If you’ve been bingeing on Netflix, you’ve surely stumbled upon the German sci-fi series ‘Dark’. This mystery thriller kept us on our toes till the final season which was released just last month. The show revolves around four interconnected families haunted by their secrets, multiple timelines and alternate realities. While figuring out their family trees, and matching them to very complicated multiple timelines kept us intrigued, it was also the location that held our interest—deep dark forests and cave systems that stretched out for miles. However, Winden, the small town where the story is set is fictitious. But, the shoot locations are scattered in and around Berlin, Germany. Here are some of the filming locations of this mind-bending family drama series created by Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese.
Warning: This article contains spoilers.
Here Are The Filming Locations Of The Sci-Fi Show ‘Dark’
1. The Bridge: Königsweg, Dreilinden
Remember the scene where Noah picks up Bartosz from a bridge? The Königsweg was the shooting location for the same.
2. The Winden Church And Cemetery: Cemetery Chapel, Südwestkirchhof Stahnsdorf
Micheal and Noah meet here for the first time, and so do 2019 Jonas and future Jonas when he comes to pay his respects to his father (Mikkel’s/Micheal’s). This is the cemetery that was once connected to Wannsee via a railroad. This filming location also has a chapel which was built between 1908 and 1911. The church is built in a Norwegian style and is made of wood.
3. Train Tracks: Middle Of The Düppeler Forest
Right below the Königsweg bridge mentioned above, are the tracks where Jonas and his gang met after school to go to the caves for some late-night exploring. These abandoned tracks used to connect Wannsee to Stahnsdorf until the route was discontinued in 1952.
4. Winden School: Reinfelder Schule, Berlin
The yellow-painted building that’s a constant in all the timelines in Winden is the school. You can find this television filming location in the Berlin-Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf neighbourhood. The school has a concrete block feel, reminiscent of Brutalism, and is painted in yellow, just like the iconic structure in the series.
5. Mental Asylum Of Winden: Biotecon Diagnostics, Potsdam-Süd
The exterior shots of the mental asylum where Ulrich Nielson was admitted in 1986, and where Katharina’s mother worked, are of the working lab Biotecon Diagnostics which does molecular and microbiological research. This filming location can be found in the city called Potsdam, in Brandenburg. The city directly borders the German capital, Berlin, and contains the gorgeous-looking building which was used as the mental asylum in Dark.
6. Waldhotel Winden: Lanke Castle (Schloss Lanke), Brandenburg
The hotel owned by the Tiedemann’s in 2019, which was where the Dopplers lived in 1953 is in fact located in the north of Berlin. The Lanke Castle or Schloss Lanke is a former property of the Count von Redern family in Lanke. The Palace’s ownership was first transferred to Berlin ownership in 1914. In 2006, the palace was sold by the State of Berlin and has been privately owned since. The building was renovated in the period of 2011-2014 by the new owner with the support of the Brandenburg Monument Protection Authority, so that it can be used for private residential purposes, for holiday apartments and for cultural use.
7. Winden Caves
The famous subterranean caves of Winden that allow one to travel through time, can be experienced in two ways via two separate filming locations. The interior shots of the cave are from the Unicorn Cave in West Harz in northern Germany, which was once where artefacts were traded since the 1500s. The exterior, however, was made with the help of a mix of CGI and a set built in a forest between Tremsdorf and Saarmund in Brandenburg, south of Berlin.
8. 2052 Gymnasium: Krampnitz
Remember when Jonas walks into a dilapidated-looking gymnasium in 2052 after Apocalypse Winden? This filming location can be found at Krampnitz, a former Soviet military base between Potsdam and Spandau. There is an old gymnasium there where the scene was shot.
9. Huge Dilapidated Building With Elvis Playing In The Background
As Jonas tries to get back to his timeline to stop the apocalypse in 2019, he figures he needs fuel to work on the dark matter he found in the now-destroyed Winden Nuclear Power Plant building. He decides to steal some fuel from the survivors, and to do so distracts them by playing some Elvis Presley at this old building. The place used for this shooting location is known as Chemiewerk Rüdersdorf. It is an abandoned chemical factory in the city of Rüdersdorf (just a few kilometres outside of the city limits of Berlin). This factory began as a cement factory in 1899 and was later turned into a phosphate chemical factory. The factory was also the background for 2052 Winden where Jonas and Claudia are trying to use the leftover God’s Particle to travel back in time.
10. 1921 Winden: Rehagen
According to Fotostrasse, the 1921 version of Winden was shot in a town south of Berlin called Rehagen. The historical-looking street in this town was used as a filming location where Jonas meets teenagers Noah and Agnes. The historical-looking street leads to Schlafwagenhotel Bahnhof Rehagen, which is a hotel and a restaurant.
11. Winden Bus Stop: Fahrtechnikakademie Kallinchen
Out of all the filming locations, this one from the road was in almost every episode, and it can be found in the south of Berlin. The place where they shot these scenes is called Fahrtechnikakademie Kallinchen, a safety driving centre, located next to a small town called Schöneiche, in Brandenburg.
12. Winden Public Library: University Of Applied Sciences For Finances, Königs Wusterhausen
We could all relate to Claudia from 1986 trying to figure out 2019 technology in the Winden Public Library. The library is an actual one on the grounds of the University of Applied Sciences for Finance in Königs Wusterhausen, a city next to Berlin.
Satisfy Your Curiosity With These ‘Dark’ Shooting Locations
This mystery drama series with its intricate puzzles has a worldwide fan base. The audience got entangled in a web of curious characters from a small town in Germany. The tagline, ‘The question isn’t what time, the question is what world’ made all us wonder about our own personal alternate realities. Until we can figure that out, we must be happy with revisiting the various bits and places that make up the fictional town of Winden. Visit these filming locations and let us know how time treated you in the comments below.
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