ABSTRACT
Throughout the 1950s, a communist capital and a sophisticated metropolis based on capitalism came together at the porous membrane that constituted the border transecting cold-war Berlin. Unable to escape one another, they were in a constant state of antipathy and friction. The West Berlin politicians and their allies in the Federal Republic realized that advertising was more tempting than propaganda. Consumer goods were cheaper but more effective than atom bombs in changing loyalties. As the authorities tried to entice visitors to the 1951 Weltfestspiele in the eastern sector over to West Berlin, West Germany’s Economic Minister, Ludwig Erhard, emphasized the importance of West Berlin as a capitalist display window for the East. Borders make flimsy and insubstantial barriers against ideas. Despite jamming and strict customs controls, western culture, with its subversive messages, seeped through. The Western Allies, led by the Americans, were determined to use all means, pure and impure, to get their message across.
