Berlin’s own “Walk of Fame”

Although the Boulevard of Stars in Berlin is an obvious imitation of the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the Berlin version features a few added attractions that the Hollywood original lacks. Red-colored asphalt evokes the typical Hollywood red carpet – rather than the terrazzo tile on the Walk of Fame. Berlin’s individual star plaques are spot-illuminated at night. Columns with special “ghost cameras” dot the Boulevard of Stars, allowing film fans to take a picture with a ghostly image of their favorite film/TV stars and filmmakers. (See the photo below.)

The red asphalt Boulevard of Stars in Berlin is next to the Sony Center (right) at Potsdamer Platz. PHOTO © Hyde Flippo

Unlike the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the Boulevard of Stars is devoted only to German-speaking film and TV people. The Berlin walk of fame honors actors, directors, and other people from Austria, Germany, and German Switzerland involved in cinema and/or television. Most of these people are unknown to people from non-German-speaking countries. For example, people like Thomas Gottschalk, Germany’s best-known TV personality (“Wetten, dass…”), can walk around in Los Angeles without being recognized (which is why he has a second home there). In Germany he would be mobbed by fans – who would instantly recognize him.

But many of the people who are featured on the Boulevard of Stars are or were international stars and filmmakers such as Marlene Dietrich, her director Josef von Sternberg, Hollywood cameraman Michael Ballhaus, director Roland Emmerich (Independence Day), actor/director Paul Henreid (Casablanca), actor Peter Lorre, Romy Schneider (from Austria), director Billy Wilder, director Fritz Lang, director Wolfgang Petersen (Air Force One, Perfect Storm), Armin Müller-Stahl, Arnold Schwarzenegger, composer Hans Zimmer, and others.

The special “ghost camera” viewers installed along the Boulevard of Stars allows visitors to see images of film people and take a picture next to that person. Seen here: Max Skladanowsky, the German inventor of the first movie projector, the Bioscop (1895). PHOTO © Hyde Flippo

In conjunction with the 60th Berlinale film festival, during ceremonies on Friday, February 12, 2010, the first star on the Boulevard of Stars (der Boulevard der Stars) – honoring Dietrich – was unveiled before a large cadre of cameras and reporters. Later that day, Berlin’s RBB evening news TV broadcast showed the ceremony with various dignitaries honoring the famous film actress from Berlin.

Following the installation of Dietrich’s star there have been additional ceremonies to add more names to the Boulevard. In September 2010 there was an official opening ceremony in which 39 more stars were added to the red asphalt strip. In April 2011 Senta Berger and several other film notables received their bronze stars. The last occasion was in September 2012, when the German set designer Ken Adam (for the early James Bond films) and others were honored with stars.

But when it was time to add even more stars in September 2013, Berlin officials had to postpone the ceremonies indefinitely. The Boulevard of Stars was literally crumbling. The red surfacing was in such poor condition, and the site itself was looking so shabby, that the city felt it could not go ahead until repairs and cleaning took place. But when that will happen, and who will pay for it are questions still unanswered. The city is suing the company that did the red surfacing. The project has cost over $2.3 million to date.

Part of the problem is Berlin’s tendency to start things without enough thought to long-range implications. (The new BER airport, still uncompleted, comes to mind.) The city’s own master plan calls for a street car line running along the median where the Boulevard der Stars is now located. No one seemed to be responsible for the Boulevard and its upkeep. When the fading, scruffy, crumbling site might once again be ready for its close-up was anyone’s guess.

Finally, a year later, on September 4, 2014 the renovated Boulevard reopened with the dedication of 20 new stars, 10 each for the years 2013 and 2014. But for 2015 the non-profit association that runs the Boulevard did not have sufficient funds for that year’s scheduled additions, and it would be September 2016 before another four stars adorned the Boulevard der Stars. Little has happened since then, until an automobile accident damaged a star (for Anke Engelke) and some of the red asphalt on March 31, 2018. Currently a total of 105 film and TV personalities are represented by stars on Berlin’s Boulevard of Stars.

More | Berlin City Guide

Related Pages
AT THE GERMAN WAY

• The Berlinale – The Berlin International Film Festival
• Berlin City Guide – The sights and history of the German capital
• Marlene Dietrich was the first film person to be honored with a star on the Boulevard der Stars.
• Marlene Dietrich stars in Berlin (GW Expat Blog)
• Germans (and Others) in Hollywood – About the three main waves of Germanic immigration to Hollywood
• Mini Bios A-Z – Brief biographies of people from the German-speaking world
• Featured Biographies – More detailed bios of notable people from the German-speaking world
• Notable Women from Austria, Germany, Switzerland

On the Web

• Boulevard der Stars – The official Boulevard of Stars website (in German)
• Wikipedia: Boulevard der Stars (in German) – with the names of all the honored persons
• Marlene.com (official site)
• Marlene Dietrich Collection Berlin (Deutsche Kinemathek – Museum)
• Marlene Dietrich Collection Berlin – Digital Version (Deutsche Kinemathek – Museum)

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