defeat in Russia to make liberation truly possible. In 1813, Prussia, Austria, and Russia alligned to fight the Wars of Liberation which led to the retrieval of the Quadriga. The return of the famed statue was celebrated when the victorious King Friederich Wilhelm III marched through the Brandenburg Gate on August 7, 1814, turning the Goddess of Peace into the Goddess of Victory. The defeat of Napoleon also inspired "The QuarrŽ" just inside the gate to be renamed "Pariser Platz."