Checkpoint Charlie illuminated during Christmas time in Berlin

The iconic Checkpoint Charlie, the most famous crossing point of the Berlin Wall during the Cold War, photographed on a Christmas evening. The reconstruction of the American control booth with the "U.S. Army Checkpoint" sign is flanked by a large Christmas tree. The sign "You are leaving the American Sector" recalls the times when this crossing on Friedrichstrasse was the only passage allowed between East and West Berlin for diplomats and foreigners. The portrait of a Soviet soldier looks west, a symbol of the division that separated the city from 1961 to 1989.

Checkpoint Charlie, Berlin, Berlin Wall, Cold War, Christmas, Germany