At a tram stop at Breitscheidplatz, Berlin passengers board line 6 heading toward Neukölln; the stop sign bears the inscription “Straßenbahn Haltestelle.” In the background, the war-damaged tower ruins of the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church rise up—an omnipresent memorial to World War II in the midst of the reviving western part of the city. The tram (car no. 5762) embodies the functioning local transport of daily life, while the clothing and bearing of the passengers reflect the beginning economic miracle (Wirtschaftswunder) of the Federal Republic. The image combines two defining elements of West Berlin in 1955: unbroken urban everyday life and the war wounds not yet removed, which marked the city simultaneously as the “showcase of the West” and as a symbol of reconstruction.