The image shows the main gate of the US headquarters in Berlin, photographed in summer 1955. Behind the white iron lattice gate, a symmetrical approach axis opens onto a austere, representative administrative building with a flagpole; the facility is surrounded by mature trees. Uniformed sentries are visible at the entrance, and a civilian car passes through the gate in motion. The headquarters in the Berlin American Sector was the administrative and military center of US forces in the divided city and symbolized the enduring Allied presence in the western part of Berlin. As a visible sign of the Western protecting power, the facility also stood for the determination of the United States to uphold its occupation rights and the security of West Berlin in the midst of the Cold War.