The band from Germany's famed "Babylon Berlin" TV series captures life in Berlin during the Golden Twenties. The Moka Efti Orchestra just released its debut album.
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The music is one of the reasons for the success of the Babylon Berlin TV series. Without the soundtrack, it would not have been possible to capture the vibrant mood of an entire era on screen.
On January 24, the series' third season was launched on the pay TV channel Sky. Three weeks later, the Moka Efti Orchestra's debut album was released, aptly named Erstausgabe (First Edition).
1920s flair
The band's repertoire mainly includes songs from the series' soundtrack. In order to capture the musical spirit of the Roaring Twenties, it was important to directors Tom Tykwer, Henk Handloegten and Achim von Borries to cover a wide range of tunes, from swing, blues and jazz to ragtime, Charleston and chansons. The Moka Efti Orchestra also integrates in their works klezmer, a Jewish folk music tradition.
The album Erstausgabe should work well on its own, detached from the series, says saxophonist and arranger Sebastian Borkowski, adding that the band aims to establish "a pop act of their own." The band has two more composers, Mario Kamien and Nikko Weidemann. The latter has been onscreen music supervisor to the series since 2016.
The ensemble of 14 musicians was founded in 2018 especially for Babylon Berlin. The band performed its first concert in May 2018. A year later, they were on tour, not because the series needed the promotion, but because people wanted to hear the music live, says Borkowski. They were booked in clubs, concert halls, operas, philharmonic orchestras and on various festival stages.
In the series, the band performs at the famed Berlin café and dance hall of the same name, which was destroyed during the war. The name combines "moka," which is Greek for coffee, and Efti, the first two syllables of the last name of the man who ran the café, Giannis Eftimiades. The film's café scenes were shot at the Delphi in Berlin-Weissensee, a former silent movie theater.
On the trail of Babylon Berlin
On January 24, the third TV season of Babylon Berlin will be launched on Sky. Berlin tourists are showing great interest in the 1920s and the many film locations that still have the flair of this golden age.
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Cinema Delphi in Weissensee district
A good starting point for a trip back in time to the Berlin of the Golden Twenties is the former silent movie theater Delphi dating from 1929, which is one of the most important film locations for Babylon Berlin. In the TV series, it depicts the famous Berlin dance hall Moka Efti, which was destroyed during the war. Today the Delphi cinema regularly hosts theater and music performances.
Image: X Filme/ARD Degeto/sky/Beta
Berlin Alexanderplatz
Today, as then, life pulsates on Alexanderplatz. The Alexander- and Berolinahaus are still in their original state, but the shady dives and cellar bars of the 1920s have disappeared. During the shooting of Babylon Berlin the square was cordoned off. For a few days, old trams and cars once again drove over the Alex, as it is affectionately known.
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The Rotes Rathaus town hall
Berlin's Rotes Rathaus city hall on Alexanderplatz was built between 1861 and 1869. Today it is the seat of the mayor and the Senate of Berlin. In the TV series it becomes the police headquarters, referred to by everyone as "the Red Castle". Nowadays guests can visit the festival halls and exhibitions in the town hall.
Image: Imago/F. Sorge
Metro station Hermannplatz
Bridge, piers and wall tiles, all dating back to 1926, make Hermannplatz underground station the perfect location for filming Babylon Berlin: At the platform's kiosk, Inspector Gereon Rath repeatedly meets his informant Krawjeski. Today, Hermannplatz metro station is one of the most frequented stations in Berlin, right on the border between the districts of Neukölln and Kreuzberg.
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Bar Tausend at the Schiffbauerdamm
The Bar Tausend at the Schiffbauerdamm is hip and only found by insiders. This makes it the ideal location for the wicked nightclub Der Holländer, where homosexuals and transvestites party, well hidden from the police. Even Bar Tausend is hard to find for today's party-goers, hidden under a railway bridge, behind a plain iron door without a sign.
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Theater at the Schiffbauerdamm
In the Theater am Schiffbauerdamm, where the Berliner Ensemble is now based, the Threepenny Opera by Bertolt Brecht was premiered in 1928. A century later, Babylon Berlin re-enacts said performance at the same location. But this time a shot is fired from the chandelier during the performance. The scene was a special challenge for both the director and the camera team.
Image: Moritz Haase
Hubertushöhe palace gardens
Just outside of Berlin, on a hill at the Storkower Lake, the Hubertushöhe Palace is a wonderful excursion destination. The former hunting lodge has frequently been used as a film set. For Babylon Berlin the scenes of the Wannsee Academic Rowing Club were shot here, to which the film character Greta is invited.
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Municipal swimming pool Steglitz
Marble stairs and mosaics — public baths were very popular at the beginning of the 20th century. People used to go here to shower and bathe because most apartments did not have bathrooms. Thus Charlotte and Greta also share a bathtub in Babylon Berlin, filmed in the Municipal swimming pool Steglitz, which was opened in 1908 and has been empty since 2002.
