Existentialism is the word..........
Do not follow where the path may lead.
Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail........
The fence was found............
Tried to contact you via your new Great Escape site but it will not allow me to email.
Guess what, I have just returned from Fusson Friday 03 September 2010 after a week there. I looked for any information on the net prior to 22 August 2010 on locations of the film but did not locate your site. I only found it on my return home.
Myself, wife and two daughters spent 2 weeks away, one week in Prague then the other week in Munich. I travelled to Fusson every day for 2 days,95 Miles one way. I tried my hardest to locate the jump site but every meadow looked the same. I had roughly the same location but on my second day on returning it was raining and the mountains covered in clouds. What I did notice from the film that when they film Steve McQueen getting up from the bike crashing into the wire there is a road next to him but it is not shown when Ed does the jump which leads me to think Steve McQueen was not filmed where Ed crashes, maybe I am wrong ?
I took a couple of shots in the town of which I will email to you with my daughter in the shots though.
I was gob smacked when I returned and seen your site. Wished I found it earlier. I plan on returning next year and staying for a week in Fusson.
The Great Escape scenery........
David McCallum's Fussen station scene
James Coburn's cafe scene
Richard Attenborough's Old Fussen town scenes.
Hello Don,
I have just found out about your website from John Leyton’s website. He and I have often spoke of the locations but his knowledge was quite vague but a while ago he put me in touch with Dave Bull – I believe that was his name who was very informative. The reason I have so much interest is that I have been one of John’s fans since I was a teenager (long time ago), and saw the film countless times. I never for one moment thought about where it was filmed other than the scenery was beautiful. Years later I married a soldier and we lived in North Germany but started to holiday in the south – a beautiful little town called Pfronten. I still had no idea there was a Great Escape connection though! Loving it so much we went back time and time again and would still be going there if it were not for having an ageing dog to look after. We became friends with the owners of the camping site we stay at and nobody ever mentioned the film and there is nothing around Pfronten to suggest such an iconic film was made there. We have visited the cemetery surrounding the church as the original owner of the camping site died and was buried there. There is a water colour of it on my living room wall. We have a badge from the Burgermeister for being ‘loyal guests’ – that was after 10 yrs! Our last visit was two years ago when due to Dave’s info, I did start to realise where the locations were, especially in Fussen. It came as an enormous surprise to realise that I had been visiting these spots for years without ever making the connection.
John had hoped to participate in a Great Escape rally a while ago and it would have coincided with one of our trips so we hoped to meet up for a coffee but it didn’t materialise. Now it is unlikely that I will be able to return for a while, but hopefully good health will prevail and we will go back in a couple of years time. Our house was once called Pfronten, but as I said nothing whatsoever to do with the film. I will be visiting your website regularly – it is fantastic for a Pfronten/John Leyton/Great Escape fan such as myself. Well done and I hope you get lots of info passed over to you.
Best regards
Pam (Small)
John Leyton
Newsletter(Oct./Nov.2010): The Great Escape.
A new website is now available for the many of you who are interested in this
ever popular film. Don Whistance has spent time in Germany locating many of the
original film locations and has recently started a website.
www.thegreatescapelocations.com.
I am currently planning to visit many of the original locations. This will be a
trip down memory lane for me and together with a film crew we will be filming
for a possible future DVD release.
Where is the hut located?
A .kmz file can only be opened if you have Google Earth installed.
Billy Williams, Kansas City.
email address: briansaad@videotron.ca
First, a big ‘Thank you’ for your work. It is appreciated.
This movie brings back great memories of a Saturday afternoon old war movie watching with my Dad. I was very interested to learn that the movie was filmed in and around Pfronten. I have an uncle in the nearby village of Hohenfurch and spent many a summer in this area.
I believe I may have located the barn/hut. If you have Google Earth loaded on your machine I can send you .kmz files for your review.
The view in Google Earth is a bit 'above' the corresponding scene in the movie (this is a recurring issue with all the .kmz files) Rotate the view down and it should line up correctly. The image is a Panoramio Photo found just north of the pin location. It shows Zell with the Eisenberg beyond.
2) 2-04.kmz
This is the correct view for section #1.
The .kmz file names relate to the time bar of the following video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coWCkAOkQ0U
They will be sent in separate emails, apparently Google Earth only allows one to email .kmz individually.
3) 2:46.kmz
Notice the power line in the
immediately behind Steve? Rotate the attached .kmz up and pan out a bit and
you will see the a modern power line in the same position. Also take note
to the configuration of the barn at 2:01. Though the image is quite blurry,
I believe the extension/addition on the left can be made out when viewed
from above.
4)
Panorama of Pfronten from Google Earth. This image is closer and slightly to the North/right of the scene in the movie but clearly shows the mountain ridge silhouette.
