Unterführung Messedamm

Beneath the intersection at the ICC lies a pedestrian tunnel from the seventies with orange tiles, round columns, and cylindrical ceiling lights, which has never been modernized. Production teams book it more frequently than the Brandenburg Gate or the Reichstag, from The Bourne Conspiracy to Hanna and Don to Atomic Blonde.

Orange Tiles Beneath the Intersection at the ICC

The Messedamm underpass is located beneath the intersection of Masurenallee, Neuer Kantstraße, and Messedamm, directly north of the ICC, with the address Messedamm in 14057 Berlin. The Messe Nord and ICC station on the Ringbahn is directly adjacent, and the Kaiserdamm U2 subway station is just a few minutes away. From above, the place looks like nothing; below, it unfolds its charm: orange-tiled walls, round columns, and cylindrical ceiling lights, a complete seventies design that has never been modernized. Among production teams, the tunnel is considered the quintessential Berlin film location, more sought after than the Brandenburg Gate or the Reichstag. Anyone who has walked through it once will immediately recognize the film set in every movie afterward. The tunnel was built as part of the expansion around the exhibition grounds when the ICC was created and the intersection was designed with multiple lanes. To this day, pedestrians and cyclists can only safely cross the street here; for residents, it is a natural path between the exhibition grounds and Westend, which was never meant to look special.

Moscow, Panem, and a Shooting in a Moving Car

The list of productions is long. In The Bourne Conspiracy, the tunnel stood in for a Moscow airport; in Hanna, fights took place there; in Don, Shah Rukh Khan sped through it. For The Hunger Games, Mockingjay Part 2, it became a trap-laden tunnel beneath the capital; in Captain America: The First Avenger – Civil War, it was a chase sequence; and in Atomic Blonde, a shootout in a moving car occurred here. The fact that a pedestrian tunnel next to a convention center becomes the city’s most booked film location is due to its color: the orange is unusual enough to make every scene unmistakable, and at the same time placeless enough to suggest Moscow, Panem, or any major city. Shoots usually take place at night or at the edges of exhibition times because the intersection above is heavily trafficked. Those who want to take photos themselves should therefore come during a quiet period; the light from the ceiling lamps is sufficient even without flash, and the tiles reflect it evenly, giving the tunnel its typical tone even in phone photos.