The Third Man Vienna Locations: COMPLETE List + Map!

Almost 80 years after its release, there isn’t a film more synonymous with Austria’s capital city than The Third Man. Despite the decades since this British classic hit theatres, many travellers still seek out The Third Man Vienna locations every year to witness the magic they saw on screen for themselves.

Set in post-war Vienna based on the novel by Graham Greene, The Third Man (1949) stars Joseph Cotten as a penniless author, Holly Martins. He arrives in Vienna to stay with his friend Harry Lime (Orson Welles) only to find out he’s died under suspicious circumstances. As the noir thriller continues, the conspiracy unravels.

On my trip to Vienna in September 2023, I sought out absolutely all of The Third Man locations that still exist today. Thankfully, most of them do!

To help me in my quest, I joined The Third Man Vienna tour, which is a popular guided walking tour of The Third Man locations. Naturally, I also visited The Third Man Museum in Vienna and the Burg Kino cinema which continues to screen The Third Man weekly for avid film fans.

I’ll mention the tour, museum, and cinema experience in detail at the end of this guide. However, it’s important to note now that the guided The Third Man tour covers less than half of all The Third Man locations. It misses some iconic ones, too!

If you want to see as many of The Third Man movie locations during your trip to Vienna, you’ll need this self-guided The Third Man walking tour of Vienna.

I’ve listed every single filming location and included a map. Let’s take a stroll around post-war Vienna and try not to get killed, shall we?

Where Was The Third Man Filmed in Vienna?

The Third Man Vienna Filming Locations

1. St Stephen’s Cathedral

The Third Man opens with some blink-and-you’ll-miss-them establishing shots of post-war Vienna to display the rubble and ruin all over the city. So, the first The Third Man location is of the iconic St Stephen’s Cathedral. It looks very different today, thanks to the colourful, restored roof.

2. Johann Strauß Monument in Stadtpark

The next quick establishing shot is of the Johann Strauß Monument in Stadtpark. Born in Vienna, Johann Strauß is just one of the city’s famous composers.

3. Austrian Parliament Building

Another quick The Third Man film location is the Austrian Parliament Building. Dating back to 1883, this huge government building was receiving a facelift during my visit! You can still see the statues on the roof, however, like you can in the movie.

4. Beethovendenkmal in Beethovenplatz

Just another of Vienna’s top composers, The Third Man quickly treats us to a shot of the Beethovendenkmal statue in Beethovenplatz.

5. Votivkirche

As seen through the arches at Rathaus (the ‘American Zone’ in the movie), the two towers of Votivkirche were also undergoing renovations during my visit.

6. Meidling Gate at Schönbrunn Palace Park

Schönbrunn Palace Park is in the ‘British Zone’ of Vienna in The Third Man. I’m not 100% sure, but it looks like the shot of this landmark is through the Meidline Gate. I’d be happy to know if I’m right or wrong!

7. Haupttor Zum Oberen Belvedere

Adorned with lions and crowns, Haupttor Zum Oberen Belvedere literally translates to ‘the entrance gates to Belvedere’. In another quick establishing shot to accompany the voice-over, we can see the Upper Belvedere Palace in the ‘Russian Zone’.

8. Westbahnhof Station

Now, let’s get stuck into the real The Third Man locations in Vienna! Holly Martins arrives at Westbahnhof Station, which is supposedly in the ‘French Zone’ of the city.

There’s a quick shot of a statue that I could not find anywhere. However, the station was rebuilt in the 1950s and renovated again in 2008. This is why the train station doesn’t look anything like it did then, nor in 1995 when Before Sunrise was shot here.

Martins tells the passport officer at the station that he’s staying at Stiftgasse, 15 which is Harry Lime’s address.

Of course, we return to the station later in the film when Anna, Harry’s girlfriend, attempts to leave the city. She doesn’t make it when she sees Holly sitting in the station’s bar/café.

Read next: Before Sunrise Filming Locations in Vienna, Austria

9. Vermählungsbrunnen in Hoher Markt

There’s a quick shot of the Vermählungsbrunnen statue in Hoher Markt as Martins is on his way to Harry’s house. We also see the Riesenrad Ferris Wheel through the rubble too, but we’ll get to that later.

Vermählungsbrunnen is one of The Third Man movie locations that pop up again much later in the film. As the police are waiting for Harry Lime to show up so they can pounce on him, some of the police officers hide around this statue.

