Silent film classics from Babelsberg Filmstudios - long before Hollywood had a name…

Filming for “Metropolis” took 310 days and 60 nights in 1925 and 1926, and a total of 36,000 actors stood in front of the camera in Babelsberg. The director Fritz Lang overreached the budget and spent almost three times the originally agreed 1.5 million Reichsmarks. However, the two-and-a-half-hour film flopped at the box office in 1927, and the critics also panned the work: Soon after the premiere, only mutilated versions existed.  

In his film, Lang paints a gloomy picture of a two-class society in the future city of Metropolis. The seemingly stable order is shaken when the regent's son falls in love with Maria (the statue depicted above) the leader of the workers from the lower town.



The rediscovery of "Metropolis" began in the 1980s: a version set to disco music became a hit with the public. The film is now considered one of the most influential cinematic works of art of the 20th century.

"There can be no understanding between the hand and the brain unless the heart acts as mediator." - Fritz Lang

Discover Berlin through the soundtracks of the movies that were shot in this city. Here are the tracks from our Spotify playlist:

1. "Heroes" von David Bowie (aus dem Film "Christiane F.")
2. "99 Luftballons" von Nena (aus dem Film "Wings of Desire")
3. "Ich will Spaß" von Markus (aus dem Film "Manta, Manta")
4. "Sonne" von Rammstein (aus dem Film "xXx - Triple X")
5. "Sky and Sand" von Paul und Fritz Kalkbrenner (aus dem Film "Berlin Calling")
6. "Blue Monday" von New Order (aus dem Film "Bis zum Ellenbogen")
7. "Major Tom" von Peter Schilling (aus dem Film "23 - Nichts ist so wie es scheint")
8. "Zu Asche, zu Staub" von Severija Janušauskaitė (aus der TV-Serie "Babylon Berlin")
9. "City of Blinding Lights" von U2 (aus dem Film "Unknown Identity")
10. "Rivers of Babylon" von Boney M. (aus dem Film "Good Bye, Lenin!")
11. "Fade to Grey" von Visage (aus dem Film "Oh Boy")
12. "Für immer und dich" von Rio Reiser (aus dem Film "Victoria")
13. "Babylon's Burning" von The Ruts (aus dem Film "Lola rennt")
14. "Ohne Dich" von Selig (aus dem Film "Absolute Giganten")
15. "Road to Nowhere" von Talking Heads (aus dem Film "Der Himmel über Berlin")
16. "City Lights" von Blanche (aus dem Film "Einmal Berlin und zurück")
17. "Slaughter" von Billy Preston (aus dem Film "Inglorious Basterds")
18. "Mercedes Benz" von Janis Joplin (aus dem Film "Der Baader Meinhof Komplex")
19. "Albatros" von Karat (aus dem Film "Das Leben der Anderen")
20. "Extreme Ways" von Moby (aus dem Film " The Bourne Ultimatum")
21. Bonus: "Ich bin von Kopf bis Fuß auf Liebe eingestellt" von Marlene Dietrich (aus dem Film "Der blaue Engel")