Germany has appeared on screen in everything from romantic dramas and spy thrillers to action movies and quirky comedies. It has many appealing aspects like historic cities, fairy-tale towns, towering mountains, and distinctive architecture. Because it has diverse landscapes, the country can give a movie a completely different feel depending on where it’s shot.
1. The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
The Grand Budapest Hotel takes place in the fictional Republic of Zubrowka. Filmmakers used various regions of Germany to create the make-believe place. The city of Görlitz in Saxony was the setting of the movie’s beautiful old-world locations, including the Görlitzer Warenhaus department store, which acted as the hotel’s interior. Other scenes were filmed around Dresden and at Moritzburg Castle, just outside the city. The movie has a storybook appearance due to historic buildings, elaborate interiors, ornate details, and picturesque streets of eastern Germany.
2. Run Lola Run (1998)
Berlin is essential to this German thriller. The title character, Lola, races across the city again and again as she desperately tries to find 100,000 marks. Her race is a great excuse to take viewers through streets, courtyards, bridges, and plazas all within central Berlin. Recognizable locations include Oberbaum Bridge, Friedrichstraße, and Gendarmenmarkt, one of the city’s most famous public squares. The movie shows a late 1990s Berlin full of energy and movement.
3. The Reader (2008)
Set in Germany just after the war, The Reader follows its characters through multiple decades. In this way, we can really see the country’s history and how it changed over time. Filming took place in Berlin, Görlitz, and Cologne, with real historic streets helping to mimic different time periods. The production used Görlitz, a city whose beautiful architecture has been truly well-preserved, allowing it to stand-in for earlier eras. The movie gives audiences a subdued look at Germany in the decades following its darkest time.
4. A Cure for Wellness (2016)
Although A Cure for Wellness is set in Switzerland, Germany’s castles, mountains, and historic structures give A Cure for Wellness a striking Gothic appearance. The movie’s most recognizable location is Hohenzollern Castle in Baden-Württemberg. This gorgeous castle sits on top of a mountain and was presented as the exterior of the ominous wellness center. Other filming took place around Berlin and Brandenburg, including historic hospitals and some really intimidating buildings. The combination of foggy countryside and Gothic castles shows a much darker side of Germany.
5. The Bourne Supremacy (2004)
Berlin plays a major role in Jason Bourne’s story in The Bourne Supremacy. Filmmakers made extensive use of real locations in the city. Scenes were filmed around Alexanderplatz, Friedrichstraße, and the Berlin Zoo area. Additionally, several of the city’s train and transit stations were featured. The movie also shows the Haus der Kulturen der Welt, which stands in for a Berlin hotel during one exciting sequence. The city’s modern architecture, public transportation, and chilly streets work for the movie’s tense spy-thriller vibe.
6. Inglourious Basterds (2009)
Although a lot of the story takes place in Nazi-occupied France, Inglourious Basterds was filmed primarily in Germany. A large amount of production took place at Studio Babelsberg in Potsdam, just outside Berlin, which is one of the oldest major film studios in the world. The movie used locations around Brandenburg and Saxony, where beautiful old buildings and countryside were used to convincingly recreate WWII Europe. Germany’s unique interiors and period architecture helped Quentin Tarantino build the movie’s stylized version of 1940s Europe.
7. The Lives of Others (2006)
Set in East Berlin in 1984, The Lives of Others shows a more serious perspective of Germany’s fairly recent past. The movie was filmed around Berlin, focusing mainly on apartment buildings, streets, and other locations that had the stark look of the former East Germany. One particularly notable location is the former Stasi headquarters on Normannenstraße. The muted scenery worked to recreate the oppressive atmosphere of life under government surveillance.
8. Unknown (2011)
Berlin is the atmospheric backdrop for this Liam Neeson mystery movie. Much of the movie was filmed on location around the city, including scenes shot at Hotel Adlon near the Brandenburg Gate and Berlin Hauptbahnhof, the city’s massive central train station. The production also makes good use of Berlin’s bridges, streets, and taxis. The mystery slowly unfolds in the midst of modern Berlin. With snow covering the city, Unknown shows a darker side of the famous German city.