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Eastern German town of Görlitz named best filming location in Europe

Anja Samy
Anja Samy - [email protected]
Eastern German town of Görlitz named best filming location in Europe
Görlitzer Wahrenhaus. Photo: DPA

Görlitz, or 'Görliwood' as it has come to be known, won the European Location Award on Tuesday, November 7th, beating several settings from the hit series 'Game of Thrones' to the title.

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The prize was awarded by the European Film Commission Network (EuFCN) at the European Parliament in Brussels for the best filming location on the continent, the Lausitzer Rundschau reports.

Görlitz competed against 10 other locations, including settings in Croatia and Spain which have been famously featured in the multi-billion dollar series, 'Game of Thrones',.

Situated 100km east of Dresden on the Polish border, Görlitz is Germany's easternmost city. Consequently, the city is split into 'Görlitz', the German district, and Zgorzelec, the Polish district, which are separated by the Lausitzer Neiße river.

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The city of 56,000 inhabitants is home to almost 3,500 historic monuments spanning 500 years from renaissance to art nouveau.

Earning it the nickname 'Görliwood', the city's unique and well-preserved architecture has made it a popular destination for national and international film and television productions since the 50's.

Most famously, the Oscar-winning 'Grand Budapest Hotel' used several locations across the city as its setting including the Jugendstilhaus, Stadthalle and Freisebad. Although the bright pink facade of the eponymous hotel is merely a model, the Görlitzer Warenhaus, the city's art nouveau department store, was used for its impressive interior.

"Görlitz and film are now inextricably linked," Andrea Behr, Managing Director of the city marketing company 'Europastadt GörlitzZgorzelec' told Focus, "due to the success of 'Grand Budapest Hotel', the city has received a lot of media attention".

Other internationally renowned films with scenes set in Görlitz include 'The Book Thief', 'Inglorious Basterds', 'Around the World in 80 Days', 'The Monuments Men' and 'The Reader', for which Kate Winslet won an Oscar.

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