Maps of Movies
The Great Escape (1963)
Where The Great Escape says it takes place, and where it was really shot.
The prisoner camp was a clearing in a Munich forest, and the Swiss border chase was run on meadows outside Füssen, hundreds of kilometres from Poland
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Scenes and places
The new prisoner camp (1944)
Hilts finds a blind spot in the fence on the first day and gives himself up without revealing it. He is sent to the cooler, where he meets Ives.
Set in Prisoner-of-war camp (called Neustadt in the film) — A new Luftwaffe-run camp where Allied POWs who keep escaping are held together.
The real camp was near Sagan (now Żagań, Poland); the film shoot built its own camp in a Bavarian forest.
Filmed at Perlacher Forst clearing, Munich (Perlacher Forst, Munich, Germany) — The camp set was built in a clearing of this forest next to the studio. Google Maps · Apple Maps
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Inside the huts: Tom, Dick and Harry (1944)
Bartlett re-forms the escape committee and proposes breaking out 250 men. The prisoners start digging three tunnels called Tom, Dick and Harry.
Set in Barracks and tunnel entrances in the camp — The huts where the POWs plan and dig the three tunnels.
The huts and tunnels seen inside were built as sets in a film studio, not in the forest camp.
Filmed at Bavaria Film Studio, Geiselgasteig (Geiselgasteig, Munich, Germany) — Sets for the barrack interiors and tunnels were constructed here. Google Maps · Apple Maps
How to get there:
Neustadt station (1944)
The railway scenes begin: a station the film calls Neustadt, where prisoners and guards move through.
Set in Neustadt station — The station of the film's fictional town of Neustadt.
A suburban Munich station standing in for the station of the camp town.
Filmed at Großhesselohe station (Großhesselohe, Munich, Germany) — Used as "Neustadt" station in the movie. Google Maps · Apple Maps
How to get there:
On the train out of Munich (1944)
The escapees ride the railway, hiding in plain sight among travellers.
Set in Train route between towns — The railway line the escapees travel on.
A line south of Munich; English and German Wikipedia name different lines near the same station.
Filmed at Deisenhofen station area (Deisenhofen, Oberhaching, Germany) — Railway scenes were filmed near Deisenhofen (English Wikipedia: Munich–Holzkirchen line). Google Maps · Apple Maps
How to get there:
Sedgwick takes a bicycle (1944)
Sedgwick, the camp's equipment maker, steals a bicycle on the road after leaving the camp.
Set in Country road in Germany — A road where Sedgwick, one of the escapees, takes a bicycle.
A small Bavarian town east of Munich.
Filmed at Markt Schwaben (Town centre, Markt Schwaben, Germany) — The bike theft was shot here; the exact spot is not given. Google Maps · Apple Maps
How to get there:
Sedgwick boards a train (1944)
Sedgwick climbs aboard a train on his way across the country.
Set in Railway station in Germany — A station where Sedgwick gets on a train.
A small station in the Allgäu on the Ausserfern Railway.
Filmed at Pfronten-Ried station (Ried, Pfronten, Germany) — The scene of Sedgwick boarding a train was created here. Google Maps · Apple Maps
How to get there:
Leaving a moving train (1944)
Hendley, guiding the short-sighted Blythe, gets them off a train that is still rolling.
Set in Moving train — A moving train from which Hendley and Blythe slip away.
A stretch of railway east of Markt Schwaben; no single spot is named.
Arrival at the station (1944)
Bartlett, MacDonald and Ashley-Pitt step off the train and face a document check.
Set in Railway station checkpoint — A station where Bartlett, MacDonald and Ashley-Pitt arrive and are checked.
A station at the foot of the Alps near the Austrian border.
Filmed at Füssen station (Station, Füssen, Germany) — The station where Bartlett, MacDonald and Ashley-Pitt arrive. Google Maps · Apple Maps
How to get there:
A road sign and a patrol (1944)
Hilts keeps clear of German soldiers while on the road.
Set in Roadside signpost — A roadside where Hilts avoids a German patrol.
A village in the Allgäu valley.
Filmed at Pfronten-Weißbach (Weißbach, Pfronten, Germany) — German Wikipedia's film-errors section places this roadside scene here. Google Maps · Apple Maps
How to get there:
Flying past the castle (1944)
Hendley and Blythe fly a stolen plane past a castle on their way toward Switzerland.
Set in Neuschwanstein Castle — A famous castle that passes beneath Hendley and Blythe's plane. Google Maps · Apple Maps
A 19th-century royal castle in the Bavarian Alps.
Filmed at Neuschwanstein Castle (Neuschwanstein, Schwangau, Germany) — The castle Hendley and Blythe fly by. Google Maps · Apple Maps
How to get there:
The stolen plane comes down (1944)
The engine of the stolen plane fails and Hendley and Blythe come down short of Switzerland.
Set in Field in Germany — A field where the stolen plane comes down.
A hill municipality in Upper Bavaria; German Wikipedia names the area only roughly.
Filmed at Frauenried / Irschenberg area (Frauenried, Irschenberg, Germany) — German Wikipedia names this area for the plane landing; the exact field is not given. Google Maps · Apple Maps
How to get there:
The motorcycle chase (1944)
Hilts steals a motorcycle and races for the Swiss border with soldiers behind him.
Set in Swiss border country — Open meadows and barbed-wire fences near the Swiss border.
Meadows outside a Bavarian town; the film's border is far from the real Swiss frontier.
Filmed at Meadows outside Füssen (Meadows, Füssen, Germany) — The motorcycle chase scenes with the barbed wire fences were shot here. Google Maps · Apple Maps
How to get there:
Filmed at Pfronten (Village, Pfronten, Germany) — Scenic village scenes (exact scene unspecified) Google Maps · Apple Maps
Characters
- Hilts — A notoriously prolific American escapee who keeps testing the camp's limits.
- Bartlett — The squadron leader who proposes breaking out 250 men.
- Hendley — The prisoner who secures supplies on the black market.
- Blythe — The forger of the camp's documents, whose eyesight is failing.
- Sedgwick — The prisoner who makes the digging equipment.
Questions answered on the map
- Where was the Swiss border motorcycle chase really filmed?
- Where was the prisoner camp really built?