10. Palais Fries-Pallavicini 

This is cinema. Harry Lime’s address might be Stiftgasse, 15 in the world of the film, but The Third Man didn’t shoot the scenes there in real life.

Nope, the exterior of Harry’s apartment is the much more grand Palais Fries-Pallavicini. I’m not sure about the interiors. Holly Martins shows up at Harry’s apartment and this is where he learns of his friend’s death from the porter.

This The Third Man film location appears several times throughout the movie, including when Baron Kurtz walks Holly step-by-step through how Harry died.

You’ll notice that even when the porter sticks his head out later in the movie just before he died that this isn’t one of the windows of Palais Fries-Pallavicini. It’s one of the windows at Augustinerstraße, 9, another building in the same square.

11. Zentralfriedhof/Central Cemetery

Martins hightails it to Harry Lime’s funeral which is taking place at that very moment in Zentralfriedhof or Central Cemetery in English. It’s a sprawling cemetery where the who’s who of Austria is buried including composers like Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms and Strauss.

Harry’s grave is in Section 43A opposite a grave with the name Frau Marie Figge. It took me ages to find it because some of the surrounding graves were damaged or had been replaced. It’s not a huge section and Harry’s grave was next to a path, so if you look at my up-to-date photos, you’ll find it.

The characters return to the same plot for the last scene of the film; Harry’s real funeral.

You can also see the Karl Borromäus Church in the background which will help with finding the location. The road where Calloway offers Martins a lift and where Anna walks passed Martins is just behind Section 43A. It’s between this section and the section with the soldiers of the Red Army who died in the Battle of Vienna in 1945.

This is the only The Third Man Vienna location where you will definitely need to take public transport. Buy a day pass and hop on the N.71 tram at Oper, Karlsplatz U stop and alight at Zentralfriedhof 2.Tor. This is right outside the cemetery and the journey takes about 30 minutes.

12. Hotel Sacher

One of the most iconic The Third Man Vienna locations and landmarks in the city is Hotel Sacher. In the movie, it’s a hotel occupied by the British military but it also was in real life! The Americans occupied Hotel Bristol and the Russians had The Imperial and The Grand.

Hotel Sacher is a five-star hotel famous for inventing the Sacher-Torte, a chocolate cake with apricot jam.

After Martins gets drunk with Calloway in a bar, Seargent Paine takes him to the hotel. We don’t see the exterior of the bar so director Carol Reed probably shot this scene in either Worton Hall Studios or Shepperton Studios. This hotel, however, pops up in a few different scenes throughout the film.

13. Neuer Markt

Baron Kurtz, a former acquaintance of Harry, agrees to meet Martins at Café Mozart. In real life, this café is just around the corner from Hotel Sacher, but that’s not where they meet.

Kurtz and Martins actually meet in Neuer Markt which is a square in Vienna’s historic centre. Whether they met in a café with an outside terrace that existed at the time of filming or sit down at a few random tables and chairs, I’m not sure. But there’s no such café on the spot today!

14. Statue Kaiser Joseph II

Baron Kurtz takes Martins to the square outside Harry’s house to show him where the truck hit Harry and what happened to his body. This is where we learn about the illusive ‘third’ man!

Kurtz recalled that they dragged Harry’s body to the Kaiser Joseph II Statue to remove it from the road.

15. Theater in der Josefstadt

Martins decided to track down Harry’s girlfriend at the time of his death, Anna Schmidt. She’s an actress so he finds her dressing room and chats with her there and also catches some of the show.

The Third Man film location is inside a real theatre, the Theater in der Josefstadt. It’s still going strong today!

Read next: The Sound of Music Filming Locations in Salzburg, Austria

16. Am Hof

Martins escorts Anna back to her house where there are police officers searching it for evidence. Her apartment building no longer exists, but it was located in Am Hof square.

You can see Vienna’s fire station, Berufsfeuerwehr Wien, in the background. In fact, there was some kind of emergency services festival happening in this square when I visited! Very odd.

17. Hannelore – Bar & Living Room

Martins is still meeting up with people who knew Harry to gain intel about the circumstances surrounding his death. Next on the list are Popescu and his girlfriend and he meets them in a place called the Casanova Club. The director shot the interiors of the club in a studio.

This The Third Man filming location was a restaurant called Blue Mustard in real life but now it’s called Hannelore – Bar & Living Room. 

