Best Films About Berlin: What to Check Out Before You Visit

Berlin is among the most iconic cities in the world. The culture, architecture and vast neighbourhoods make it one of Europe’s go-to tourist spots and the perfect backdrop to some of the greatest films ever made. This is my 2026 updated guide to the best films about Berlin, from Cold War spy thrillers to Weimar Republic classics and modern indie gems.

Few cities have shaped cinema the way Berlin has. The divided city of the Cold War, the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the construction of the wall in 1961, the rise and collapse of the Third Reich, the creative chaos of the Weimar Republic — the German capital has been at the center of history for over a century, and filmmakers have never stopped showing up to document it. Berlin is also home to the European Film Academy, which makes sense. It is, without question, one of the great film cities of the world.

In this post you’ll find a wide range of films set in Berlin, spanning silent cinema to modern action thrillers, to inspire your next Berlin itinerary. And if you already live here, it is always fun to spot your neighbourhood on screen.

Looking for a quick pick? The most essential films about Berlin are Wings of Desire (1987), The Lives of Others (2006), Bridge of Spies (2015), Atomic Blonde (2017), and Goodbye Lenin (2003). For the full list with context, read on.

Best Films About Berlin to Watch (or Not)

M (1931)

Before Run Lola Run, before The Lives of Others, before any film on this list, there was Fritz Lang. M is one of the most important German films ever made and a cornerstone of silent cinema’s transition into sound. Set in Weimar Republic Berlin, it follows a city gripped by fear as a serial killer terrorizes the streets. Peter Lorre plays the title character in a performance that still holds up nearly a century later. Lang’s use of sound and shadow was revolutionary. If you call yourself a film fan, this one is non-negotiable.

Cabaret (1972)

Cabaret is set in 1931 Berlin, right at the collapse of the Weimar Republic, as Nazi Germany begins its rise to power. Liza Minnelli plays Sally Bowles, a performer at the Kit Kat Club, and she is extraordinary. The film won eight Academy Awards. It captures the political tensions, the decadence, and the creeping dread of a city on the edge of catastrophe. Not a cheerful watch, but an absolute masterpiece and one of the best films set in Berlin, full stop.

Run Lola Run (1998)

Run Lola Run is a classic race-against-time thriller in which our main character, Lola, has 20 minutes to find 100,000 DM as her boyfriend lost the money he owes to a particularly nasty villain. Director Tom Tykwer shot the chase scenes across Berlin’s streets, and the city becomes part of the action. Although this film is not the best on the list for showing off Berlin’s sights and sounds, you still get a real feel for the city. And it’s safe to say that films like this have paved the way for new generations of creative talent within the industry.

Wings of Desire (1987)

Wings of Desire tells the story of several invisible angels who wander around Berlin, helping and comforting some of the more distressed locals. The Oscar-nominated director Wim Wenders found success in both Europe and the US. A combination of brilliant cinematography and a wealth of architecture and scenery demonstrates how beautiful this city can look and feel. It is one of the finest best foreign language films ever made and the Berlin film par excellence.

Christiane F. / Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo (1981)

Christiane F. is based on the true story of Christiane Felscherinow, a teenager growing up in West Berlin in the 1970s whose life spirals into drug addiction around Bahnhof Zoo. It is bleak, unflinching, and one of the most powerful German films ever made. David Bowie appears as himself, performing a concert in West Berlin, and his soundtrack is pitch-perfect. If you want to understand the shadow side of the city, this is essential viewing.

Downfall (2004)

In ‘Downfall‘, Traudl Junge, one of the film’s senior writers and Hitler’s final secretary (yep, that’s actually true) unveils Hitler’s final days in a bunker beneath war-torn Berlin at the end of the Second World War. There are more films set in Nazi Germany and the Third Reich than I would be willing to count, but the powerful writing and first-hand experience give this film a sense of authenticity that is tough to rival. If you have any interest in World War II history, this is a must-see.

