After discovering the newly-installed plaque at Pershing and Euclid, CWEnder David Strom proposed that he investigate the story behind the Worlds Fair vintage Berlin Hotel, which was on the southwest corner of Pershing and Taylor, and share his findings with readers of this blog. Here’s what he found out:
Meet me at the Berlin Hotel by David Strom
Even long-time Central West Enders might not recognize Berlin Avenue, but the street has a storied past in our neighborhood. It is now called Pershing Avenue, and the corner of Pershing and Euclid now has a commemorative plaque that hints at its history.
The name of the street was changed in 1918 along with other place and street names with German ancestry. This was part of a larger post-WWI effort nationwide. “The Trading-with-the-Enemy Act and the Espionage Act of 1917 heavily censored German presence in media and publications, causing many German-language newspapers to shut down. Some German Americans were subjected to confiscation of property, fines and imprisonment for defying this legislation,” wrote Calvin Cheong in this blog post.
An article in the Post-Dispatch from almost ten years ago chronicled the process, and also noted that some St. Louisans wanted to restore these names to acknowledge their German heritage. Their efforts were largely unsuccessful, and the non-German names have stayed. This is ironic given the large place that German families played in the history and development of our city: my wife, for example, has German ancestors on both sides of her family. 
That article (and the modern plaque) mentions how the southwest corner of Pershing/Berlin and Taylor was once the site of the Berlin Hotel. It can be seen here in a postcard from that era. In 1912, the hotel had a fire that ended up killing two people and injuring a dozen others, according to this New York Times article. Evidently, the damage to the hotel was repaired, although its name was changed as part of the post-WWI effort and it became the Avalon, and later, the Lark Hotel, below. 
A 1977 photo of the Lark Hotel at Pershing and Taylor.
Lark Hotel west elevation from Pershing Place in 1977.
The hotel was torn down in the late 70s, and replaced with a row of 8 Federal-style townhouses.(Another picture of the hotel can be seen here.)
Thanks David for sharing this enlightening article. I especially love the NY Times coverage of the fire, mentioned above.