The photograph shows the main building of Berliner Bank on Hardenbergstraße, taken in summer 1955. The multi-story new building, executed in sober postwar modernism with regular punched-hole façade and spacious ground-floor base, prominently displays the lettering “Berliner Bank” on the roof. In the foreground, deciduous trees and a street lamp line the sidewalk; scattered pedestrians and two parked automobiles from the early postwar period complete the quiet street scene. The building exemplifies the economic reconstruction of West Berlin and the beginning of the economic miracle (Wirtschaftswunder): a functional, representative new bank building as a visible signal of financial stability in a divided city. In the context of the Cold War, such architecture simultaneously embodied West Berlin’s message as a vital, modern economic center in contrast to the Soviet-influenced eastern part of the city.