What do you think?
Steve just beyond the creek on the left of the shot. Watch the video and
compare the shape creek as it flows toward the lake between 0:38 and 0:47.
The location you show on your website is spot on.
Similar location to your video on Youtube. Now that I think about it, I found your website through by going to the link on your Youtube videos.
In regards to section 4. The attached image has been downloaded from Google Earth and re-sized. It was taken just north and east of scene 0:38 (the original can be found on Google Earth). I believe the location of scene 0:38 is just to the right of the barn and at south of
the new road embankment. It looks as though the new road construction may have obliterated the actual site. The image matches reasonably well with the sweeping shot from 0:20 to 0:38.
Very interested to view your website which has provided me with much pleasure in viewing the sites on Google Earth.
In regard to the exact position of the motorcycle jump, I have studied your photos and videos and also viewed the film footage several times. This has led me to pinpoint what I think is the precise undulation in the field which provides the take off point for the motorcycle. If you copy and paste the following co-ordinates into the Google Earth search panel, it will take you straight to it.
Please let me know if you agree.
Jump Co-ordinates:
47°35'6.00"N, 10°35'51.79"E
Look forward to hearing from you.
Steve R
England (11.12.11) ravenscroft94@hotmail.com
Hi Don thank you for responding. I am from the Montreal area Canada. I found the site by just googling Great Escape movie locations. Nobody on the Steve McQueen forum could help or movie location web sites, some sites only said Fussen. I will rent a car. I would like to bring my Harley Davidson but the transport costs would be high$$$.
Bye for now. Brian briansaad@videotron.ca
Any chance you'll be returning to Germany in the future? Perhaps we can meet up for a beer!
Steve Whelan
Glad I found your website, I will be in Germany next month for a 2 week motorcycle ride. I will be riding down to Fussen & Pfronten to follow up on a previous trip in 2008 where my time was limited to search out all the sites you have listed.
I did ask at the Tourist Office in Fussen about the movie locations and was told that Pfronten area was used also. This made sense to me as it
was a more open area for the m/c scenes. This lead me to research Pfronten / Great Escape sites and found yours. I didn't realize it had that many followers.
A couple of questions:
What is the village that James Coburn steals the bicycle and rides away? (Speiden)
As 'Danny & Willy" row down the river - what town is the background?
(Old Fussen)
The prominent mountain in the background with the m/c scene's - I would
assume is the Zugspitze.
I just learned recently that a distant cousin Thomas "Tim" Howell was in
Stalag Luft 3 and was #99 on the list to escape for his work as a
"Penguin".
Next year I will plan on visiting the camp site at Zagan. I will be making
some notes etc and will be armed with as much information for my visit.
Do they have any organized groups / tours of the area?
Thanks again,
Robert Howell (email address: rmhowell@telus.net )
Vancouver, Canada
Just got back from my trip. After reviewing the movie at home. I did recognize Fussen in the background as they row down the river. Actually look closer it is the same bridge the car crossed to shoot the Germans at the cafe. Also on the right side you can see the white pillar and same buildings in that cafe scene.
I re checked your website when I was in Fussen and went to Speiden for the scene location of James Coburn cycles out of. Not much changes in 50 years.
Also the scene where Coburn cycles up to a Rail Road crossing prior to sneaking on the freight train was shot in Pfronten by the rail station, again not much has changed .
Had lots of fun searching for those sites.
Rob rmhowell@telus.net (22.7.11)
Are you on the road to Fussen?
Ok, some more questions that keep coming up for me.
1 - The town square where Coburn steals the bike - is that also in Speiden?
2 - Location of the Neustadt train station. (Near the Bavaria Film Studio - refer to my 'Fussen' page for details).
3 - Train station where David McCallum's character is shot? (Fussen Railway Station)
4 - In your website you show Hilts and the trip wire scene near Hopfen, but on the map you have the trip wire near Pfronten / Reid, which is a few miles away. Also on the map you have #3 - Ride towards town ( Reid) - not the Hopfen - Fussen road. Am I missing something ? The ride after he gets the m/c in the movie is on the flat Hopen - Fussen road with the lake on the left hand side?
The ride you show on the map is downhill and no lake. (After visiting for the second time, the trip wire has Hopfen am See in the background)
Thanks for the patience in answering my questions.
Going back to Germany next year for another ride and more follow up on the sites I didn't have time to find.
Talk to you soon, as there will probably be more questions.
Thanks,
Robert (7.8.11)
My name is Marek and I'm a director of the "P.O.W. Camps Museum" in Zagan/Poland where a real Stalag Luft 3 was.
I saw your website and it is great! I'm truly impressed.
