The photograph shows an illuminated neon advertisement for the cigarette brand ‘Paicos’ in a Berlin night of 1955. The lettering stands out in high contrast against the dark urban background; scattered light reflections in the lower portion of the image suggest further nocturnal city life. Neon signs of this kind shaped the West Berlin cityscape in the mid-1950s and stood symbolically for the emerging consumer culture of the economic miracle (Wirtschaftswunder). As the “showcase of the West,” West Berlin presented itself through its commercial light advertising as a vibrant, modern metropolis in contrast to the eastern part of the divided city. The photograph is part of a series of nocturnal urban views with which the film material deliberately documented the economic vitality and recovery of West Berlin.