Goodbye Lenin (2003)

In this reflection of 1989 East Berlin, our main character Alex is arrested while protesting against the regime. The distress causes his communist mother, Christiane Kerner, to have a heart attack, and she falls into a coma. While she is unconscious, the Berlin Wall falls and her beloved East Berlin ceases to exist. When she wakes, to prevent trauma and shock, Alex (played by Daniel Brühl) attempts to keep her in the dark by constructing a makeshift GDR within their shared flat. Director Wolfgang Becker delivers a warm-hearted comedy with real emotional weight. It is one of the most beloved German films about the fall of the wall. Find out more about Good Bye, Lenin!.

The Lives of Others (2006)

The Lives of Others tells the engaging and somewhat mysterious story of an officer within the East German Secret Police. He attends a play written by a playwright who presents himself as the perfect loyal citizen. The officer is not convinced and carries out surveillance on the writer and his lover. As the film goes on, he becomes more and more absorbed with their lives and begins to care for the couple, even going so far as to intervene to help them. Director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. It is one of the greatest films about Cold War Berlin ever made.

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965)

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold is one of the defining Cold War spy thrillers of all time. Richard Burton plays Alec Leamas, a British agent sent on a final mission to discredit an East German intelligence officer. The film is set against the shadow of the wall, the iron curtain, and the machinery of Cold War espionage at its most brutal. No glamour, no gadgets. Just a deeply uncomfortable, deeply brilliant film about a divided city and the people ground up by it. Based on John le Carré’s novel of the same name.

Victoria (2015)

Victoria is likely one of the most technically impressive films you will ever see. The entire film was shot in a single take, in real time, with one camera crew. The team filmed it three full times, start to finish, no cuts, no cheats. Genius. It follows a young Spanish woman who recently moved to Berlin, a night that starts with harmless flirting at a club, and a crime-thriller that spirals into something far more sinister. Throughout, Victoria shows you Berlin’s nightlife, neighbourhoods, and streets at night in a way no other film quite manages.

Funeral in Berlin (1966)

Berlin has long been one of the great cities of the spy thriller genre, with cold war spy films set here producing some of the best work in the genre. Funeral in Berlin tells the tale of British spy Harry Palmer (played by Michael Caine), tasked with retrieving a potential defector and gaining intel on the East German regime. Unlike the polished world of James Bond, Harry Palmer is sardonic, working-class, and considerably less glamorous. Think of him as the anti-Roger Moore. Things don’t go according to plan and the twists come fast. An excellent watch for classic British spy film fans.

Bridge of Spies (2015)

Bridge of Spies is Steven Spielberg at his most precise. Tom Hanks plays James B. Donovan, an American lawyer recruited by the CIA to negotiate a prisoner exchange at the height of the Cold War. The exchange takes place on the Glienicke Bridge between West Berlin and Potsdam, with the Brandenburg Gate looming as backdrop. It is a true story, and an edge-of-your-seat one. The film captures a divided city under enormous political tensions, and it won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. One of the best films about Berlin in recent decades.

The Bourne Supremacy (2004)

The Bourne Supremacy is the second film in a franchise still considered one of the greatest action thriller series in cinema. Matt Damon returns as Jason Bourne, coming back to Berlin to piece together his past. The audience gets to see a great deal of the city, with notable film locations including Alexanderplatz, Palais am Funkturm, The Westin Grand Berlin, Walter-Benjamin-Platz, Potsdamer Platz, and Haus des Rundfunks. The Berlin chase scene alone is worth the watch.

Berlin Syndrome (2017)

While on vacation in Berlin, Australian photojournalist Clare meets a charismatic local man, Andi, and there is an immediate attraction. Unfortunately, what appears to be a blossoming romance takes a shocking, sinister turn when Clare wakes up to find she is locked inside the apartment. This is no simple mistake. Andi has absolutely no intention of letting her go, ever. Berlin Syndrome is a must-see for horror and thriller fans, and Teresa Palmer is brilliant as the young woman at the centre of the story.

Atomic Blonde (2017)

Atomic Blonde is set in Berlin in 1989, just days before the fall of the Berlin Wall. Charlize Theron plays Lorraine Broughton, a top-level MI6 agent sent into the divided city to recover a list of double agents. It is a Cold War spy thriller, an action thriller, and a love letter to the chaos of late 1980s West Berlin. Checkpoint Charlie, David Bowie on the soundtrack, political tensions that could snap at any moment. The action sequences are extraordinary. If you want a film that drops you right into the final days of a city on the edge of history, this is it.

