Historic film locations Berlin - castles, monuments, museums, bridges and ruins for film productions

Berlin is marketing itself as a film city and supports national and international movie production companies when planning a movie shoot in and around its famous historic castles and monuments.
Berlin enjoys a long film history, reaching back to the beginnings of moving pictures. Its historic locations had been used for movies and photo shootings and they are spread all over the city of Berlin and its surrounding regions. Impressive historical monuments and castles are regularly used as backdrops for historic movies and television productions as well as for advertising photography and fashion editorial shootings. Since the reunification, the city of Berlin has increased its efforts and budgets to upkeep those historic buildings - their alteration, renovation and restoration.

Most of those historic buildings are being used as historic film location for national and international film productions and photographic shootings. Because of their historical value, architectural significance and cultural importance, the new use of those monuments plays an important role in the everyday life of Berlin and in the marketing to the rest of the world to attract tourists as well as film production companies. With careful planning architects are meeting the needs of the highly-valued continued existent buildings and its re-integration in the appearance of the city. Others are just beautifully restored castles that invite Berliners and visitors equally to enjoy the beauty of these locations.

Some of these historic filming locations are the well-known Baroque palaces: the New Palace in Potsdam and Schloss Charlottenburg in Berlin. In the late phase of the Baroque, the Rococo, the decoration became even more abundant with even brighter colors. Those are the most desired historic filming locations for pompous Hollywood movies or re-enactments of historic television documentaries. An example for a much desired historic filming location is ‘Sans Souci Palace’ in Potsdam, near Berlin. It was the former Summer palace of Frederick the Great, King of Prussia and its architecture, decor and parks have significant similarities to the French counterpart in Versailles. Berlin offers all those fabulous locations for commercial spots, advertising, fashion editorial and print campaigns, for movie and still productions.

One of Europe's most famous landmarks and a monument of classicism in Germany is the Brandenburg Gate, commissioned by King Frederick William II of Prussia as a sign of peace and completed by Carl Gotthard Langhans in 1791. One of Europe's most famous landmarks in Germany is the Brandenburg Gate, a monument of classicism and commissioned by King Frederick William II of Prussia as a sign of peace and completed by Carl Gotthard Langhans in 1791. Other significant historic buildings in and around Berlin are the designs of architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel in the period from 1816 - 1830. He was leaning more towards the Greek and Roman architecture, away from the French abundant decor, that is so often favored in historic movies and TV series. Some of Schinkel’s best known buildings are the “Neue Wache”, the “Schauspielhaus at the Gendarmenmarkt” and the “Altes Museum” on Museum Island. Apart from those carefully restored historical sites, there are still many picturesque ruins and overgrown old forgotten buildings, that are often used as dramatic locations for feature films, fairy tale movies and photographic fashion productions.