The intersection of Zimmerstrasse and Friedrichstrasse lay directly at the Berlin Wall and marked the area around the Checkpoint Charlie border crossing—one of the most notorious flashpoints of the Cold War. The visible barbed wire points to the border security installations erected in 1961 that separated West and East Berlin. Kennedy inspected the Wall on June 26, 1963 as part of his Berlin leg, in order to gain a direct view of the city’s division. The photograph documents the condition of the border area at the time of the state visit.