Emma From Hollywood to Görliwood
You’ll have seen Görlitz in many films but were probably unaware of its existence. The town of Görlitz has been featured in films such as The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Reader, Inglorious Basterds and many more.
The town is ideal for film-makers as it wasn’t get bombed during the second world war and due to Communism, it didn’t get much investment in the post-war years, so demolishing historic buildings and replacing them with ‘plattenbau’ didn’t really happen. Maybe not so good if you lived there during the cold war, but for enabling historic buildings to be kept in use it was perfect.
Follow the trail below to discover the film locations around Görlitz.
Walking Trail around Görlitz film locations
We haven’t given this tour a start and an end to make it easier to dip into when you are wandering around Görlitz or starting from your accommodation.
Kaufhaus Görlitz
This is the interior of the hotel in The Grand Budapest Hotel. It operated as a department store until 2009 and now opens occasionally for events. During our stay it was closed so we couldn’t see inside, however, I’m sure you’ll agree it looks stunning from the outside.
Demienplatz
This is the tram stop used by Michael in the film The Reader. The historic trams used were brought especially to the town to run on the original city tram lines.
Grundshule Innenstadt am Fischmarkt
At the school on Fischmarkt, two scenes from The Reader were filmed. You can see our guide holding up a photo showing the location in the film
Fischmarktstrasse
Another scene from The Grand Budapest Hotel, this time the Mendl bakery. In the scene Agatha cycles from the bakery towards the camera.
Here is the outside of Mendl’s, the interior was actually filmed in Dresden at the Pfunds Molkerei dairy.
Obermarkt
The Obermarkt was used for general scenes in the George Clooney film, The Monuments Men.
Dreifaltigkeitskirche at Obermarkt
The interior shots of the convent in the film The Grand Budapest Hotel were shot inside the church on the left in the above photo. It was established in 1234 and you can take photos instead but there is a small charge for this.
Bruderstrasse
Another The Grand Budapest Hotel location which was filmed on the street between the lower and upper market.
Town Hall Staircase
The town hall staircase can be seen in a scene in The Grand Budapest Hotel. If you look to the left of the funicular you will see the stairs.
Bruderstrasse at Town Hall
Another The Grand Budapest Hotel scene this time at what is now the Silesian Museum. This scene features the concierge at another hotel and a fire engine on the square.
Neptunebrunnen
The fountain features in the film within the film Inglourious Basterds.
You can get the bird’s eye view of the fountain when taking part in the Town Hall Tour – find out about that here.
Untermarkt
Another scene from the film within the film in Inglourious Basterds.
Altes Apotheke
Back to the funicular above, and the entrance to the old chemist building has been merged with the town hall stairs to create the entrance to the funicular in The Grand Budapest Hotel. The building is now a cafe.
Brauner Hirsch
The brown deer has been featured in many films from The Grand Budapest Hotel – where it doubled as the cloisters and can be seen in the image below, to The Captain, The Young Karl Marx and Measuring the World.
Stadthalle
The inside of the Stadthalle stood in as the dining hall for The Grand Budapest Hotel. We didn’t get to see inside as it was late by the time we had wandered along here but it is an impressive building from the outside.
Jakob Bormer Strasse
At the beginning of the film The Grand Budapest Hotel, you will find a wall known as the Thälmann-Mauer (Thälmann wall) and the words “Wählt Thälmann” (vote for Thälmann) which was painted on it from another film about the East German politician Ernst Thälmann. The words were changed to “Old Lutz Cemetery” for Wes Anderson, and then returned to their original words after filming.
Bergstrasse
Featured in The Reader.
Nikolaifriedhof
Featured in The Grand Budapest Hotel, Willem Defoe’s character is chasing Jeff Goldblum.
Görlitz Bahnhof
Görlitz railway station features in the chase scene in The Grand Budapest Hotel with Willem Defoe and Jeff Goldblum.
Book a guided tour around Görliwood
We took a guided tour, in English, around Görlitz which takes around 90 minutes.
Many thanks to Görlitz Tourist Office for their support during our visit.