18. Borsegasse, 5

In a later scene, Dr Winkel carries his bike out of his apartment door on his way to a clandestine meeting. His address is Borsegasse, 5 which is very much still there. The church you can see in the background of this scene is now obscured by trees.

19. Reichsbrücke Bridge

Baron Kurtz, Popescu and Dr Winkel all meet with the illusive ‘Third Man’ on Reichsbrücke, a bridge over the River Danube. This is one of the most inconsequential yet fascinating The Third Man film locations.

It was the only bridge in Vienna to survive WWII but it sadly collapsed in 1976. Thankfully, it was rebuilt and just looks like an updated version of the former bridge.

20. Ruprechtsplatz (next to Ruprechtskirche)

A little later in the film after the Porter in Harry’s apartment building dies, an angry mob forces Martins and Anna to flee. They run passed the  Ruprechtskirche church on Ruprechtsplatz and down the steps onto Schwedenplatz. 

Covered in rubble in 1949, these steps are very much intact today. We also see the same The Third Man Vienna location later in the film when Harry runs down them.

21. Porzellangasse, 19

Martins and Anna run into a cinema in a futile attempt to hide. It was an old Heimar-Kino Cinema at Porzellangasse, 19. I’m not sure what it is today, but this address sits in the middle of the Schauspielhaus performing arts venue and a Thai restaurant.

Carol Reed also filmed the interior shots here.

22. Minoritenkirche

Who loves catching continuity errors? If so, this will be your favourite The Third Man location.

After Martins finally returns to Hotel Sacher, he’s picked up in a taxi. During this taxi ride, they pass the Minoritenkirche twice. Either the taxi driver has no idea where he’s going or the same background footage was used more than once.

23. Salesianerinnenkirche

Quite a lot of The Third Man filming locations are churches. Here’s another one! After he finished driving around in circles, the taxi driver drops Martins off at the British Cultural Centre which is actually the entrance to Salesianerinnenkirche.

He has to finally give that lecture he promised he’d give when he first checked into the hotel!

24. Maria am Gestade

Once again, Martins must evade pursuers and this time there are only two of them. He climbs up the steps in front of the Maria am Gestade Church, which also features in Before Sunrise.

25. Judengasse

Martins continues to run, and he wanders down Judengasse. You can briefly see a monument that we saw earlier in the film, the Vermählungsbrunnen.

26. Schreyvogelgasse, 8

This is it! One of the most famous and iconic filming locations of all time, not just in The Third Man! A dark figure walks into the doorway at this address to conceal his identity but a neighbour’s torch and an overfriendly feline. It’s none other than Martins’s supposedly dead pal, Harry.

Martins is leaning against the low wall opposite the house in utter shock. But as Harry starts to run up Mölker Steig, Martins gives chase.

27. Schulhof

Martins runs up Schulhof hot on Harry’s trail. There’s an archway leading to Am Hof here which they both run under but Martins loses track of his old friend.

I believe the little fountain that Martins washes his face in was added for the production. The same goes for the kiosk with the door to the sewer!

28. Palais Auersperg

Anna has a fake passport so the police aren’t going to let her off lightly. They take her to the International Police HQ (Interpol). 

The interiors of the HQ are the vestibule of the grand Palais Auersperg. Sadly, I didn’t go inside this building because it’s a fancy events venue and I was not attending a fancy event during my trip to Vienna.

29. Morzinplatz, 3

One of the things I love most about The Third Man is that it heavily implies that Baron Kurtz and Dr Winkel are a couple. Of course, in 1949 there was absolutely no way society and the Hays Code would let explicitly gay people appear on screen, but I like the subtle suggestion.

They appear on the balcony of their apartment at Morzinplatz, 3. This is not the building that Dr Winkel left earlier in the movie carrying his bike! This building has also been completely renovated so the balcony in the movie no longer exists.

Their apartment is supposed to be opposite Prater Amusement Park but it definitely is not.

30. Riesenrad Ferris Wheel

Another of the most iconic The Third Man Vienna filming locations is the Riesenrad Ferris Wheel in the Prater Amusement Park. Dating back to 1897, this is the oldest working Ferris wheel in one of the oldest amusement parks in the world. It also appears in Before Sunrise.

Martins tells Baron Kurtz and Dr Winkel that he’ll wait for Harry to meet him by the Ferris wheel. Harry does show up, and he reveals everything to Martins while they enjoy a ride on the wheel looking out at the beautiful panoramic view of Vienna.

