Emitting thick black smoke, the fire was visible from many parts of the City. Known by tourists for having a large, rotating silver star of Mercefes Benz on its roof, the building Is preserved for historic reasons.
At the height of the Cold War, construction began just after the Berlin Wall was erected. Based on American influences, the Europa-Center was intended to be a towering, bold statement of West Germany new future.
Easily seen from Communist East Germany, the American design influence was obvious and progressive. Fifty years on, the status building is a little run down but still a familiar part of the Berlin skyline.
Social media images show the fire services appeared to bring the fire under control quite rapidly, while some tweeters seemed to praise the fire as a good reason to renovate the building. Firefighters are still at the scene and it appears the fire was largely contained to the roof.
Emergency-Life.com 