Energy | Brandenburg Gate in the artificial moonlight

For now the lights are off at the Brandenburg Gate. But it doesn't stay that way. Photo: dpa/Christoph Soeder On Monday, shortly before 3 p.m., a family asked a passerby to take a souvenir photo with their father's cell phone. The Brandenburg Gate should definitely be visible in the background. Because this is proof that father, mother and child visited Berlin.

The mother covers the lifting platform set up under the landmark with her body. Only a few minutes later does the engine start and push the platform up with a loud hum. Workers are supposed to place a large moonlight under the famous Quadriga group of figures. Until the Brandenburg Gate's 2002 lamps are completely replaced with modern LED lights in the coming days, this will be the only illumination of the historic building in the dark.

The measure will save 40 percent energy in the future. But this is not the only reason to invest 1.2 million euros, explains Tatjana Adams, managing director of the state-owned Berliner Immobilienmanagement GmbH (BIM). It was also done because spare parts for the old lighting were hardly available. Power distribution boxes in the gatehouses and technology in a room under the Quadriga will also be replaced.

However, power cables that date from 2002 and some from the 1990s will not be replaced. But they were checked. Most of them still work perfectly. Only a few cables in the ground are defective, probably damaged during construction work on the US embassy, ​​as project manager Jan Wichert explains. That's why some lamps no longer lit, which will now change.

»It is the heart of the republic.«

Wichert's company Kardorff Light Planning had already taken care of the modernization in 2002. “That’s why the object was already familiar to us,” he says. “It is the heart of the republic.” That is why there is a very special ambition in the current modernization. The purpose of the artificial moon ball is to show residents and visitors to the capital that the usual lighting at the Brandenburg Gate has not been broken, but has just been switched off.

During the work, there are restrictions for cyclists and pedestrians, who cannot use all passages for the time being. BIM Managing Director Adams is confident that replacing the lights will not take longer than planned. Everything was very well prepared, she assures us. Instead of the current 281 lights, there will be slightly fewer in the future. The goal should still shine as usual in the future.

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