Where was The Grand Budapest Hotel filmed? Guide to all the Filming Locations
Posted by Ra Moon
Set in the fictional Republic of Zubrowka, The Grand Budapest Hotel was filmed primarily in the German cities of Görlitz and Dresden, along with several other locations in Saxony.
Director Wes Anderson drew inspiration from Vienna, Prague, and Budapest to create the invented city of Lutz and this enchanting universe of exuberant old-world charm.
Director Wes Anderson drew inspiration from Vienna, Prague, and Budapest to create the invented city of Lutz and this enchanting universe of exuberant old-world charm.
The plot, somehow framed in the interwar period of the 20th century, shows clear references to the history of Central Europe and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
The hotel, situated in the story in the spa town of Nebelsbad below the Alpine Sudetenwaltz, is actually an amalgam of several wonderful locations.
Welcome to the wonderful Republic of Zubrowka and our spoiler-free guide to all the filming locations of The Grand Budapest Hotel.
The Grand Budapest Hotel Locations
Let's start from the beginning. The Old Lutz Cemetery of the former nation of Zubrowka was filmed on an old kindergarten playground on Bergstrasse in Görlitz.
The letters "Wählt Thälmann!", made in 1986 for a television film about this German politician, were changed to "Old Lutz Cemetery" and restored to their previous state after the shoot.
The cityscape in the background is Görlitz as seen from the Nikolai Cemetery (Nikolaifriedhof).
(You can open all the locations on Google Maps by clicking on the links below in the captions ↴)
Image courtesy of Fox Searchlight Pictures and Ubahnverleih - Map
Image courtesy of Fox Searchlight Pictures and Ubahnverleih - Map
Many elements of the movie are highly influenced by the style and the look of Karlovy Vary, the colorful spa town in the Czech Republic, including the Grandhotel Pupp.
The facade of the Grand Budapest Hotel, featured in the poster of the film, is actually the historic Bristol Palace Hotel.
Image courtesy of Fox Searchlight Pictures and Richard Schubert - Map
The mock-up of the funicular railway leading to the hotel seems to be inspired by the Budapest Castle Hill Funicular in Hungary.
Originally opened in 1870, this historic cable railway connects the banks of the Danube River with Buda Castle Hill.
However, the colonnaded railway viaduct looks like the spectacular Mürren–Allmendhubel funicular in the Bernese Alps of Switzerland.
Image courtesy of Fox Searchlight Pictures, Ken Owen, and Martin Hawlisch - Maps: Castle Hill / Mürren
Before the movie, Görlitz Warenhaus was a forgotten Art Nouveau building built in 1912 as a department store.
It became the perfect setting for the scenes taking place at the elegant hall of the hotel.
Image courtesy of Fox Searchlight Pictures and Rolf Dietrich Brecher - Map
The hotel baths were filmed at Freisebad in Gorlitz, an old bathhouse built in 1887.
Görlitz is one of the most beautiful German cities as it was not destroyed in World War II.
Image courtesy of Fox Searchlight Pictures and Südstädter - Map
The hotel's restaurant was filmed at Stadthalle Görlitz, a civic center and event venue, which was active between 1910 and 2005.
The romantic alpine scene in the background looks suspiciously like the emblematic statue Deer Leap (Jelenà Skok) from Karlovy Vary, pictured in the lower pic.
The Trophy Room where Kovacs reads Madame D.'s will at Schloss Lutz and the Hall of Armours at the Lutz Art Museum were also filmed in this building.
Image courtesy of Fox Searchlight Pictures and Maja Dumat - Maps: Stadthalle Görlitz / Deer Leap
By the way, at the beginning of the movie there is this short snippet of the Deer Leap with the Bad Schandau elevator in Saxony, Germany.
Built in 1904, this Art Nouveau-style steel structure rises along the Elbe River valley to save about 52 meters (170 ft) of height.
Image courtesy of Fox Searchlight Pictures and Jörg Blobelt - Map
As Discover Görlitz revealed, this shot was filmed at the former baths of the Brauner Hirsch house (The Brown Deer) located on a corner of the Untermarkt square.
Many more small scenes were filmed in various places in this huge house, including Zero's tiny room, Agatha's room in Mendl's attic, the courtyard of the sister with the wooden leg, and the kitchen of Schloss Lutz for a scene with Serge X (French actor Mathieu Amalric).
Image courtesy of Fox Searchlight Pictures - Map
Mendl's confectionery shop was set in Pfunds Molkerei, a historical creamery in Dresden over 100 years old, decorated in neo-Renaissance style.
Image courtesy of Fox Searchlight Pictures and Ricarda Loves Monuments - Map
The scene with Agatha (played by Saoirse Ronan), cycling the streets of Lutz was filmed on Fischmarkt Street in Görlitz.
The bell tower is the Holy Trinity Church (Dreifaltigkeitskirche), used later on in the movie as the monk's abbey.
Image courtesy of Fox Searchlight Pictures - Map
The scene pictured with Zero picking up the press was also filmed on Brüderstraße, the central street of Görlitz's old town.
Image courtesy of Fox Searchlight Pictures and Google Maps
The entrance to the funicular was filmed around the corner on a wall next to the monumental staircase of Görlitz Old Town Hall.
This pink gate is from a real building, the Old Council's Pharmacy (Alte Ratsapotheke), also located on Untermarkt Square.
Image courtesy of Fox Searchlight Pictures - Maps: Rathaus / Ratsapotheke
During the night ride when Gustave and Zero visit Madame D. (played by Tilda Swinton) at Schloss Lutz estate, they go through one of the most famed streets in Dresden, Augustusstraße.
On one of the walls of Augustus Street, there is a massive porcelain mural representing the rulers of Saxony, known as Fürstenzug.
