Maps of Movies
The Reader (2008)
Where The Reader says it takes place, and where it was really shot.
A boy, a tram conductor and a courtroom: the German towns, a Czech chapel and two studios behind The Reader
View on the map
Scenes and places
Michael's morning in Berlin (1995)
Grown-up Michael wakes to a breakfast his companion has made and tells her he is spending the evening with his daughter. She asks whether any woman ever stays long enough to learn what goes on in his head.
Set in Berlin — Where the grown-up Michael lives and where the film opens, with a woman at his breakfast table. Google Maps · Apple Maps
Berlin, the German capital, is one of the places the production shot in; the city centre point is used because no exact spot is given.
Filmed at Berlin (exact spots not named) — The film's Berlin scenes were shot in the city; no street or building is named in the sources. Google Maps · Apple Maps
How to get there:
The tram where Michael falls ill (1958)
Fifteen-year-old Michael becomes sick on a tram. The conductor, Hanna Schmitz, gets him home. It is the chance meeting the whole story grows from.
Set in Unnamed provincial city — The film never names the town where 15-year-old Michael falls sick on a tram.
Görlitz is a Saxon border town on the river Neisse that stands in for a nameless German city.
Filmed at Görlitz, Saxony — The sources place the film's 1950s street scenes in Görlitz; the exact street is not given. Google Maps · Apple Maps
How to get there:
Hanna at work on the tram (1958)
Hanna works the tram as a reliable conductor while the secret affair with Michael deepens. She is soon promoted and then leaves without a word.
Set in Tram and depot in the unnamed city — Where Hanna works as a tram conductor, in the same unnamed city.
The Kirnitzschtal tramway is a narrow valley line in Saxon Switzerland and still runs in summer.
Filmed at Kirnitzschtal tramway, Bad Schandau — The depot and the stretch of line near the edge of Bad Schandau were used for the tram scenes. Google Maps · Apple Maps
How to get there: Tram line from Bad Schandau into the Kirnitzsch valley in Saxon Switzerland.
The cycling holiday (1958)
Michael and Hanna go on a short cycling holiday. Away from the city he starts to notice odd things in how she behaves.
Set in Countryside on the cycling holiday — A short bike trip in the countryside where Michael starts to notice oddities in Hanna's behaviour.
The route runs through Saxon Switzerland, with one stop just over the Czech border.
Filmed at Buschmühle, Kirnitzschtal — The mill restaurant stands in for a country inn on the trip; the book's author Bernhard Schlink appears briefly. Google Maps · Apple Maps
How to get there:
Filmed at Our Lady of the Snows church, Sněžná (Czechia) — A pilgrimage chapel across the border in Bohemia is named as the village church of the trip; only one article says so. Google Maps · Apple Maps
How to get there:
Law school in Heidelberg (1966)
In 1966 Michael is a law student at Heidelberg. His special seminar group is taken to sit in on a war-crime trial.
Set in Heidelberg University Law School — Where Michael studies law in 1966; the point is the city centre. Google Maps · Apple Maps
Heidelberg is the old university town on the Neckar.
The war-crimes trial (1966)
Michael watches the trial of former female SS guards and is horrified to learn that Hanna is one of the defendants. He has to decide what he owes her.
Set in Courtroom of the trial — The court where several former female SS guards are tried; the sources do not name the city.
No filming location for the courtroom is given in the sources.
Tapes for Hanna in prison (1980)
Through the 1980s Michael records himself reading books aloud on tape and mails them to Hanna in prison.
Set in Prison where Hanna is held — Where Hanna serves her sentence; the sources do not name it.
No filming location for the prison is given in the sources.
Michael finds Ilana in New York (1995)
Michael finds the trial survivor Ilana Mather in New York and tells her of his connection to Hanna.
Set in New York City — Where Michael tracks down the survivor who testified at the trial.
No filming location for the New York scenes is given in the sources.
Filmed at Studio Babelsberg backlot, Potsdam — 1950s and 60s German streets Google Maps · Apple Maps
Filmed at MMC Studios, Cologne-Hürth — Interior scenes Google Maps · Apple Maps
Characters
- Michael Berg — A German teenager who falls into an affair with a tram conductor and meets her again years later in a courtroom.
- Hanna Schmitz — A tram conductor in her thirties who asks the boy to read to her.
Questions answered on the map
- Where was the tram in The Reader really filmed?
- Where did the cycling trip in The Reader take place?