German film classics

01 Run Lola Run: the Oberbaumbrücke

In Tom Tykwer's 1998 film Franka Potente sprints through Berlin with bright red hair, including across the Oberbaumbrücke with its brick towers between Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain. The bridge is loveliest early in the morning, with the U1 rattling overhead. Stations: Schlesisches Tor or Warschauer Straße.

02 Wings of Desire: the Victory Column and the State Library

In Wim Wenders' 1987 film, angels sit on the golden Victoria atop the Victory Column and listen to readers' thoughts in the State Library on Potsdamer Straße. You can climb the Victory Column yourself, and Hans Scharoun's State Library is impressive even from outside. Stations: Bellevue for the Victory Column, Potsdamer Platz for the library.

03 Good Bye, Lenin!: Berolinastraße

The prefab flat where Alex keeps the GDR alive for his mother is on Berolinastraße, right next to Karl-Marx-Allee. A walk along the avenue with its wedding-cake buildings belongs with it. Station: Schillingstraße.

04 The Lives of Others: the Stasi headquarters

For the 2006 Oscar winner, scenes were shot in the former Stasi headquarters on Normannenstraße, and in today's Stasi Museum you can walk through the real offices. The apartment building of the characters Dreymann and Sieland is on Wedekindstraße in Friedrichshain; people live there today, so please look from outside only. Station for the museum: Magdalenenstraße, more in Ringbahn part 5.

05 Christiane F.: Zoo station and Gropiusstadt

The 1981 film based on the bestseller "We Children from Bahnhof Zoo" was shot at Zoologischer Garten station and in Gropiusstadt, the large housing estate in Neukölln named after the architect Walter Gropius. Both look different today, but the Gropiusstadt tower blocks still stand. Stations: Zoologischer Garten, and for Gropiusstadt the U7 to Lipschitzallee.

Hollywood in Berlin

06 The Bourne Supremacy: the World Clock and Messedamm

Matt Damon as Jason Bourne meets Nicky Parsons at the World Clock on Alexanderplatz and then disappears into a crowd. Other scenes were shot at Ostbahnhof, on Karl-Marx-Allee and around the ICC. Stations: Alexanderplatz, Ostbahnhof, Messe Nord/ICC.

07 The pedestrian underpass at Messedamm

An inconspicuous tiled pedestrian tunnel under Messedamm is one of the most filmed places in the city: it appears in Bourne, in The Hunger Games and in Atomic Blonde with Charlize Theron. An odd but rewarding detour if you are heading to the radio tower anyway. Station: Messe Nord/ICC.

08 Tempelhof Airport: Panem and Valkyrie

The huge airport building played District 2 in The Hunger Games and served as a set for Valkyrie with Tom Cruise. Valkyrie was also shot at the Bendlerblock, where the 1944 plot against Hitler was planned and which is now the German Resistance Memorial Center. Stations: Platz der Luftbrücke for Tempelhof, Potsdamer Platz for the Bendlerblock. More about the airport in The story of BER.

09 Inglourious Basterds: café, ballroom and fortress

Quentin Tarantino shot large parts of his film at Studio Babelsberg, and in Berlin at places such as Café Einstein on Kurfürstenstraße and Clärchens Ballhaus in Mitte. Scenes were also filmed in 2008 at Fort Hahneberg in Spandau, which you can only enter on a guided tour; more in our 12 more places off the path.

Series

10 Babylon Berlin: Delphi, Red Town Hall and Körnerpark

The Moka Efti nightclub exists only in the series. It was filmed in the hall of the former silent-film cinema Delphi in Weißensee, built in 1929 and now open at events as Theater im Delphi. The Red Town Hall plays the police headquarters, the "Red Castle", from outside, while interiors were filmed in Schöneberg Town Hall. The Körnerpark in Neukölln also appears. Many street scenes were shot on the Studio Babelsberg lot.

11 The Queen's Gambit: Karl-Marx-Allee

In the Netflix series Anya Taylor-Joy strolls along Karl-Marx-Allee, which stands in for another city in the story. The broad avenue with its grand 1950s buildings is worth a walk even without the series. Stations: Strausberger Platz, Weberwiese or Frankfurter Tor.

Potsdam and Babelsberg

Potsdam is in fare zone C, so you need a Berlin ABC ticket or the Deutschlandticket.

12 Bridge of Spies: the Glienicke Bridge

Steven Spielberg shot his thriller with Tom Hanks at the real location, the bridge where East and West actually exchanged spies in 1962. To this day the bridge is painted in two different shades of green, so you can still see where the border once ran. The nicest way there is along the shore through Babelsberg Park; more in our Babelsberg article.

13 Sanssouci: Jackie Chan and Charlize Theron

Scenes for "Around the World in 80 Days" with Jackie Chan were shot at the Orangery Palace in Sanssouci Park. For the science fiction film "Aeon Flux", Charlize Theron strode through a wrought-iron gate on Geschwister-Scholl-Straße at the edge of the park.

14 Homeland: the Dutch Quarter as Amsterdam

The red brick houses of the Dutch Quarter stood in for Amsterdam in the series Homeland. The quarter was built in the 18th century for Dutch craftsmen, and today it is full of cafés and small shops. The tram from Potsdam Hauptbahnhof gets you there in a few minutes.

15 Studio Babelsberg and the Filmpark

Films have been made in Babelsberg since 1912; classics such as "Metropolis" and "The Blue Angel" were shot here, later "The Pianist" and "Inglourious Basterds". The studio itself offers no public tours, but next door the Filmpark Babelsberg shows sets, stunt shows and technology, open seasonally. Station: Medienstadt Babelsberg, more in our Babelsberg article.