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AEG tunnel in Wedding
In the new season of Babylon Berlin some scenes will descend once again into Berlin's underworld. The filming location was Germany's first underground railway tunnel, which the electrical equipment company "Allgemeine Elektrizitätsgesellschaft" (AEG) had built in Berlin-Wedding in 1895. The association Berliner Unterwelten has uncovered the historic track and offers regular tours through it.
The Hoppegarten racecourse, 430 hectares (1,062 acres) in size, became Germany's most important racecourse until the First World War. In the twenties it turned into a meeting place for politicians and society. It is also one of the new settings for the third season.
The Bode Museum, which has been in operation since 1904, also serves as a new film backdrop. The magnificent entrance to the large domed hall will have its own scene. Which one exactly, the Babylon fans will only find out when the new episodes are broadcast. Until then they can visit the original setting on Museum Island.
Image: picture-alliance/imageBROKER/N. Michalke
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What a voice
Severija Janusauskaite plays Svetlana Sorokina, a shadowy character who poses as the daughter of the legendary Sorokin oligarch and is after the family's gold in Babylon Berlin. The Lithuanian actress, director and composer also sings in the Moka Efti, where she calls herself Nikoros.
She sings the series' melancholic title song "Zu Asche, zu Staub" (To ashes, to dust), written by director Tom Tykwer, Kamien and Weidemann. The song made it to number 22 in the German single charts. Severija sings in German, her raspy deep voice and Eastern European accent making "Zu Asche, zu Staub" a highly catchy tune that is hard to resist.
'Babylon Berlin' kicks off third season in 2020
The European Film Award-winning TV series is the most expensive one ever shot in Germany. Set in 1929, the third season of "Babylon Berlin" starts in January. Here are a few things you need to know to get ready.
Image: Frédéric Batier/X Filme Creative Pool/ARD Degeto/WDR/Sky/Beta Film 2019
Gereon Rath, inspector
The young inspector from Cologne repeatedly comes into conflict with the law himself. Rath (Volker Bruch) was transferred from the Rhine region to Berlin for disciplinary reasons, but gets involved in shady business there too. He falls for the vibe of this glittering metropolis and its roaring 1920s nightlife — as well as for the sassy stenotypist Charlotte in the police headquarters.
A coincidence has brought the two together: Charlotte (Liv Lisa Fries), who comes from a modest background, goes to police headquarters in search of a job. She gets a position as a stenotypist, but also has a nose for tracking down criminals. Not only with Gereon Rath, who falls hopelessly in love with her, but also with others, she throws herself into the glittering nightlife of Berlin.
This is the main place where Commissioner Rath, Charlotte (center), her entourage of male acquaintances, and the shady nightclub owner Dr. Marlowe congregate at night: the legendary Moka Efti. Here, they party hardy, dance, deal drugs, consume cocaine and drink until they drop. And in the cellar, johns take their pleasure in the occasional prostitute.
Image: X Filme 2017/Frédéric Batier
Bruno Wolter, chief inspector
A police officer with the face of a gangster: Chief inspector Bruno Wolter (actor Peter Kurth) works on the vice squad and as a clever investigator. He knows the underworld of Berlin all too well. Gereon Rath learns from him that, in Berlin police circles, you don't have to be so exact when it comes to law and order. He also realizes that trust is a fragile commodity.
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Dr. Schmidt, doctor
Actor Jens Harzer plays the shady character Dr. Schmidt in the TV series. He is the current bearer of the prestigious Iffland Ring, which honors the best German-speaking theater actor and which he inherited from the late actor Bruno Ganz. As Dr. Schmidt, his treatment of Gereon Rath, who as a former soldier on the front is plagued by tremor attacks, borders on the illegal.
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Babelsberg as backdrop
The new episodes of this successful German series were also shot on the historical film sets of Babelsberg Studios. Hollywood directors likewise come here to shoot films staged during the 1920s or the Nazi era. Uli Harnischfeger designed and built these original-looking streets.
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Bustling Berlin
CGI was used for the newly shot scenes. For this third season, scenes were likewise filmed at some of the original Berlin locations, like here at Alexanderplatz. This is where the "Rote Burg," the Berlin police headquarters, were located in the 1920s. This is also home to Gereon Rath's office. The 12 new episodes are based on the novel "Der stumme Tod" by German author Volker Kutscher.
Image: picture-alliance/T. Rückeis
Premiere and kick-off
The premiere of the third season of the TV series will again take place in Berlin. Pictured here from left to right: director Tom Tykwer, actors Leonie Benesch, Liv Lisa Fries and Volker Bruch, as well as director Achim von Borries. Henk Handloegten is the third director on the series. The new season starts on January 24, 2020 on German pay-channel Sky, and on public broadcaster ARD in the fall.