These four places in Berlin wrote film history - do you know them?

Every year in February, Berlin turns into a real Mecca for cineastes - for ten days everything is dedicated to the Berlin International Film Festival, Berlinale for short. The 73rd edition is taking place this year and ends with the awarding of the Golden Bear. The festival attracts numerous visitors, filmmakers and even Hollywood stars.

Around a hundred years ago, Berlin itself was the creative center of the film industry, which was still new at the time. The silent film hits of the time were shot in the Babelsberg studio – and most of the actors, dancers, directors and those who wanted to become one lived in Berlin. At that time, the capital was considered a multicultural metropolis and had up to 4.3 million inhabitants by the end of the 1920s.

There are still traces of the glamorous days to be found in the German capital - especially in the area around Kurfürstendamm. While the boulevard is better known to most tourists today as a shopping mile, the bohemians of the film industry met in the cafés, bars, dance halls and cinemas back then. Some of them even lived there.

Tour guide and 1920s specialist Arne Krasting, who offers historical Berlin sightseeing and even played a small role in the “Babylon Berlin” series, knows where to find these places. He showed us four locations where film history was made.

So watch out, we'll take you on a little journey through time, just right for the Berlinale!

Whoever enters Pension Funk today feels as if they had walked through a time travel portal. The rooms of the guest house are authentically furnished in the style of that time - and the living room of the silent film star Asta Nielsen (1881-1972) now serves as the breakfast room. However, her career ended with the advent of talkies.

The American dancer Josephine Baker (1906-1975) made Charleston dance popular throughout Europe – and with her erotic performances in a banana skirt provoked one or two audiences in Berlin. In the Nelson Theater, Baker usually even appeared completely naked - and thus also inspired filmmakers such as Max Reinhardt (1873-1943), who tried in vain to hire "Black Venus" for the Deutsches Theater.

There were numerous coffee houses not far from the Delphi Palace, where one or two scripts were exchanged or roles for further film projects were discussed. For example the Café des Westens or the Romanisches Café.

Only the Café Kranzler has survived from this time, but it can no longer be found in its old location, but is now located where the Café des Westens used to be.

The Ballhaus Berlin on Chausseestraße was a real "place to be" in the Golden Twenties: it was first opened in 1905 as a manor house and coffee garden under the name "Zum Alten Banden". It was later renamed "Schwankes Festställe" and was one of the trendiest entertainment venues in Berlin during the Weimar Republic. Today, 1920s themed parties sometimes take place here. Times are changing.

You haven't had enough of this era yet? Then you can put your expert knowledge to the test in this quiz:

The research was supported by GetYourGuide. You can find our standards of transparency and journalistic independence at axelspringer.de/independence.