Film Shoots

Ever since The Sound of Music was filmed here in 1964, filmmakers have returned to the Leopoldskroner Weiher again and again, most recently in 2024 for the second season of the US streaming series Nine Perfect Strangers. Sixty years of film and television history lie in between.

What Schloss Leopoldskron offers is rare: a rococo palace dating from 1736, seven hectares of enclosed parkland on the lake, a mountain backdrop, and an estate that is closed to the public. Images you cannot get elsewhere, in a place you can actually control.

The full range of settings sits within a single estate. The Marble Hall, the staircase, the Venetian Salon, and the Library created by Max Reinhardt stand in contrast to the contemporary spaces of the Meierhof. The palace opens onto the garden parterre, with views across the Leopoldskroner Weiher and the Untersberg beyond.

From morning mist over the lake to evening light on the terrace, the place changes considerably over the course of a day and a year. Productions have used it as a summer setting, as a winter landscape, and as a night location.

The impact of these rooms is best measured by The Sound of Music. The exteriors were shot on the Leopoldskron estate in 1964, while the ballroom, inspired by the original Venetian Salon, was built at the Twentieth Century Fox studios in Los Angeles. The famous gazebo, in turn, was constructed here at Leopoldskron specifically for the film. It stands in the park of Schloss Hellbrunn today.

What once had to be recreated in a studio can be filmed in the original today. The rooms themselves are the set.

Over the decades, Schloss Leopoldskron has been the setting for international productions, from Hollywood films and television series to opera and music videos and haute couture.

On December 2, 2014, Karl Lagerfeld presented the Chanel Métiers d'Art Paris-Salzburg collection here. Chanel had exclusive use of the palace for two weeks of preparation, the entire piano nobile was transformed for the show, and guests watched the models move through the state rooms.

In 2021, Max Reinhardt's Library became the portal through which the central character enters the world of The Magic Flute. In 2024, Nine Perfect Strangers filmed in the staircase hall and the Marble Hall, among other spaces.

Years refer to the year of filming, not to release.

• The Sound of Music (Hollywood film, 1964)
• The Sound of Christmas (American television film, 1987)
• Krupp – A German Family (German television miniseries, 2009)
• CHANEL Métiers d'Art Paris-Salzburg (French fashion show, 2014)
• Austria's Next Topmodel (Austrian television series, 2015)
• Please Madame, "Slow, Slow" (music video, 2018)
• Die Toten von Salzburg – Königsmord (German and Austrian television film, 2018)
• Das Große Welttheater (television film, 2019)
• 12 Dates of Christmas (American streaming series, 2019)
• Die Träume des Magiers (Austrian television film, 2020)
• Red Bull Sound of Wake (short film, 2020)
• Il trionfo del tempo e del disinganno (opera production, 2021)
• Jedermann auf Reisen (Austrian feature film, 2021)
• Das Netz – Prometheus (Austrian television series, 2021)
• The Magic Flute – The Legacy of the Magic Flute (German feature film, 2021)
• Il barbiere di Siviglia (opera production, 2022)
• Nine Perfect Strangers (American streaming series, 2024)

The palace is a listed monument, a hotel, and the home of Salzburg Global, an international non-profit organization. It normally remains in active use while filming takes place. That is precisely where our experience lies: we know which rooms are available when, how build times fit around daily operations, and what monument protection allows.

Every request is reviewed individually. The earlier we are involved, the more we can make possible.
 

All filming and photography at Schloss Leopoldskron is approached with care and consideration. Each request is reviewed individually, balancing creative ambition with respect for the historic fabric of the property and its ongoing life as a place of stay, gathering, and dialogue.

The result is a collaborative process – one that allows creative teams to work within an extraordinary setting while ensuring the Schloss remains both protected and lived in.