The Second Word War was hard on the Bandenburg Gate and Berlin as a whole. Unlike the previous war, Berlin was center in much of the combat that took place toward the end of the war. As the allies came closer to defeating the Axis powers the fighting moved closer to Berlin. Eventually in the final stages in the war, Berlin was hit with heavy artillery and air bombardments. All throughout the war Berlin was subject to air raids, but the final battle was the hardest of all. Few buildings survived the destruction of Berlin unscathed, the Brandenburg Gate was not one of them, it was riddled with bullets, the roof was destroyed, and the Quadriga that stood a top was destroyed. As the Allies celebrated victory and an end to the War, the fate of the Brandenburg Gate was unknown.
While Hitler refused to bring the quadriga down for storage they did find another way to preserve it. they made plaster casts of the Quadriga in the event that the statue would be damaged they would simply reforge another. So as the war came to a close and the Brandenburg Gate is damaged it's identity is safe in the form of plaster.
Attribution: Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-R77767/CC-BY-SA
Attribution: Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-R77767/CC-BY-SA
Attribution: Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-R77767/CC-BY-SA
Hitler did not care much for Berlin, in fact he made plans to nearly completely level the old city and rebuild it into the capital of "Germania". His plans preserved a few of the old buildings, the Reichtag and Brandenburg Gate were among them. The Brandenburg Gate was to be preserved albeit dwarfed by his other massive monuments.
National Archives and Records Aministration, College Park, Md.
The Brandenburg Gate, like much of Berlin during World War II was heavily damaged. the copper roof had been removed from the gate to be "reused" as munitions for the war effort. the Quadriga was to be preserved, but Hitler did not wish to remove it and hide it like he did with other valuables during the war. He believed that it stood as to strong a symbol for the German people. As a result the original Quadriga was almost entirely destroyed by bombings.
