More than just Frühling, everything that was filmed here
Most people know Bayrischzell as the filming location for the ZDF series Frühling. But the town's history as a movie backdrop goes back a lot further. Since the 1930s, films and shows have been shot here, drawn by a landscape that has apparently worked on camera for nearly a hundred years.
I put together a list of the productions that were filmed in Bayrischzell and the immediate area. Some of it you only know if you actually live here, and a few of them surprised even me.
Schlussakkord (1936)
An early German drama by Detlef Sierck, who later made a name for himself in Hollywood as Douglas Sirk. It follows a conductor who leaves for America while his wife stays behind in Germany. Parts of the film were shot in the Bavarian Alps.
Der Bauerndoktor von Bayrischzell (1957)
A classic German Heimatfilm by Hans Schott-Schöbinger, with Carl Wery in the lead as the blustering country doctor Dr. Doppelsieder and Beppo Brem as the farmer Pfundtner, who is desperate for an heir to his estate. Bayrischzell isn't just the backdrop here, it's right there in the title. You can't get a tighter link between a town and a movie than that.
This one is special to me personally. Der Bauerndoktor played regularly at the Bayrischzell movie theater through the 80s and 90s, a theater that sadly no longer exists. Anyone who grew up here knows this film.
Erben will gelernt sein (1981)
A six-part ZDF series by director Wolfgang Schleif about two women who have to run a hotel they inherited together. Filmed in Bayrischzell and the surrounding area.
Meister Eder und sein Pumuckl (1982)
Several episodes of the legendary ARD series used the region as a filming location. The best known is Der erste Schnee (which first aired on New Year's Eve 1982), shot in the Bayrischzell area. In Die Bergtour you can spot the base station of the Wendelstein cog railway and the little chapel at the Sudelfeld pass. If you know the town in winter, you'll recognize the setting right away.
Das As der Asse / L'As des as (1982)
And then there was the summer of 1982, when Jean-Paul Belmondo suddenly turned up in Bayrischzell. This French-German action comedy by Gérard Oury was officially shot in Bayrischzell and at the Sudelfeld, with spectacular stunt and road scenes against the alpine backdrop. The stunt coordinator was Rémy Julienne, who actually worked on real James Bond movies. That's probably why a stubborn rumor still floats around town that a Bond film was once shot here. Not quite true, but you can see how people got confused.
In 1982 the film was the second-biggest box office hit in France, right behind E.T. Anyone in Bayrischzell old enough remembers the shoot.
Wer früher stirbt, ist länger tot (2006)
Marcus H. Rosenmüller's Bavarian tragicomedy about a boy searching for the meaning of life. Filmed on the Wendelstein, including at the cog railway, the chapel, and up on the Mitteralm. Pretty much everyone in Bavaria knows this one.
Die Rosenheim-Cops, Schöner Hannes, toter Hannes (2006)
The Rosenheim-Cops made it into the valley too. In episode 14 of the fifth season, a shepherd is beaten to death next to his hut, filmed in the Kloo-Ascher valley. The remote alpine setting fits the story perfectly. It first aired on March 14, 2006, on ZDF.
Das Beste kommt erst (2007/2009)
A ZDF television movie by Rainer Kaufmann. It was shot in the fall of 2007 in the Kloo-Ascher valley south of Bayrischzell, at the mountain pools known as the Gumpen, and at Lake Schliersee. It premiered at the 2008 Munich Film Festival and aired on ZDF in May 2009. The Kloo-Ascher valley is one of the quietest side valleys in the region. If you know it, you understand why filmmakers shoot there.
A note: the follow-up films in the Maillinger series, In den besten Familien (2012), Beste Bescherung (2013), and Das beste aller Leben (2015), were no longer filmed in Bayrischzell but in Oberaudorf and Munich.
Frühling (since 2011)
The ZDF series starring Simone Thomalla, the one that put Bayrischzell on the map nationwide as a filming location. The fictional town of Frühling has been shot here across more than 60 episodes and 15 seasons, with main locations at the church square, in the former Café Stumpp (Café Hagen in the show), at the Hotel Alpenrose, at Haus Antretter, at the train station, and at the Peterhof. Additional locations are near Parsberg (in the Miesbach district), in Prien on Lake Chiemsee, and in Thiersee, Austria. This is the production that shapes the town's image the most to this day.
Wer's glaubt, wird selig (2012)
A Bavarian comedy by Marcus H. Rosenmüller, in which a village tries to make itself more attractive to tourists through a canonization. The main location was the Sudelfeld.
Mara und der Feuerbringer (2015)
A fantasy adventure by Tommy Krappweis, produced for RTL and brought to theaters by Constantin Film. The story draws on Norse mythology, and two key locations lie within the Bayrischzell municipality. Loki's cabin was staged at the Soinsee, a mountain lake at 1,459 meters (about 4,790 feet), and the Gnita heath was filmed on the Großtiefentalalm. Shooting took place in 2013, and the movie hit theaters in April 2015. If you've been to the Soinsee, you immediately get why filmmakers shoot there. The place feels like it belongs to another world.
Im Nesseltal (2016)
An indie psychological thriller by Philipp J. Pamer, shot in just three days, 76 hours straight, at the Nesslerhütte in the Nesseltal not far from Bayrischzell, reachable only on foot. There was no finished script, just a treatment, so the film essentially came together in real time on location. It premiered in 2016 at the Hof International Film Festival and was nominated for the German Film promotional award. Hardly anyone knows this one, but it shows that the remote corners around Bayrischzell work for darker material too.
5vor12 (2017)
A Grimme Award winner and one of the most unusual productions ever shot in Bayrischzell. In this BR/KiKA docu-soap, five young offenders get one last chance: instead of jail, six weeks in a remote mountain hut with no electricity, running water, or phones. Episode 1 opens right at the Bayrischzell train station, where the teens arrive and are taken by bus and on foot up to the hut. Two seasons with 24 episodes in total, produced by TV60 Filmproduktion for BR. It won the 2018 Grimme Award in the children and youth category.
Gipfelstürmer, Das Berginternat (2019 to 2020)
A ZDF series about an elite boarding school in the Alps. Filmed at several spots around the region. The exact Bayrischzell locations were never officially released.
Die Landarztpraxis (since 2023)
A Sat.1 early-evening series that now runs well over 280 episodes. The first season was filmed in Bayrischzell, after which the production moved the shoot to Schliersee. A brief guest appearance, but it shows the area is still in demand as a filming location.
Die Augenzeugen (2024)
An ARD thriller miniseries in six episodes by director Anna-Katharina Maier, starring Nicolette Krebitz and Lucas Gregorowicz. The main location was Bayrischzell, with additional scenes shot in Kitzbühel and Munich. Filming took place in 2022, and it aired in 2024/25.
Woodwalkers (2024) and Woodwalkers 2, Gefährliche Fremde (2026)
A fantasy film series based on the novels by Katja Brandis. The first installment (directed by Damian John Harper) was filmed in the Wendelstein region in 2024. The second (directed by Sven Unterwaldt Jr.) came to theaters in January 2026, shot in Bavaria and Tyrol.
A Chronological Overview
Here are all the productions at a glance, sorted by year, with title, format, and filming location.
If you know of anything else that was filmed in Bayrischzell or the immediate area and isn't listed here, drop me a line. I'm always happy to add to the list.