31. Midi, Hoher Markt, 5

After visiting the children in the hospital and realising the extent of Harry’s crimes, Martins agrees to be a decoy in Calloway’s plan to trap Harry.

He waits in a café called Café Marc Aurel. Today, it’s a restaurant called Midi on Hoher Markt, 5.

32. The Old Pharmacy Cafe

Laying in wait in various locations around Hoher Markt, you’d think that the huge shadow that is supposed to be ‘Harry’ was also shot in the same square. It wasn’t.

The shadow of ‘Harry’, which turns out to be a balloon seller, appears projected on The Old Pharmacy Cafe building. This is very near The Third Man Vienna location for Harry’s house.

33. Kiosk Outside Lothringerstraße, 9

The Third Man‘s final scenes cover the iconic chase of Harry Lime through Vienna’s sewer network. Carol Reed shot most of the sewer scenes in the studio, with a handful of exceptions. 

One of those is the old sewer cover/doorway concealing one of the unique starred sewer grates just outside Lothringerstraße, 9. There are only six of these sewer grates with eight ‘leaf’ openings with stairs down to the sewer in the city and two are used as filming locations.

This one was used when the characters open the door and enter the sewer.

34. Wienflussportal in Stadtpark

I didn’t visit Vienna’s underground sewer network for a few reasons. Firstly, I’m not even sure it’s possible for tourists to visit the sewers. Secondly, ew gross. And thirdly, most of the ‘authentic’ locations used in Vienna weren’t actually in the sewers.

Consider the ‘waterfall’ location as an example. This was just the underground course of the Vienna Canal.

You can see part of the tunnel at the Wienflussportal in Stadtpark. The waterfall would have been somewhere inside this tunnel, though I’m sure there have been lots of changes to the canal network in the last 80 years.

35. Sewer Grate near Zamenhof-Denkmal Statue in Karlsplatz

And the other ‘star’ sewer with a staircase is in Karlsplatz right next to the Zamenhof-Denkmal Statue. I believe it’s on this sewer staircase where Harry Lime meets his unfortunate end. For real, this time! He’s actually in the coffin.

The Third Man Walking Tour of Vienna

I booked a slot on this The Third Man Tour Vienna through Get Your Guide. It was absolutely fascinating and I discovered a couple of The Third Man Vienna locations that I wouldn’t have known about if I hadn’t joined the tour.

This walking tour is cheap, available in both English and German, and run by a brother-sister duo who is truly passionate about the film. It makes such a difference when your tour guides are just as excited as you are! Please note that the tour only runs on Friday evenings.

I won’t give away their tour itinerary. But, I will say that out of all the filming locations from The Third Man, the tour only includes around 10 locations.

Book the walking tour but leave some time to visit the extra locations if you’re a keen fan.

The Third Man Museum in Vienna

Of course, you should also leave some room in your Vienna trip itinerary to visit the Third Man Museum! 

It’s operated as a labour of love by a husband and wife team. They have three adjoining buildings full of memorabilia, props and merchandise not only relating to the film but also post-war Vienna and spy fiction in general.

Because it’s such a niche attraction, the museum is only open on Saturday afternoons. It’s also closed during the winter months but you can contact them about the possibility of a private tour.

The Third Man Movie at Burg Kino Cinema in Vienna

Three attractions and activities in Vienna to celebrate The Third Man, what could be more perfect?! 

I don’t know how long Burg Kino cinema has screened weekly showings of The Third Man but I’m assuming decades. You can watch the movie every Sunday afternoon or Tuesday evening, with German subtitles every Tuesday. Helpfully, all three of these activities are available on the weekend!

Personally, I love watching films in the city where they were made. Although I couldn’t attend a screening of The Third Man (so many filming locations, so little time!), I did watch another film at Burg Kino one evening and it’s a cute little indie cinema.

The Third Man Vienna Filming Locations: That’s a Wrap!

Those are all of The Third Man Vienna filming locations, plus information about The Third Man Museum and The Third Man Tour of Vienna! It’s great to see so many of the locations still exist 80 years on and so many people still love this iconic post-war film.

Have you watched The Third Man or planning a trip to Vienna soon? Let me know in the comments below!

Read next:

Before Sunrise Filming Locations in Vienna, Austria

The Sound of Music Filming Locations in Salzberg, Austria

The Quiet Man Filming Locations in Ireland