A passenger stairway at Tempelhof Airport bears the official emblem and inscription “United States Air Forces in Europe” along with the location marking “Tempelhof – Berlin, Germany”. In the background, parts of a military aircraft with the characteristic white US star are visible. In 1955, Tempelhof Airport was not only a civilian transportation hub but also a strategic military base of the US forces in Europe – symbol and promise of protection in one. The photograph documents the Allied presence in occupied West Berlin: the city depended on air corridors and the goodwill of the Western powers, as the airlift of 1948/49 had dramatically demonstrated. Tempelhof thus stood in 1955 for the direct military anchoring of the United States in the Cold War and for West Berlin’s dependence on its protective function.