» Additional information

Europe’s oldest and most famous film studio is located in Babelsberg. Since 1912, 3000 films have been shot where TV and Hollywood films are produced today.
Stars like Marlene Dietrich, Manfred Krug or Jude Law and directors like Fritz Lang, Konrad Wolf and Roman Polanski significantly shaped the studio′s profile. 20th-century political history influenced film production. With marvellous items on display, the exhibition illustrates the interconnection between artists, films, the studio and the respective historical circumstances.

Babelsberg – Faces of a Film Metropolis
In 2004, Filmmuseum Potsdam opened a new permanent exhibition on the main focus of its collections and research: feature films made in the Babelsberg studios since 1912.
The breathtaking story? It might run as follows: A cameraman from Berlin establishes a small film company in an abandoned factory building surrounded by waste land. A couple of years later, this area has become the location of Europe′s largest film studio. Repeatedly, the studio has been threatened by disasters, yet two dictatorships and 90 years later, stars of world-wide fame work there on state-of-the-art film sets. Certainly, bad news is a part of past and presence: Vivendi, current owner and global corporation, tries to get rid of the unprofitable studios. Happy ending? Let′s hope so! The media metropolis has survived four social systems and will celebrate its centenary in the fifth one. This is the miracle of Babelsberg!
In 1994, Gérard Depardieu filmed in Babelsberg. Complimenting the present management at a press conference, he declared to be very delighted by the fact that finally, almost 50 years after the war, filmmaking had returned to Babelsberg. Depardieu was mistaken! In spite of numerous crises, Babelsberg has been producing films since 1912 almost constantly. In fact, Depardieu′s well-known colleague Jean Gabin had shot films at the studio not only during the 1930s but also during the 1950s. There were, without a doubt, difficult times – yet only one real interruption: from April 1945 to December 1947, the studios were deserted.
Bioscop shot films in Babelsberg for 10 years. Ufa spent 23 years in the studios that were significantly shaped by the following 46 years of DEFA filmmaking. Since 1992, Studio Babelsberg has changed the location′s appearance: Parts of the 46-hectare area have been sold to ORB, a regional division of public German broadcaster ARD, and to Filmpark Babelsberg. The premises have been modernized thoroughly and completed with new facilities. Several small companies, Ufa′s film and television production company and the ARD children’s series "Schloss Einstein" have settled in the Babelsberg area.
More than 3000 films for cinema and television provide an incomparable source for historical reflections. With much greater transparency than other commodities or media, film stores human gestures, ways of life, technological developments and the particular "rhythms" of different eras – ranging from great ideas to eccentricities. Great successes and famous stars are contrasted with outright failures. The studios′ work was closely connected to five different political systems; in particular, two dictatorships had an impact on filmmaking in Babelsberg. Consequently, many older productions exclusively fascinate contemporary viewers because of their respective historical contexts.
Ufa was a global film distributor. Newspaper articles about stars of the past as well as books, exhibitions and television reruns have helped to make at least some of the company′s films and photographs part of German cultural memory. DEFA, the GDR′s state-owned film monopolist, has, meanwhile, almost become a terra incognita – at least to the younger generation and to those who happened to live outside the GDR.
The permanent exhibition provides extensive information on this longest period of Babelsberg filmmaking. Anti-fascist DEFA productions have been awarded many international prizes and contributed significantly to the company’s reputation throughout the world. Especially children′s and fairy tale films were popular East German export items and are still considered evergreens. DEFA-Westerns were box office hits in the GDR as well as in the entire Eastern Bloc. Armin Mueller-Stahl, Manfred Krug and Angelica Domröse remained stars even after they have left East Germany. The DEFA area of the exhibition, subdivided into four segments, does not only show highlights of East German filmmaking but also explores examples of unsuccessful and/or state-controlled productions, illustrating the GDR’s political climate and the films′ historical background.
What is "Eastalgia" good for if you can see the originals? The new generation of German college students rediscovers the museum′s archives for research purposes. Young people′s attention increasingly focuses on film retrospective: "Sonnenallee" and "Good Bye Lenin" eventually triggered a growing interest in older film production.
The growing collections of the film museum provide the basis of the new exhibition. The collections do not exclusively consist of film clips, photographs and texts: they also present costumes, models, scripts, props, production sketches and technical equipment that illustrate contemporary history as well as the talent of countless engineers, technicians, artists and craftsmen.
DEFA costumes reflect the particularly East German atmosphere: uniforms of the military, the police and mass organisations, some remnants from the bourgeois past, items representing the mandatory antifascist tradition – and one example of modest opposition. Besides a dress from the film "Die Buntkarierten", visitors can examine a white and green East German police uniform, the gear of an air force pilot, the uniform of a concentration camp prisoner, a dress used in the adaptation of Thomas Mann′s novel "Lotte in Weimar", a uniform shirt of the East German youth organisation FDJ and the leather jacket of rebellious singer "Sunny". The Film of the Year 1987, "Die Entfernung zwischen dir und mir und ihr", is represented by a T-shirt with a photo imprint of famous American author and ingenious drunkard Charles Bukowski.
Two installations by film architect Ariunsaichan Dawaachu invite the visitor to reflect on especially painful moments of DEFA history: In 1965, more than a dozen productions were either cancelled or banned. The end of the DEFA in 1990 resulted in an unprecedented number of dismissals. Many former DEFA employees still try to come to terms with the consequences. Their ambivalent statements about the past can be heard in the "Erinnerungsraum" ("memory room").
The entrance area of the new exhibition presents works by Bioscop and Ufa. Its last section is dedicated to post-GDR and current productions. The computer-based information system is bilingual (German and English) – after all, a considerable number of tourists visits Potsdam every year, many of them having an interest in the famous studio. Interactive touch screens provide a wide range of beautiful pictures as well as anecdotes and basic information on well-known actors. Visitors will be able to get a deeper insight into the history of the studios, historical events in Germany and world history between 1949 and 1992.
Children are always welcome at Filmmuseum Potsdam! Remember that the DEFA was famous for its excellent children′s films – there is much to watch and learn in the two children′s areas of the exhibition. Children are welcome to play in film sets and to try special effects. In fact, the museum is on its way to become a place for the whole family: visitors are invited to watch, experience, enjoy and play.
The museum presents the history of the Babelsberg studios – from Asta Nielsen to Kathrin Saß and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Examples of cinematic glorification of war ("Kolberg") meet anti-fascist productions (Konrad Wolf′s "Ich war neunzehn") and contemporary films like recent winner of the Oscar award and anti-war film "The Pianist" – a history of film combining representations of art, entertainment and ideological manipulation.
A history full of consolation and delight? Well … history often contradicts wishful thinking about the past. This also holds true for a record of filmmaking in Babelsberg. Unfortunately, one-dimensional stories and heroes are very rare in real life. Babelsberg′s long history is based on the work of many generations: artists, craftsmen, inventors, accountants, managers and politicians contributed to the reputation of the studios.


Bärbel Dalichow
Museum Director