From Sweden to Hamburg - in one second

An insane car chase: hacker Lisbeth Salander pursues her adversaries by car on a country road somewhere in Sweden. Squealing tyres, hard drifts and lots of sweat (for the viewer!) included. After a lot of nature, the two cars reach a motorway access road. Isn't that the A7 motorway? A few seconds later, the chase ends on a bridge that might look familiar to some people from Hamburg: The Kattwyk Bridge with its striking blue and yellow pillars. This is where Salander meets her arch-rival for the first time - a key scene in the film. But how does the title heroine of the newConspiracy-Directors Fede Alvarez's film so quickly from Sweden to Hamburg?

The film team was looking for a bridge that could be raised and lowered in its entirety at the touch of a button, as this is how Lisbeth Salander escapes in the scene. As no suitable bridge was found in Sweden, the team scouted for suitable bridges in the neighbourhood. Thanks to the support of the location management and the Hamburg Port Authority, the film team was finally able to be brought to the Hanseatic city. The Port of Hamburg can also be seen in a few shots in the film; the film team spent a total of three days on the Elbe and made the best possible use of their time, as the finished film, which has been showing in German cinemas since 22 November 2018, proves.

Angels in the city

The city recently received another celebrity visit from Hollywood: Directors and actress Elizabeth Banks shot several scenes for her remake ofCharlie's Angels in Hamburg - and chose Hamburg's new landmark, the Elbphilharmonie, for the film. In the film, the concert hall is transformed into the headquarters of the bad guys, but the story is set in Hamburg. Several of the elaborate action scenes were also filmed on the Jungfernstieg, for example. Anyone watching the 2019 action hit in the cinema will therefore not be able to avoid Hamburg - anywhere in the world. It is quite possible that the Angels will further boost film tourism in the Hanseatic city and that other film teams will follow suit. So it's not one city that has been spent on another, but the building used has been misappropriated.

A famous investigative duo has already discovered the city for themselves: From 9 May 2019, when the two investigators Carl Mørck and Assad will be inContempt flicker across the big screen, a large part of the story will be set in Copenhagen. Script Writer Jussi Adler-Olsen is Danish, so the setting is obvious. However, if you take a closer look at some of the scenes, you will discover the Hamburg harbour or the Große Elbstraße, for example. Directors Christoffer Boe and his team spent around 10 days filming in the Hanseatic city at the beginning of 2018 - several scenes were also shot in Schleswig-Holstein.

Hamburg in the GDR

However, some of the changes of city were quite a while ago. Back in the 50s, Directors Helmut Käutner made a film withThe Captain of Köpenick the famous theatre play by Carl Zuckmeyer. As Köpenick still belonged to the GDR in 1956, suitable film locations were sought in Hamburg - and found in the former Schlump tax office, among other places, which with its imposing appearance was quickly converted into Köpenick's town hall.

When the canals become the Thames

Directors Alfred Vohrer turned the Edgar Wallace classic into a film just five years laterThe dead eyes of Londonwhich - as the name suggests - was originally based in London. For example, the canals in the Speicherstadt became the Thames. Other shots were taken on the Sandberg in Hamburg-Altona and in the real film studio in Hamburg-Wandsbek.

For the remake ofJerry Cotton starring Christian Tramitz and Christian Ulmen, among others, Directors Cyrill Boss and Philipp Stennert quickly turned the city of Hamburg into the world metropolis of New York in 2009. The brick architecture of the Speicherstadt was a perfect fit - only the landmark was missing: the Statue of Liberty. But of course even that is no longer a problem these days - it was simply inserted into the background using a VFX effect. Still cheaper than flying the entire film team to NY.

Detlev Buck's comedyScratching cat starring Matthias Schweighöfer and Alexandra Maria Lara was largely filmed in Berlin. However, the posh Berlin hotel featured in the film is actually called Jenisch-Haus, is located in Hamburg Othmarschen and hosts changing exhibitions.

Independent filmmaker Jim Jarmusch also missed it with his filmOnly Lovers Left Alive to the Hanseatic city in 2012. One scene of the vampire romance, which was nominated for the Palme d'Or in Cannes, took place in the then very trendy Club Kir in Hamburg-Altona. A set photo, which was later used for one of the cinema posters, was shot here by set photographer Gordon Timpen. Incidentally, the scene is actually set in Detroit.