Studio centenary

Potsdam's city council has organized a program of around 130 events including exhibitions and open-air film screenings to celebrate the birthday of the world's oldest large-scale film production center.

Venues offering special events include the Konfrad Wolf School of Film and TV, the Babelsberg Filmpark and the Potsdam Film Museum.

The event series, entitled "Die Traumfabrik – 100 Jahre Film in Babelsberg" ("The Dream Factory – 100 Years of Film at Babelsberg") focuses on film production throughout five distinct eras of German history.

100 years ago

The company Biscop built its first glass studio on the Babelsberg lot in 1911 and today is not only the largest film production complex in Germany but also the oldest in the world. Work on the first movie produced there, "Der Totentanz" ("The Dance of the Dead,") began on February 12, 1912.

Arguably the most iconic production ever mounted at Babelsberg was Fritz Lang's silent science-fiction masterpiece "Metropolis" which was filmed in an enormous, specially constructed studio in 1925.

Putting Babelsberg on the map

Today, this vast studio has been divided into three smaller units and renamed the Marlene Dietrich Hall. So important was "Metropolis" for the studio that the iconic image of Maria, the evil robot, is still used to this day as the studio's official logo.

The first stage equipped for sound film production, the "Tonkreuz," was built in 1929 for production of the first ever German sound film, "Melodie des Herzens" ("Melody of the Heart") but it was the next sound film which really caught the public's attention and catapulted a young Marlene Dietrich to stardom: "Der blaue Engel" ("The Blue Angel.")

A century of turmoil

Studio Babelsberg remained prolific during the Nazi-era with around 1,000 films produced there between 1933 and 1945.

After World War II, the studios came under control of the state-owned film production company of East Germany, DEFA, and up until the regime collapsed in 1990, some 800 feature films and 600 television films were produced there.

To this day, Babelsberg remains a popular choice for international productions and recent years have seen a number of A-list Hollywood films shot there.

Controversial director Roman Polanski has filmed twice at the studios and said, "Studio Babelsberg has highly talented and enthusiastic crews as well as young talents full of motivation."

In addition to a regular roster of German films, major Hollywood productions such as "The Pianist," "Inglorious Basterds" and "The Ghostwriter" have all drawn on a century of cinema expertise at Studio Babelsberg.

Author: Gavin Blackburn
Editor: Kristin Zeier