It has place names linked to the word Pfronten
such as Pfronten-Berg and Pfronten-Weissbach.
Pfronten-Berg
Steve McQueen's motorcycle stunts and many other scenes in The Great Escape were filmed in and around Pfronten-Berg with the beautiful St.Nikolaus Church often appearing in the background.
Pfronten-Berg's St.Nikolaus Church can be seen behind Steve McQueen in these still photographs.
Hilts gets a bike. On road from Hopfen to Fussen. (Hopfen am See is in the background).
Reference to above scene: http://youtu.be/PoEnQH5NXUk
DELETED SCENE FROM THE GREAT ESCAPE
In this rare deleted scene from director John Sturges' 1963 classic The Great Escape, Steve McQueen has just strung trip wire across a rural road, causing a German soldier's motorcycle to spin out of control into a drainage ditch. This scene of McQueen sitting astride the soldier does not appear in the final cut. Curiously, it did appear on a 1970s Spanish reissue lobby card from which this image was taken. Incidentally, McQueen actually doubled for some of the Germans in the famed motorcycle chase, thus he was actually chasing himself!
For a full article about the making of The Great Escape, see Cinema Retro issue #1 in their back issues section.
Google Earth Reference for Hopfen am See will rotate the area round to show the trip wire location and the scene where Steve McQueen mouths SWITZERLAND:
Steve McQueen rides up out of the 'trip wire' ditch and rides off wearing the German's uniform towards Hopfen am See in the distance.
The Great Escape scene where Steve McQueen appears from out of a ditch with Hopfen am See in the background and the lake on his left.
McQueen on location near Fussen, waiting to chase himself dressed as a German soldier.
The next scene shows Steve McQueen riding towards Hopfen am See with the lake on his right (Hopfensee).
The Great Escape clip reference:
Steve McQueen has just obtained a German motorbike from his 'trip wire' across a road just outside Hopfen am See. The scene cuts to the lake on the right with Hopfen am See in the distance. The scene then cuts again to where Steve McQueen is confronted by a German soldier in WeiBbach at the junction where the roads meet. The German is kicked in the stomach and Steve McQueen begins the start of the famous motorbike chase. Nearby a chasing motorcycle and side car crashes into a fence. This took place just round the corner from this setting.
The rebuilt Hotel Post. Corner of roads 309 and 310. The 310 east now passes behind the hotel.
This is the building which is in the background when McQueen kicks the German soldier in the stomach.
McQueen speeds away and the next scene can be reached by going down the road and taking the first turning on the left.
In the film, a German side car crashes into the side of the fence as it pursues McQueen on his motorbike.
On entering the Hair salon in WeiBbach, there is a framed picture of the 'Steve McQueen on a motorcycle' poster on the wall to the right. So you knew there was a connection with the 'film scene' just down the road at WeisBbach junction where Steve McQueen kicks a German soldier in the stomach and speeds away into the distance.
Jackie, the present owner, was 14 years old when the film crew arrived to film the scene. He remembers Steve McQueen and Charles Bronson popping into his father's Hair Salon for a 'wet' shave. Steve McQueen was very friendly towards the children and often smiled and winked at them whilst Charles Bronson was very serious and didn't appear to be very friendly towards the children.
At the end of the day, the owner showed us the actual location of the 'trip wire' scene and the 'poster' location scene before sharing a beer with us at the end of the day.
In September 2010, John Leyton 'Willie the tunnel king' visited Jackie to have his hair cut!!
This location was never really confirmed. It was possibly in the Benken area......maybe someone can let us know.
Found http://entertainment.webshots.com/album/577412336tJdoNo
Zell is in the background. On the road south out of Zell.
Fast forward to 2:40 to locate the scene in the film: http://youtu.be/PoEnQH5NXUk
Google Earth Reference for Zell will rotate the area round to show the location of Zell and Pfronten Berg and the HUT is located between the two towns.
http://www.maplandia.com/germany/bayern/schwaben/oberallgau/zell/zell-google-earth.html
Right at the beginning of this wall map http://youtu.be/JGaWle4ATWI is Zell and the cross roads can be seen to the south of Zell(0:01). The hut has the town of Zell to one side of it and the town of Pfronten Berg (St.Nikolaus church) to the other side of it. But............
In the film, Steve McQueen aims his pistol at the Germans leaning up against the hut. He stands on the 'width' side of the hut (to the left side of the above photograph) so that Pfronten-Berg can be filmed over his shoulder in the background. The camera and McQueen actually move to the 'width side' of the hut.......... not as expected the other side of the 'length side'....clever.
The camera was moved so that Pfronten Berg could be seen in the background.
Weissbach is in the background. On minor road that crosses 310 from Zell to Pfronten.
SchieBstandingweg
On a Pfronten map (SEE AT BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE - obtained from the Tourist information board) the 'Steve McQueen on a motorcycle' poster location is on the SchieBstandingweg minor road (RED number 59 on the map) which runs parallel to the Fussener Str.
Steve McQueen is riding towards the town of Pfronten-Berg.
The Great Escape chase continues along this minor road and Steve McQueen passes a hut on his right with a swastika on it and rides up to the bend where the iconic poster was photographed (see below).
The bend is where the still photograph was taken and in the film Steve McQueen rides up to the corner in this road and rides away to the left of the photograph.
Locally, the area is known as where the 'shooting range' is located.
The scenic mountain format is a guide to this location.
Fast forward to 4:22 to find the clip: http://youtu.be/PoEnQH5NXUk
Ludwig Schuster is the soldier on the left, dressed in a German uniform for his role as an 'extra' in The Great Escape.
Ludwig Schuster as he is today working on his farm in Speiden talking about when he was a film star for the day !
The new paint is peeling away to show the actual colour used in The Great Escape film almost 50 years ago....
Sedgwick steals the bike from a square. KAUFBEUREN, north of Fussen, has been suggested as the location where Sedgwick steals the bike......and rides out of the hamlet of Speiden.
He then cycles out of the small town which is on the edge of Speiden as seen below........
Sedgwick rides out of town of Speiden.
Sedgwick continues out of town.
The map highlights The Great Escape locations.
(1) Trip wire is WRONG.
(1) Is actually the location where the German lorries, transporting the fifty prisoners, peel away in different directions off the round-about near the end of The Great Escape film.
Looking at the top left quarter of the above map: The 'hut' is located in this area.
The cross road in the top left hand quarter of the map is where the convoy, containing the 50 captured prisoners, peels off at the roundabout (with a religious cross on the roadside) near the end of the film. They are shot in a field with St.Nikolaus church in the background.
Close up view of the roundabout where the convoy peels away in different directions.
The small town of WeiBbach is where the 'German dressed' Steve McQueen kicks a German soldier at the junction section of the town (the junction is above the letter 'a' in the word WeiBbach)
The iconic poster was photographed on the minor road immediately above the dark green woodland on the above map. The 'hut with the swastika on' is on the edge of this woodland near the roadside.....
