Maps of Movies

The Lives of Others (2006)

Where The Lives of Others says it takes place, and where it was really shot.

A film about being watched, and the one prison the memorial refused to let it film in: the opening interrogation was shot somewhere the sources do not name

Scenes and places

The opening interrogation (1984)

Wiesler questions a prisoner, setting out how the Stasi breaks people down. The scene shows who he is before he meets Dreyman.

Set in Hohenschönhausen detention centre — The Stasi detention centre where the film opens with an interrogation. Google Maps · Apple Maps

The memorial that now stands on the site of the Stasi's central remand prison.

The Stasi headquarters (1984)

Wiesler's superior and friend Grubitz orders him to spy on the playwright Georg Dreyman. Dreyman is the one writer the state has so far left alone.

Set in Stasi headquarters, Normannenstraße — The Ministry for State Security headquarters in East Berlin. Google Maps · Apple Maps

The former headquarters of the East German Ministry for State Security, now a museum.

Filmed at Former MfS headquarters, Normannenstraße, Lichtenberg (Lichtenberg, Berlin, Germany) — A room next to Erich Mielke's former study stood in for Grubitz's office; a lecture hall and the former canteen were also used. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there:

The premiere and the dance (1984)

Wiesler and Grubitz watch Dreyman's world at close range: the play, then the party where the minister, the actress and the writer cross paths. Wiesler begins to see why a powerful man might want Dreyman watched.

Set in An East Berlin theatre and its party — A theatre premiere and the party that follows, with Dreyman, Christa-Maria and the Minister's circle. Google Maps · Apple Maps

A landmark East Berlin theatre on Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz.

Filmed at Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz, Mitte (Mitte, Berlin, Germany) — The dance scene was filmed in the theatre's Green Salon, and other scenes in front of and at the building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there:

Dreyman's flat is wired (1984)

Wiesler's team installs the microphones and the listening post in the attic. From now on he hears everything Dreyman and Christa-Maria say at home.

Set in Dreyman's flat, Hufelandstraße (Prenzlauer Berg) — The playwright's East Berlin flat; the Stasi report in the film places it on Hufeland Street.

An ordinary East Berlin apartment block; the film used two different buildings for outside and inside.

Filmed at Wedekindstraße (in front of no. 21), Friedrichshain (Friedrichshain, Berlin, Germany) — The exterior street in front of Dreyman's flat; parking was banned for 72 hours on the 200 m street. The coordinates mark the street centre. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there:

Jerska's funeral (1984)

Dreyman buries his friend Albert Jerska, a blacklisted director. The loss pushes him to decide he must publish what the state hides.

Set in A cemetery in East Berlin — The burial of Dreyman's blacklisted director friend; the film does not name the cemetery in the material consulted.

A small old Berlin parish cemetery.

Filmed at Friedhof I der Georgen-Parochialgemeinde, Berlin (Berlin, Germany) — Filmed here for Jerska's burial. The coordinates are the cemetery as listed in the open database. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there:

Reading the files

After reunification Dreyman asks to see what the Stasi wrote about him, and starts reading the file pages in order.

Set in Stasi Records Agency — The archive where former East Germans can read their Stasi files. Google Maps · Apple Maps

The federal archive of the East German secret police files.

The bookshop window

Two years on, Wiesler passes a bookshop window with a display for Dreyman's new novel.

Set in Karl-Marx-Buchhandlung, Karl-Marx-Allee 78 — A bookshop on Karl-Marx-Allee; the source gives the address but no coordinates.

A bookshop on the broad Soviet-style boulevard Karl-Marx-Allee.

Filmed at Hebbel-Theater, Kreuzberg (Kreuzberg, Berlin, Germany) — A theatre in West Berlin Google Maps · Apple Maps

Filmed at Parochialstraße, Mitte (Mitte, Berlin, Germany) — An East Berlin street Google Maps · Apple Maps

Filmed at Volkspark Schönholzer Heide, Pankow (Pankow, Berlin, Germany) — A walk in the park Google Maps · Apple Maps

Filmed at Strausberger Platz, Friedrichshain (Friedrichshain, Berlin, Germany) — East Berlin street scenes Google Maps · Apple Maps

Filmed at Frankfurter Tor and Frankfurter Allee, Friedrichshain (Friedrichshain, Berlin, Germany) — East Berlin street scenes Google Maps · Apple Maps

Characters

• Gerd Wiesler — A Stasi captain, code name HGW XX/7, ordered to spy on a playwright.
• Georg Dreyman — A playwright in East Berlin whose pro-communist politics and international recognition have kept the state from directly monitoring him.
• Christa-Maria Sieland — An actress and Dreyman's girlfriend.
• Anton Grubitz — Wiesler's friend and superior, a Stasi lieutenant colonel.

Questions answered on the map

• Where was Dreyman's bugged flat in The Lives of Others really filmed?
• Why does the opening prison scene of The Lives of Others not use the real prison?