Will the new buildings on Pariser Platz symbolize what Berlin is all about these days? Like much of the reconstructed city, most of the buildings on the platz, the banks, the embassies and the Hotel Adlon, have ultra-modern interiors, carefully hidden within the bland historical exterior forms of the thirties. The institutions that will be sited on the platz are all closely related to western capitalism. It seems as if the western powers have taken the great symbol of the Cold War as a trophy of their victory over communism. With the location on the Platz of the embassies of the three great western powers and adding headquarters for three of the most powerful banks in Germany, every visitor to the platz will know exactly who won the Cold War. The Brandenburg Gate is one of the most important structures in Berlin, so naturally the most powerful would want to surround it, but should they be allowed to overshadow it? The Brandenburg Gate and all of its symbolism are in danger of being lost to Germany's new economic nationalism. Maybe this is appropriate that the great national symbol's new meaning again fits so closely with another new Berlin, but this time the Platz is not a place for Berliners. In fact, no Berliner would have any good reason to go to the Platz unless they were showing a visitor around. So why then, if this is the show place for Berlin, is it not being planned to highlight the spirit of the Gate and the real Berlin?