Trivia

Berlin Express

At the end of their bus ride through bombed-out Frankfurt, the main characters arrive at the massive I.G. Farben building. Completed in 1930, it was once the largest office building in Europe and home to the giant chemical business. From 1945 to 1952 it was the location of SHAEF (Supreme Headquarters, Allied European Forces). From 1952 to 1994 it was the headquarters of the U.S. Army's V Corps. In 1996 the building was acquired by the state of Hessen, and after a $25M renovation became the Westend Campus of the University of Frankfurt. The small, continuous elevators seen in the film, called paternoster lifts, are still in use.

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The first Hollywood production in Germany after World War II.

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The picture's crew was the first to receive permission to film in Berlin's Soviet zone. At the time of this production, Berlin was divided into four separate sectors, which were controlled by the English, French, Soviet (now Russian), and American armed forces.

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When the train pulls into Frankfurt (and throughout the film), one can observe members of the 709th Military Police Service Batalion. Formed in April of 1942, it landed in Normandy on D-Day in 1944. It was the first M.P. unit to reach Paris. It moved to Frankfurt in October, 1945. As of 2016, it was still an active unit of the U.S. Army, headquartered at Grafenwoehr, Bavaria, Germany.

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Near the end of the film, shots of the Adlon Hotel at 77 Unter den Linden, near the Brandenburg Gate, can be seen. It opened in 1907 and survived the Allied bombings largely intact. In the film, one can see the ground floor had been completely enclosed with bricks to protect guests from flying debris. It was used as a field hospital during the Battle of Berlin. However, early in May, 1945, it was almost completely destroyed by a fire accidentally set by occupying Russian soldiers. One wing of the hotel survived and was reopened. It was taken over by the East German government in the 1970s and finally demolished in 1984. In 1997, a new Adlon Hotel was opened on the site, loosely modeled on the original.

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