Maps of Movies

The Pianist (2002)

Where The Pianist says it takes place, and where it was really shot.

Warsaw in the film was mostly built in Germany: a studio backlot, a Soviet hospital and old barracks, plus one real Praga street.

Scenes and places

The radio recital interrupted by bombs (1939)

Szpilman is playing Chopin live on the radio in Warsaw when German bombs hit the station. He walks out into a city at war and finds his family already packing to leave.

Set in Polish Radio, Zielna 25, Warsaw — Szpilman is playing live on air when the station is hit in an air raid.

The Polish Radio building in Warsaw, on Zielna street, where Szpilman worked as a pianist.

Leaving home, selling the piano (1940)

The Szpilmans sell their belongings one by one, even the grand piano, to survive under the occupation. In late 1940 they have to leave their home and move into the Warsaw Ghetto.

Set in The Szpilman family home, Warsaw — The family sells belongings, including the grand piano, and is forced out of their home in late 1940.

The ghetto border crossing (1940)

Inside the ghetto, the Szpilman family moves through a street cut in two by the wall, with trams running across the boundary. Hunger and brutality become daily life.

Set in Chłodna and Żelazna crossing, Warsaw Ghetto — A crossing on the edge of the ghetto, with trams passing through.

The film's ghetto crossing was a street in the Praga district, with period facades added to real prewar buildings.

Filmed at Stalowa Street, Praga-Północ, Warsaw — The Chłodna/Żelazna crossing was built here: facades added to tenements, street lamps installed, ghetto walls built. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there:

Filmed at Konopacka and Stalowa crossing, Praga-Północ, Warsaw — The other street of the real crossing used for the set. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there:

The bridge over Chłodna street (1940)

A crowd squeezes through the gate between the small and large ghetto while people cross over the wooden bridge above the street. Szpilman moves through it in search of work.

Set in Bridge over Chłodna street and gate between the small and large ghetto — The crowded gate and the wooden bridge linking the two parts of the ghetto.

The real Chłodna street bridge linked two ghetto parts so that traffic could keep flowing below.

Filmed at Stalowa Street, Praga-Północ, Warsaw — The crowd at the gate between the small and large ghetto and the shots on the wooden bridge were filmed here. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there:

The Umschlagplatz railhead (1942)

Rounded up with hundreds of others, the Szpilman family waits at the railhead, told they are going to labor camps. A Jewish policeman who knows Szpilman pulls him out of the line and away from his family.

Set in Umschlagplatz, Warsaw Ghetto — Szpilman, his family and hundreds of other Jews wait at the rail loading point in August 1942.

The Umschlagplatz was the loading point in the Warsaw Ghetto where Jews were put on trains.

Filmed at National Defence University, Rembertów, Warsaw — The Umschlagplatz scene was filmed on the grounds of the National Defence University, with thousands of extras. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there:

The emptied ghetto street (1942)

Alone after the trains leave, Szpilman walks through a ghetto that has been emptied of its people. The streets show what was left behind.

Set in A street in the Warsaw Ghetto — Szpilman wanders the streets of the ghetto after the deportations.

Mała is a street in the Praga district of Warsaw with a preserved prewar block.

Filmed at Mała Street, Praga-Północ, Warsaw — Street scenes of the empty ghetto during the great deportation were filmed here. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there:

The forced labour on the building site (1942)

Szpilman becomes a slave labourer on a building site. There he learns that an uprising is being planned, and begins smuggling weapons into the ghetto.

Set in A construction site in the Warsaw Ghetto — Szpilman becomes a slave labourer and learns of a coming uprising.

Filmed at Praga-Północ district, Warsaw — Szpilman's building-site scenes were shot in Praga; the exact site is not given in the source (district-level point). Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there:

The ghetto uprising seen from a hiding place (1943)

Hidden by friends in the Polish resistance, Szpilman watches the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising from his window. It is a helpless view of a fight he cannot join.

Set in A hiding place overlooking the Warsaw Ghetto — From his hiding place, Szpilman watches the uprising unfold and fail in April 1943.

Babelsberg Studio in Potsdam is one of Europe's oldest large film studios.

Filmed at Babelsberg Studio backlot, Potsdam — The ghetto and surrounding city were rebuilt on the studio backlot; the uprising was the first scene shot at the studio. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there:

The flat opposite the German police station (1944)

In a new hiding place across from a German police station, Szpilman is ill and starved, and the apartment has a piano he must not touch. In August 1944 he watches the Warsaw Uprising unfold outside.

Set in A hiding apartment in the German quarter of Warsaw — The flat is across from a German police station and holds a piano that Szpilman cannot play.

Filmed at Babelsberg Studio backlot (modified set), Potsdam — The Warsaw street set at the studio was used for these scenes, per Polish Wikipedia; the exact set is not given. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there:

The burning hospital (1944)

Szpilman hides in the abandoned hospital as Warsaw burns around him. When German troops set it on fire with flamethrowers, he has to flee.

Set in The military hospital in Warsaw — German troops set the abandoned hospital on fire during the razing of the city.

A large abandoned Soviet military hospital complex at Beelitz, southwest of Berlin.

Filmed at Beelitz-Heilstätten abandoned Soviet military hospital, Beelitz — The scenes of German soldiers burning a Warsaw hospital with flamethrowers were filmed here. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there:

The ruined city (1944)

Szpilman flees through a Warsaw reduced to rubble. There is no one left to ask for help.

Set in Ruined Warsaw — Szpilman flees through the ruins of the city.

Jüterbog in eastern Germany had remains of Red Army barracks, found by the crew after months of searching.

Filmed at Former Soviet barracks, Jüterbog — The ruined Warsaw landscape was made at old Soviet Army barracks in Jüterbog (town-level point; exact barracks not given). Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there:

Meeting Captain Hosenfeld (1944)

Szpilman, found searching for food, is discovered by Wehrmacht officer Wilm Hosenfeld, who asks what he does for a living. When the pianist plays Chopin on the house's piano, the officer lets him keep hiding there and brings him food.

Set in A house in ruined Warsaw — Szpilman is discovered by a German officer, Wilm Hosenfeld, and plays Chopin's Ballade No. 1 on the house's grand piano.

The concert hall (1945)

The film closes in a concert hall.

Set in A large concert hall in Warsaw — A full concert hall after the war.

The scenes were shot with an orchestra and extras inside Polish Radio buildings in Warsaw.

Filmed at Polish Radio facilities, Warsaw — Concert scenes with Adrien Brody and pianist Janusz Olejniczak were filmed in Polish Radio buildings over more than 20 hours; the coordinates are the Polish Radio entry in Wikipedia (not an exact hall). Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there:

Characters

• Władysław Szpilman — A Polish-Jewish pianist who survives the destruction of Warsaw by hiding.
• Wilm Hosenfeld — A Wehrmacht officer who finds Szpilman hiding in the ruins.

Questions answered on the map

• Which of the film's Warsaw was really filmed in Germany?