Originally “Harry Potter” was supposed to be an American production, but JK Rowling insisted on the (fine) British way – both in terms of actors and staff behind the scenes, as well as the locations.
Photo: IMAGO / agefotostock
Let’s start in London: Platform 9 ¾ confuses Harry in the first film when the older magic students and their luggage carts simply disappear into the wall. To make “Harry Potter” fans happy, half a carriage sticks out of the wall here in the station (which actually bears the name Kings Cross) – how many photos have already been taken here?
You can find out what it’s like to see “Harry Potter” as an adult for the first time in our podcast.
In “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” a well-known landmark is brought down: the Millennium Bridge can be traversed in central London, which is also home to Gringotts Wizarding Bank (Australia House), Diagon Alley (Leadenhall Market) and Claremont Square, the facades of which served as inspiration for Grimmauld Place in the fifth part. By the way: Above London you can still see some of the original sets and props in the Leavesden Studios view.
Discover Hogwarts
Photo: IMAGO / Panthermedia
The centuries-old English architecture fits perfectly with the wizarding school, where people also like to break the 6000-year mark or live on forever as house spirits. Sad but true: Hogwarts doesn’t exist. At least not in one piece. The interior and exterior of the castle were ‘puzzled’ together from several locations: Snape’s classroom, for example, is in an abbey called Lacock Abbey.
Near Oxford is New College – this is where Harry is bullied with ‘Potter Stinks’ pins in the fourth part when he is chosen to take part in the Triwizard Tournament. The University of Oxford also served as a model for the great hall and other scenes inside the castle. And who remembers the blood-smeared wall on which the horrors of “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” began? These and many other scenes were filmed at Gloucester Cathedral. Further up, on the east coast of southern England, are Durham Cathedral and Alnwick Castle, which were used for various recordings in and around Hogwarts.
Trains and lakes in the “Harry Potter” universe
We change country: Scotland has so with rugged coasts, rugged mountains and dark lakes to offer some telegenic nature. It’s no wonder the filmmakers chose the north of Britain for many of the outdoor shoots. Probably the most famous backdrop: the bridge over which the Hogwarts Express chugs along for the first few parts to get the excited up-and-coming magicians to their new school. Here in the second film, Harry and Ron are flying over the countryside in Ron’s father’s car. The viaduct is in Glenfinnan on the west coast of Scotland and is actually traveled by a train: The Jacobite Steam Train not only drives over the bridge, but also past Loch Shiel, the ‘Hogwarts Lake’. What you can see from the train window, on the other hand, is just outside this route on Rannoch Moor.
Moving on to the unspeakable lochs, not far from the viaduct is Loch Eilit, where exterior views of Hogwarts were also filmed. This is also the island where Dumbledore’s imposing tomb is located in the film. Loch Etive recreates the setting for the camping trip that the three friends must take in the seventh film to flee from Voldemort, and over Loch Arkaig Harry flies on a kite in the final film. Hagrid’s Cabin is between these two settings near Glencoe.
Have fun on the Potter road trip!
