A family picture on a postcard with little John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (right), just 11 months old. It was shot in South Africa, his country of birth. After his father died, his mother moved to England, taking him and his younger brother along with her. Eight years later, when Tolkien was only 12 years old, his mother died, and the two brothers were taken care of by a priest.

Tolkien grew up in a rural suburb of the British industrial city of Birmingham. The idyllic landscape there served as a model for the homeland of the Hobbits. A proficient student, Tolkien was interested in languages, literature and poetry. It was in Birmingham that he met his later wife Edith, and they married in March 1916.

During his studies in Oxford, Tolkien continued to study languages and classical English literature. He spoke Latin and Greek fluently and learned Gothic, Welsh and Finnish. With his enthusiasm for languages, he even invented his own.

Newly wed, Tolkien was ordered to the front in July 1916 to fight in the biggest battle of WW I at the Somme. He had to endure endless months in dugouts, witnessing the suffering and death of numerous soldiers. Taking ill with "dugout fever," he had to be taken to a military hospital. Shocked by the horrors of war and impressed by the perseverance of soldiers he began to write there.

After the war, Tolkien was active as a lecturer and later as a professor of linguistics and literature while writing during his free time. His fantasy novel "The Hobbit," published in 1937, was a huge success. A short time later he began work on the novels which made him one of the century's major authors. Despite his success, he always considered writing a hobby.

Tolkien worked on "The Lord of the Rings" for 15 years, refining his story on the highly complex fantasy empire. His series of novels fascinated millions of readers and become among the bestselling books of all times. Film adaptations of "The Lord of the Rings" were awarded 17 Oscars, with box office receipts over $3 billion.

John Ronald Tolkien spent the last years of his life working on "Silmarillion," which tells of the events leading to the narrative "The Lord of the Rings." But before completing his work, he died. Following his wish, his son Christopher reworked, completed and published the unfinished stories.

Tolkien, a devout Catholic, died in 1973, two years after his wife. They were both buried at this cemetery in Oxford. Written on their gravestone are the names Beren and Lúthien - lovers in Tolkien's fantasy world. He was inspired to create these two characters by his love for his wife.

Leonardo DiCaprio in "The Beach" played American student Richard Fischer, who sets off in search of a legendary beach in Thailand. Filmed in 2000 in the Maya Bay in the Ko Phi Phi archipelago, which has been a national park since 2004. Every day boats bring tourists to the beautiful bay - so much so that the sheer number of visitors has become a problem.

She's perhaps the most famous Swiss person in the world: Heidi, the little girl, who has to leave her beloved Alpine home to temporarily move to Frankfurt. The children's book by Johanna Spyri has been repeatedly made into a movie, the last time in 2015. Several communities where the book is set 20 years ago united to form the Heidiland holiday area. Heidi-tourism has been booming ever since.

The 3-D film by James Cameron fascinated audiences in 2009 with its mix of virtual and real worlds. The story is set on a moon called Pandora, which is similar to Earth, the landscape of which was based on the Zhangjiajie National Forest Park in northern China. In a move to cash-in on marketing created by the film one of the bizarre looking chalk cliffs was renamed "Avatar Hallelujah Mountain".

The Hogwarts Express can be seen travelling across this landscape taking Harry Potter to exciting new adventures in the films. In real life the trip on the Jacobite Steam Train in the Scottish highlands is equally exciting. The train runs between Fort William and the fishing village Mallaig - and riding it makes you feel like you might be going to Hogwarts yourself.

The renowned British Film Institute declared "Local Hero" the best movie of all time in 1999. The Scottish landscape serves as a backdrop for the 1983 comedy, in which the driving force is charm of both nature and the people who live in it. These days the coastal village Pennan, which in the film was called Ferness, is world famous.

Director Peter Jackson decided that his home New Zealand was the perfect place to represent the fictitious world of Middle Earth, where Tolkien's novel "Lord of the Rings" is set. The film locations have become places of pilgrimage to movie fans from around the world. Pictured here is Lake Pukaki - which was used as the setting for Lake Town in the films

The film, set against the majestic backdrop of Kenya, tells the story of Danish baroness Tania Blixen, who starts a coffee plantation in Kenya at the end of the colonial era and falls in love with a local big game hunter Finch-Hatton. One of the most impressive movie scenes is their flight across Rift Valley. Kenya in the 1980s enjoyed a safari boom because of the film which continues to this day.

The monumental masterpiece by David Lean starring Peter O'Toole in the leading role in 1962 was partly filmed in the original settings in Jordan's Wadi Rum. This is where the actual British army officer Thomas Edward Lawrence was stationed during the Arab Revolt from 1917 until 1918. The film in 1963 won seven Oscars and four Golden Globe Awards.

Tunisia's barren desert has featured in many movies like "Indiana Jones" or "The English Patient", but it really rose to fame as a setting in George Lucas' "Star Wars". What was used to portrait hero Luke Skywalker's home village "Nefta" has been a tourist attraction since 1995. When a shifting sand dune threatened the village, fans supported by the government managed save the film location.

Monument Valley in the US State Utah has become an iconic backdrop for many westerns. One name in particular will always be associated with this landscape: John Wayne. He celebrated his breakthrough as an actor in 1939 with the film "Stage Coach" directed by John Ford. This landscape was also iconically used in the most important motorbike movie of all times: Easy Rider.