Berlin- Checkpoint Charlie and Maccas - from the sublime to the ridiculous?

It felt strange for me to see McDonalds (nicknamed Macas in Australia) dominating the scene at Checkpoint Charlie - so a major symbol of the cold war - featured in any coldwar era espionage film or book and McDonalds ..... then again Checkpoint Charlie and McDonalds are major American icons for different reasons so perhaps the juxtaposition is not as incongruous as it first seemed ..... Afterall some say Checkpoint Charlie has a disney-esque quality with the fake Amercian soldiers at the guardbox (pay a couple of euro to have your picture taken with them) and the person who will place rubber stamp visa or entry stamp in your passport and then the salesmen with their tables full of communist badged fur hats and other quasi soviet souvenirs and various style gas marks ...and the well known checkpoint charlie sign in multiple languages and facing Maccas is the Checkpoint Charlie Museum, with some very sobering exhibitions and memories of those who died trying to cross through form East Berlin to West Berlin.

All of this mix of history and garish tourism is one of the things that I love about being a tourist, a traveller, a visitor in a place.

[Phil]

Gosh, what a mixture indeed! What really struck me in this shot was the feeling that people live there, it's not just a tourist place... yet clearly it's attracting tourists now...
You really made the most of your visit, brilliant.

[Phil]

PS Have you seen this? I saw it and thought of you! http://365project.org/fannyb/365/2013-05-09

[Karen H]

Oh you are getting me excited about my trip to Germany in August.

[alia_801]

I didn't realise it was so commercialised - it sounds surreal!

[Sheralee S]

Those golden arches just keep popping up everywhere don't they. It was a huge excitement when they came to our little town, lol. Love all the different things to see in this shot Megan, it's all happening!

[graycie]

In 1965, at the height of the Cold War I was an American teenager on a bus tour of East Berlin. We had gone through Checkpoint Charlie. I look at your photo and wonder where are the walled compounds where the buses were searched and the maze made to discourage any more cars from zooming right through the checkpoint from East to West? Where are the armed guards from both sides? What a difference 40 years makes. From armed frightening outpost to massively commercial area. Amazing.