Located on the outer wall of the Stables Courtyard of Dresden Castle, the Fürstenzug survived the destruction during the bombing of Dresden in 1945.
Image courtesy of Fox Searchlight Pictures and Harald Selke - Map - Map
The car also speeds through Nikolaifriedhof cemetery in Görlitz.
Image courtesy of Fox Searchlight Pictures - Map
The exterior of Madame D.' Schloss Lutz was filmed at Schloss Hainewalde near the border with Czech Republic, with some CGI added to the scene.
Originally built in the 16th century as a hunting lodge for the local noble family, the castle was expanded over the years and became a grand residence.
During World War II, the castle was used as a military hospital by the German army. In the 1990s a private owner bought it and undertook extensive renovations to restore the building to its former glory.
Image courtesy of Fox Searchlight Pictures and Jörg Blobelt - Map
The interior of Schloss Lutz was filmed at Schloss Waldenburg in southwest Saxony.
The castle was originally built in the 12th century but it has undergone several renovations and reconstructions over the centuries.
The movie features several wood-paneled rooms, including the Blue Hall (where the funeral of Madame D. is located) and the library, where the fictional Boy With Apple painting by mannerist Renaissance artist Johannes van Hoytl was hung.
Image courtesy of Fox Searchlight Pictures - Map
The Checkpoint 19 prison exterior is actually Kriebstein Castle, located in the state of Saxony in Germany.
Built in the 14th century, this imposing fortress is nested on a rock overlooking the Zschopau River.
The indoor scenes were shot on location at the castle of Osterstein, in Zwickau.
According to LocationsHub, the interior of the prison was filmed at Osterstein Castle, a former prison in Zwickau.
After a long restoration, the complex was converted into apartments with a cafeteria and other public services.
Image courtesy of Fox Searchlight Pictures - Map
The carousel scene was filmed on Langenstraße in Görlitz, showing the lovely Renaissance facade of a house that used to be a restaurant called Gasthaus Zum Flyns.
Image courtesy of Fox Searchlight Pictures - Map
The beginning of the sequence where Deputy Kovacs (Jeff Goldblum) tries to escape from a hitman (Willem Dafoe) was filmed on Berliner Street.
The building in the background is Görlitz's railway station.
Image courtesy of Fox Searchlight Pictures - Map
The Lutz Art Museum was filmed at the dazzling Zwinger Palace in Dresden.
Built in the early 18th century, this complex was initially designed to be a place for lavish court festivities. The rococo-style pavilions of the Zwinger were rebuilt after being damaged in WW2.
Today, the Zwinger is home to a number of museums and galleries, including the Old Masters Picture Gallery (Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister).
The facade of the Silesian Museum on Brüderstraße in Görlitz was featured in a very short scene.
Many productions have been recorded in the gorgeous Görlitz, including The Book Thief and Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds.
Image courtesy of Fox Searchlight Pictures and Google Maps
The cable car in the mountains and the Akademie Zubrowka High-Mountain Observatory was inspired by the Sphinx Observatory on the Jungfraujoch, Switzerland.
Situated at an altitude of 3,571 meters in one of the highest points in the Swiss Alps, this awesome astronomical research center was built in 1937.
Image courtesy of Fox Searchlight Pictures and Julius Silver - Map
This wondrous movie is full of details and easter eggs. The name of the country where the action takes place, Zubrowka, is a popular brand of Polish vodka.
Some scenes in the snowy forest were filmed in the Königshain Hills area near Görlitz.
Image courtesy of Fox Searchlight Pictures - Map
- Are you Monsieur Gustave of the Grand Budapest Hotel in Nebelsbad?
These arcades are also from the Brauner Hirsch house. The wall on the left is fake, this is where the Untermarkt Square is located.
Image courtesy of Fox Searchlight Pictures - Map
The interior of the abbey was filmed at the Dreifaltigkeitskirche or Holy Trinity Church in Görlitz.
This temple, built between 1234 and 1245 as the monastery church of a Franciscan monastery, has survived the vicissitudes of history almost intact.
Image courtesy of Fox Searchlight Pictures - Map
The wedding scene was filmed from the famous Bastei Bridge in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains, one of the most well-known landscapes of Sächsische Schweiz (Saxon Switzerland) in Germany.
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NOTICE: If you’re using this information on your website, please credit and link to this page as a source.
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Ra Moon
Atlas of Wonders is looking for wonderful Filming Locations all around the world. We are constantly updating and improving our posts with new details and images. Follow us here:
Thanks for posting this, Ra! I loved the movie, have watched it twice already and could easily watch it again.
ReplyDeleteGreat photos!
Thanks a lot! :]
ReplyDeleteHi, I just made a map featuring all the locations :) https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=zYsstHEJSRJ0.kZNDqpmoHLbk
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteThanks Livia, very interesting... The reviews in Trip Advisor are also very entertaining to read! :D
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g6840479-d6776131-Reviews-The_Grand_Budapest_Hotel-The_Republic_of_Zubrowka.html
I love this movie. It is full of creative ideas and the cinematography is just brilliant. Character of Zero is outstanding.
ReplyDeleteWould definitely love to read the book.
There is an elevator from the river (Elbe) level to the plateau above Bad Schandau. It is shown in the movie.
ReplyDeleteI stayed in a hotel across the river with view on the Elevator two years ago. Unfortunately it was closed when we wanted to use it to visit the plateau, where they keep several lynxes. I had to walk my way up.
forgot to add a link: https://bad-schandau.de/personenaufzug-2/
ReplyDeleteThank you so so much for this article! Taking notes before my trip to Görlitz. :D
ReplyDeleteAll comments are reviewed prior to publication