Telecom logo to adorn Berlin's landmark Brandenburg Gate

BERLIN, Germany (AP) -- There's 3Com Park, Safeco Field and the Nokia Sugar Bowl. But the Deutsche Telekom Brandenburg Gate?

While undergoing renovations starting next month, Germany's best-known landmark will be adorned with a sign advertising the Bonn-based German telecommunications company.

Workers are to begin building scaffolding around the Gate on Friday before workers begin work removing the decades of grime that have accumulated since the last cleaning, before World War II.

The scaffolding will be draped with a covering on November 1 that includes photographs from around the world -- and a Telekom logo placed just under the Gate's famous chariot pulled by four horses.

The founder of the preservation society responsible for the renovation, Reinhard Mueller, said he saw no problem with Telekom's prominent self-promotion: The company has put up 10 million marks ($4.5 million) toward the restoration project, which will cost an estimated 12 million marks ($5.4 million).

Work on the 65 meter (213 feet) wide by 20 meters (66 feet) high Gate is expected to take at least a year. Traffic through the gate will continue during most of the renovation.

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