GERMANY – Spandau Altstadt, Spandauer Forst & Grunewald // Octopussy (1983)
Parts of “Octopussy” were filmed in Berlin – and the then divided German capital had to double for Bavaria as well. Luckily, the film crew found some corners with “German Gemütlichkeit” outside of Berlin.
Why Bond was here
Afghan prince Kamal Khan (Louis Jourdan) exploits wealthy circus owner Octopussy (Maud Adams) to smuggle Russian riches into Europe – and a nuclear bomb. Bond (Roger Moore) is on their trail and follows the circus through the two German states. The circus is scheduled to first perfrom in the former German Democratic Republic (GDR), and then move over the Inner German border to perform at an US army base in Bavaria. Bonds is in the circus train first, gets kicked of and then pursues the train via car. He grabs one in a fictional Bavarian village and rushes along the autobahn to the US army base.
The German police starting the pursuit of Bond in Bavaria – aka Spandau
How you gonna get there
The chase is a funny mix of outdoor scenes in the UK, recreations in Pinewood and actual places in Germany. The fictional village was a reused Pinewood movie set from “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”, but the first scenes with Bonds car driving away have been filmed in the corner of Möllentordamm and Kolk Street in the old city of Spandau in western Berlin.
The quickest way to find the place is to take a S-Bahn from Berlin city to the stop “Berlin-Spandau”. From there walk north through the old city along Carl-Schurz-Straße and Hoher Steinweg, it’s roughly ten minutes. You may also grab bus 134 from Spandau Rathaus and exit at Wröhmännerpark.
The bus stop is also important for the next part of the chase. It moves to the junction of Schönwalder Allee and Oberjägerweg in the middle of the Spandauer Forst, a forest just to the north. Take bus 671 from there till the stop “Oberjägerweg”. But be careful: This is a remote area and thus the bus only runs a few times per day. Don’t get lost in the woods.
The chase continues at “Oberjägerweg” in the Spandauer Forest
The third part of the chase takes place along the Avus A1 autobahn and the Hüttenweg in Grunewald forest. To get there, take the U7 subway from Spandau to “Adenauerplatz” and then hop onto bus X10 to “Königin-Luise-Straße/Clayallee”. You may also reach this stop from Berlin Zoo or Westkreuz. From the bus stop head west for a 20 minute walk into Grunewald forest.
Good to know
Berlin might be praised throughout the world for its diversity and club scene – but it is definitly not a role model for your typical German city. If that even exists. To fulfill clichees the producers were still lucky to find some Fachwerkhäuser – half-timbered houses – in Spandau. The area in the northwest of Berlin is a more grounded blue-collar neighorhood, but also loved by Berliners as a weekend destinations due to its huge forests and water areas.
Not much is left of the Altstadt, the old city center, after the bombing in World War II, but you might enjoy walking along the canals and exploring the Zitadelle, an old fortress next to the Bond locations. Especially Grunewald is a beautiful and relaxing forest. Check out “Kaisergarten”, a restaurant and open-air beer pub next to the huge Grunewaldturm, and enjoy the view! So bring some time for the forest walks – or your own car, if you are in a hurry.
© 2022 Huntingbond (1,4), © 2006 Sony Pictures, Danjaq LLC and United Pictures Inc. (2,3)