Babelsberg Studios

The Babelsberg Studios, located in Potsdam-Babelsberg, Germany, is the oldest large-scale film studio in the world. Founded in 1911, it covers an area of about convert|270000|sqft|m2. Hundreds of films, including Fritz Lang's "Metropolis" and "The Blue Angel" were filmed there.

Today, Studio Babelsberg remains operational for film and television productions. It now includes "Filmpark Babelsberg", a theme park with stunt-shows and attractions based on movies.

History

In 1911, the company Bioscop built its first – glass – film studio in Babelsberg. The first filming began as early as February 1912. After the World War I, the Deutsche Bioscop Gesellschaft merged with the German branch of the French film concern Eclair Decla in Babelsberg into „Decla Bioscop“. In 1921, Decla Bioscop passed into Universum Film AG (UFA) which had been founded in 1917. This company built the large studio (which is now known as the "Marlene Dietrich Halle") in 1926 for the major film production of "Metropolis" by Fritz Lang. The first German sound stage in Babelsberg, the Tonkreuz, was built during 1929. "Melodie des Herzens" with Willy Fritsch was the first German full-sound film.

This was followed in 1930 by the premiere of "The Blue Angel" by Josef von Sternberg with Marlene Dietrich and Emil Jannings in the main roles. From 1933 to 1945, around 1,000 feature films were made in the studios and on the studio lot. Babelsberg's first motion picture after the end of the World War II was Wolfgang Staudte's "Die Mörder sind unter uns" ("The Murderers Are Among Us") with Hildegard Knef and Ernst Wilhelm Borchert, which started filming on May 4, 1946.

About two weeks later, on May 17, 1946, the DEFA - Deutsche Film AG - was established. It produced over 700 feature films, including 150 children's films. In addition, over 600 films were produced for television from 1959 to 1990. The DEFA period was honored by the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York in 2005.

After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Treuhand took over the responsibility for the privatisation of the former DEFA. In August 1992, the Treuhandanstalt sold the former DEFA film studios in Babelsberg to the French Compagnie Générale des Eaux concern (later absorbed into Vivendi Universal). Over the following 12 years the company invested around €500 million updating the studio's infrastructure.

In July 2004, Vivendi sold Studio Babelsberg to the investment company FBB (Filmbetriebe Berlin Brandenburg GmbH) which has Dr. Carl Woebcken and Christoph Fisser as shareholders.

Famous films shot at Babelsberg Studios

* Metropolis (1927)
* Der Blaue Engel (1930)
* La Habanera (1936)
* The Pianist (2002 film)
* Around the World in 80 Days (2004)
* V for Vendetta (2005)
* Flightplan (2005)
* Valkyrie (2007)
* Speed Racer (2007)
* The Reader (2007-2008)

Filmpark Babelsberg

Filmpark Babelsberg is a theme-park about movies located on the Babelsberg campus. It is divided into six different themes and 20 attractions. Popular attractions are the 4D Metropolis-cinema, a U-Boot-Ride, sceneries from different movies, an animalshow and a stuntshow. Filmpark opened in 1991 after the German reunification.

Literature

* Hans-Jürgen Tast (ed.) "ANTON WEBER (1904-1979) - Filmarchitekt bei der UFA" (Schellerten 2005) ISBN 3-88842-030-X;

External links

* [http://www.studiobabelsberg.com/ Official Webpage]
* [http://www.filmpark.de/index.php The Filmpark official Webpage]
* [http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,860393,00.html Berlin Studio Plays Host To Hollywood ]