The PBS TV series “Luna + Sophie” made me start thinking seriously about seeing Potsdam.
Many crime scenes and investigations in the German crime series happen in the city’s streets, buildings and other public areas.
In this version of the long-running German SOKO (special commission) police series, Luna and Sophie are a pair of childhood friends working as detectives. Luna (brunette) is fearless and a little naive; Sophie (blonde) a bit more mature and a crusader for justice.
The episodes are short (about 45 minutes) and light, given the gravity of some of the crimes the two investigate. The whole thing hinges on the often funny, always endearing bond between the young women.
I decided to try to find the “police station” that appears in every episode. The web says the exterior of the police station in the series is the former IHK (Chamber of Industry and Commerce) building at Weberplatz.
Google Maps said the building was only a couple of miles from my apartment. While the facade is the exterior of the police station in the series, the Web says the show’s indoor scenes are typically filmed on sets in a studio rather than inside the building.
Locations
The police station shows up repeatedly, but outside locations are the bigger player in episode after episode. Recurring images include some of the busiest tourist magnets around Potsdam:
Potsdam’s Brandenburg Gate: This gate, a smaller (and earlier) version of the big Germany symbol in Berlin, stands near the entrance to Sanssouci Park. It is seen so often it almost becomes a symbol of the show.
Sanssouci: The historic summer residence of Frederick the Great is maybe the most prominent landmark in Potsdam. Sanssouci Park’s well-maintained gardens and historic buildings provide a scenic backdrop.
Belvedere Pfingstberg: In March 2018, this picture-pretty palace complex with its two towers overlooking the city provided key scenes. When I visited, it had been taken over for a wedding.
Potsdam’s City Palace: Where government happens for Brandenburg state. Berlin had a City Palace, too. It’s now a museum.
Bridge of Spies: No Potsdam series is going to go on long without accessing this real-life Cold War spy thriller location. Three prisoner exchanges between East and West happened here after WWII and before the Berlin Wall fell.
Obelisk: The tower at City Palace is easy to recognize even if the camera is just sweeping across it.
Nauener Tor: One of Potsdam’s three surviving city gates, built in 1755 on orders of Frederick the Great. Its busy tram stop is the nearest to Cafe Heider (red awning on the right), where I had breakfast most mornings for nearly a month.
The teetering figure tight-rope walking between the towers is part of a “temporary” installation now more than 20 years in place. The artist thinks of the towers as East Germany and West Germany. His balancing figures grace high points in several German cities.
Dutch Quarter: The show seems to take every opportunity to show off this quaint pedestrian-friendly shopping venue. Its distinctive red brick facades were once background for a chase scene. Frederick the Great’s father had the houses built to attract skilled Dutch craftsmen to Prussia.
Adventure Park: During the third season on PBS, the partners investigate a death at a park in an episode named “Paradise Lost.” An Adventure Park in Potsdam boasts a mile of rope courses, some nearly 40-feet high, and a zip line twice the length of a football field. At a key point in the episode, a detective slides high along a single-line ropes-course element. I couldn’t find a staff member willing to go up for a photo.
My guess is the park just gave somebody the idea for an episode. I can’t find anything to say it was actually filmed there. In any case, I’m sure the juxtaposition of deadly crime and a play area created opportunities for the writers.
PBS apparently titled the show Luna+Sophie after the lead characters. After four seasons, the original actors dropped out, a new detective duo took over and the name of the show changed. But to my mind, the new pairing never “clicked” like the first and I stopped watching.
The show premiered in 2018 and never has been cancelled. It’s still airing new seasons, No. 8 in 2026, still on channel ZDF on Monday. Glad I had a TV in my apartment.
When I wandered around Weberplatz on a Saturday morning, the square was surrounded by a pop-up market for foods and wares. It felt like Luna and Sophie might be sitting on the bench I’d seen often outside the police station. I kept looking, but the bench was always empty.
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