Valkyrie (2008)

Valkyrie tells the true story of Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg and the 1944 plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler. Tom Cruise plays the title character, a senior Nazi Germany military officer who becomes the public face of the German resistance against the Third Reich. Much of the film is set in Berlin, including the Bendlerblock, the heart of the coup attempt and now a memorial. It is a tense, well-made thriller about one of the most daring acts of resistance in history.

One, Two, Three (1961)

One, Two, Three is one of the more unique films about Berlin and one of the sharpest comedies Billy Wilder ever made. It is a sharp-tongued comedy about a Coca-Cola executive in West Berlin caught between capitalist Americans and communist East Germans while trying to manage his boss’ socialite daughter. What makes it historically extraordinary is the timing. The film was in production exactly as the construction of the Berlin Wall began. Rather than halt production, Wilder wove it into the story. Funny, fast, and now an accidental piece of history.

Chasing Liberty (2004)

In Chasing Liberty, Anna Foster is the most protected girl in America. She is the First Daughter. Anna makes a deal with her overprotective father, the President of the United States, allowing only two agents to guard her while she travels to a concert in Prague. When her father backs out, Anna goes on the run with Ben, a photographer she meets outside the club. They travel together to the Love Parade in Berlin. Anna knows very little about Ben, but the viewer soon learns he is under orders from her father to guard her. He just didn’t plan on falling in love.

Er ist Wieder da! (2015)

Adolf Hitler wakes up in Berlin, but the year is 2014. After familiarising himself with his surroundings, he is discovered by TV producer Fabian Sawatzki. Fabian assumes Hitler is an actor or performance artist and takes him on a tour of the country to interact with the public for a TV show. For Hitler, this is an ideal opportunity to regain power and popularity. Er Ist Wieder Da‘s comedic take on the subject manages to entertain while carefully navigating the line between humour and genuine offence.

Aeon Flux (2005)

Set roughly 400 years in the future, Aeon Flux is a mysterious assassin who lives in the city of Bregna in the year 2415. While Bregna is a fictional city, the architecture and design are pure Berlin. It is a creative, imaginative look at what the German capital could look like centuries from now. Aeon is tasked with assassinating the ruler of Bregna, but nothing is as simple as it seems.

Oh Boy (A Coffee in Berlin) (2012)

Oh Boy (A Coffee in Berlin) is a sobering, thought-provoking film about a young man who has dropped out of university and now wanders the streets of Berlin trying to make sense of his life. Unlike most of the other films about Berlin on this list, this is one many people can actually relate to. We see the city from an everyday person’s point of view. Not a spy, not a war hero, just someone in a city trying to figure out what comes next. It is down to earth, authentic, and it shows the true heart of Berlin. The definitive Berlin lifestyle film.

Berlin I Love You (2019)

Do I love Berlin? Absolutely. Do I love this film? Not so much, but it is worth a mention. Berlin I Love You is the city’s entry in the Cities of Love anthology series (alongside Paris, Je t’aime and New York, I Love You) and consists of ten romantic stories set across Berlin. With so many varied characters and locations, you do get a genuine tour of the city. If you are a romantic with an interest in films set in Berlin, give it a chance.

Babylon Berlin (2017, TV Series)

Not a film, but too important to leave off entirely. Babylon Berlin is a German TV series set in Weimar Republic Berlin, following a detective navigating the political chaos and criminal underworld of 1920s Germany. It is the most expensive non-English language TV series ever made. The production design is astonishing, the atmosphere is completely immersive, and the series has become a huge international success. If you work through this list and want more, Babylon Berlin is your next stop.

Are you planning on visiting Berlin in the near or distant future? Check out my other blog posts about Berlin to learn as much as possible before you arrive!

Amélie

Amélie is a health and wellness junky. Certified yoga instructor with Yoga Alliance in the Vinyasa and Ashtanga styles, she has a Yoga Instructor Certification – Level I (300 hours) and Yoga Instructor Certification – Level II (200 hours) under her belt. She also has a certified Open Water Diver certification with PADI and SSI Scuba Schools International Freediving Level I certification with SSI Scuba Schools International. She’s been vegan for over 15 years and is obsessed with anything wellness-related.