The still image shows the front view of the US Army Shopping Center in Berlin-Dahlem on Hüttenweg, photographed in summer 1955. Above the imposing entrance portal with tiered access stairs, a large sign reading “U.S. Army Shopping Center” is prominently displayed; on the forecourt, American automobiles from the early 1950s are visible. The facility was part of the military infrastructure of the American occupation sector and supplied allied personnel and their dependents with consumer goods to American standards. As an exclusive facility inaccessible to the Berlin civilian population, it embodies the material privileges afforded to the Western allied occupation forces in the midst of a city still in reconstruction. At the same time, the image reflects the deep integration of the US military into West Berlin’s everyday life during the Cold War.