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Lights, camera, travel! Touring Berlin's film-shoot sites

(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-02-20 09:51

Gerdarmenmarkt, a central Berlin square, was one of the locations for the movie Around the World in 80 Days starring Jackie Chan.

The bus tour for movie lovers includes standard sites in the city, such as the Reichstag parliament building seen here through the window at left. The tour company provides video footage onboard.

There are times when entire streets in Berlin are blocked off for on-location film shoots.

That's when spotlights illuminate the night skies, and a tangle of cables covers the sidewalks.

Every year, more than 100 films - or at least some movie scenes - are shot on location in the German capital. Most prominent among such recent flicks was the major Hollywood production Inglorious Basterds with Brad Pitt.

And this has opened up a new attraction for tourists visiting Berlin - a tour of the film sites to follow movie stars' footsteps.

The first major international film in recent years to once again put the spotlight on Berlin as a movie setting was Around the World in 80 Days with Jackie Chan. In the early scenes, the architectural landmark Gendarmenmarkt Square in the heart of eastern Berlin serves as the slightly altered setting for what in the film is supposed to be 19th-century London.

And it happens over and over again that Berlin becomes another city in the movies. For example, Matt Damon in his action-thrillers The Bourne Identity and The Bourne Ultimatum is supposed to be racing through the streets of Moscow - even though the chase scene was shot in a traffic tunnel beneath Berlin's Tiergarten Park.

Then there was the case of how Tom Tykwer, in the film The International, used Berlin's gleaming Sony Center at Potsdamer Platz to depict a bank building in Brussels.

But Berlin is also allowed, often enough, to play itself in a film. In Lola Rennt (Run, Lola, Run), Franka Potenta not only raced through the streets of the German capital, but also accelerated her international film career en route.

While many of the film's street scenes rush by in a blur, visitors who now head to the Bebelplatz square can get a better picture of what happened when the red-haired Lola races into a bank to steal a whole lot of money to save her friend Manni. But the building, which in the film had the name Deutsche Transfer Bank above the entrance, is actually one of Berlin's most expensive hotels, the Hotel de Rome.

A bit further in the direction of Alexanderplatz square, film director Dani Levy and comedian Helge Schneider shocked many tourists in the spring of 2006. In the final sequences of their film Mein Fuehrer (My Fuehrer) - a parody on Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler - they had huge swastika-decorated flags hanging in the Lustgarten Park.

Hollywood star Tom Cruise also created a big stir and lots of debate during the filming of Valkyrie, about the plot on Hitler's life led by German army colonel Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg. Amid the controversy, director Bryan Singer was allowed to shoot some key scenes at what is today the Federal Finance Ministry, which during the Nazi regime was the Reich Air Ministry.

More recent episodes of (East) Berlin's history came to life on the big screen in the highly acclaimed Goodbye, Lenin, which was filmed in the Berolinastrasse near Karl-Marx-Allee, and the Oscar-winning Das Leben der Anderen (The Lives of Others) in the Wedekindstrasse.

But everyday life also is a matter of fascination for directors. For example, Andreas Dresen, in his flick Sommer vorm Balkon (Summer in Berlin) used the colorful eastern Berlin district of Prenzlauer Berg as the main setting.

Then there was the hit film Herr Lehmann (Berlin Blues) taking place in the seedy western Berlin district of Kreuzberg before the 1989 fall of The Berlin Wall. Director Leander Haussmann and his film team shot in various Kreuzberg locations. Leading actor Christian Ulmen was shown drinking away his frustration in the "Zum Elefanten" bar in Heinrichtplatz square and regularly visiting the "Weltrestaurant Markthalle" in the Puecklerstrasse.

All of this, and more, are offered on the "Videobus tour" of film settings in Berlin, with screen displays on the bus showing the film scenes.

Interrail ticket valid for 15 days

Berlin: Exploring Europe by rail has become even more flexible thanks to a new Interrail ticket that permits the holder to use trains throughout 25 countries for 15 consecutive days. It is a good option for travelers who want to spend some time at a variety of destinations or are planning a rail-based holiday. The Interrail Global Pass is valid in second-class carriages and costs 279 euros ($387) for those aged between 15 and 25 years. Older travelers pay 399 euros, with a reduction of 10 percent for those aged over 60 years. The previous Interrail Global Pass was only valid for 22 days of a month or as a combination ticket for five days of rail travel within a period of 10 days.

Spring in Bulbland

Amsterdam: The famous tulips in Amsterdam are just one aspect of the floral splendor on display in the Netherlands this spring. From April 2, Groningen will be the hub for flower fans when it hosts a market featuring hundreds of booths. The annual event regularly attracts 150,000 visitors. The floral parade in Bollenstreek promises to be another highlight: On Saturday April 24 at 9:30 am, the annual Flower Parade will leave Noordwijk to travel a 40-km route. The procession consists of 20 large floats and more than 30 decorated luxury cars, interspersed with marching bands. (www.bloemenjaarmarkt.nl, www.bloemencorso.info)