Museum's FB profile where you can find some photos:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Muzeum-Oboz%C3%B3w-Jenieckich-POW-Camps-Museum/157733504292632
Regards,
Marek Lazarz
A huge thanks to you for such a marvellously thorough and entertaining website.
I led a party of 5 classic BSA twin motorcycles (so close relatives of the Triumph in the film) to the location area a few weeks ago in July
2011. We met some interesting locals who told us about some of the filming, notably around the footbridge area in Pfronten - just after the
kick-in-the-stomach scene.
Without your annotated map. we'd never have found the jump scene, but with it we were able to ride right up to it. We only got air under out
tyres in our own minds, of course, but just to be there nearly 50 years on was fantastic.
Here's a photo, you're welcome to post it.
cheers
Andrew ( a10anders@googlemail.com )
Andrew Wilson (4.8.11)
I've got more photos, just waiting to collate them from my fellow riders. I'll forward the best ones in due course.
We stayed in the Apartmenthotel Seespitz, in Widensee on the A310 half way between Fussen and Pfronten, ideal for the locations in Pfronten. It's a great place - sort of studio accommodation with a kitchen, but also has restaurants.
I think you have the scenes pretty well covered. There's a bridge over the river at Fussen with a sweeping bend that I think was the site for
the (supposedly French) resistance shoot-up from the Citroen car.
I'm from near Edinburgh. My fellow riders were from Scotland, California and Australia, all members of the BSA owners' club worldwide.
cheers
Andrew (4.8.11)
I can not describe how I felt when I found your homepage about the locations of The Great Escape. Being a Steve McQueen "enthusiast" for many years and with TGE being my favourite movie, I searched for locations for many years now. Official sources are very rare and it is hard to find a start.
It was a big moment for me to find the pictures of how today it looks. I'll browse your site completely through the next days. Thank you for this wonderful thing.
I've seen that you're planning a tour to the locations in 2012. I live in Munich, not far away from the spots and would be very happy to receive more information about the tour.
I would be very happy to read your answer.
Best wishes, Andreas Klein (27)
(6.10.11)
Mike Siegel
71106 Magstadt
( billypaulwilliams@gmail.com ) (8.11.11)
Was watching The Great Escape tonight for unteenth time, and thinking that much looked like southern Bavaria, so searched and found your site.
My family lived in Grunwald from from 1975 to 1979, so I was utterly shocked to find that much was filmed at Bavaria Film and Grosshesselohe. Passed Bavaria Film on the tram often, and wandered around the outside sets for "Twilights Last Gleaming" (was built in a field a few miles away), also bicycled across the Isar on the bridge by Grosshellesohe many times. Just never had any idea about the links to The Great Escape, too bad.
Very informative site, I'll check back often.
Peter
Firstly what a great site you have created, very interesting indeed! Now I wonder if you can help, I will be running a motorcycle trip called the Great Escape 2 in June 2013 and we will be visiting the area around Fussen to see where the film was made, however please can you assist me concerning the exact location of the jump site. If possible could you send me a map of the area and directions as to how to reach the site from Pfronton. I have tried to plot it from the web site but got a bit lost.
I will be visiting the site in both July and Sept to raise money for injured service men and women here in the UK, I see you have a trip arranged for August and I will see if I can join you, it appears to be an excellent idea. Please have a look at my web www.greatescapetours.org and this will give you the general idea of what we intend to do
If you can assist, please could you contact me at peterikon@aol.com .
Many thanks I hope that you can help
Peter Spowage
England
(15.5.12)
Chris Haenicke (chaenicke@sbcglobal.net )
Here is Rob Davis standing where the bus was, May 29th 2012. As he was orientating the shot against the original, an elderly lady passer-by saw the printed copy and said "Oh! That's from the movie! It was shot right here!" The movie camera's position is where the fountain is now . Video footage of this is on YouTube.
Hi there,First of all I would like to introduce myself. My name is Kevin Payne (Ex Military) bought a house (Old guest house in Pfronten Germany)One part of the house has been converted to cater for holiday groups of 10 to 15 people, although more can fit in if they don't mind roughing it.See link (In German but pictures paint a thousand words).I set up an outdoor thing a while back which you can see at www.zoneactive.euI think it would be cool to set up an info corner on the great escape and even make some of the rooms into theme rooms (I have absolutely no material though)The hall way in the holiday flat is bigger than most living rooms so would be way big enough for such a display.This in turn would make my place interesting for groups of enthusiasts to visit the location. I am Scottish so would be a laugh.Would beat just booking into a boring hotel or?What do you think?All the bestKevin Payne (Allgäuerstr 17. 87459 Pfronten-Ried)
Allgäuerstr 17. 87459 Pfronten-Ried
These T-shirts are available from ZARA clothes stores and these actual photographs were taken in the Southampton branch at West Quays, England. Each image is hyperlinked so that they can be purchased online.
