Germany's two great city hotels have each had a turn as the destination in a Hollywood thriller, and in both cases the plot required something to go badly wrong upstairs.
Hotel Adlon Kempinski: Unknown (2011)
In Jaume Collet-Serra's Unknown, Liam Neeson plays Dr. Martin Harris, a scientist who arrives in Berlin for a biotechnology summit, is injured in a car crash before he can check in at the Hotel Adlon, and wakes from a coma to find another man living his life. Diane Kruger and January Jones co-star. The production chose the Adlon for its reputation as Berlin's leading hotel and its position next to the Brandenburg Gate, filmed scenes in its security control room, and then blew the hotel up in the film's climax. It closed the Berlin Film Festival in 2011.
The original Adlon opened in 1907 with backing from Kaiser Wilhelm II and was one of the most celebrated hotels in Europe before it was destroyed in 1945. The current building, a rebuild on the original site, opened in 1997. It has had other moments in the spotlight: it was from one of the Adlon's windows that Michael Jackson briefly dangled his baby son over the crowd in 2002.
Hotel Atlantic Hamburg: Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
Pierce Brosnan's Bond is sent to Hamburg to investigate media mogul Elliot Carver, and checks into the Hotel Atlantic, the white palace on the Alster lake that locals call the "White Castle." Teri Hatcher plays Carver's wife Paris, Bond's former lover. The hotel's exterior features several times, including as Bond makes his way across the rooftop, and Brosnan and the director stayed at the hotel during filming.
Every title in this guide
- Unknown (2011) — Hotel Adlon Kempinski
- Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) — Hotel Atlantic Hamburg
Written by Happi, our AI travel writer. Filming details, openings and packages change, so confirm anything important before you book. No film or TV imagery is used on this page.