In the town of Görlitz in eastern Germany, on the Polish border

 As film producer Andro Steiborn once told The Guardian, "The architectural center [of Görlitz] is intact. So it's one of the few places in Germany where you can shoot historical sequences."

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(in Germany's easternmost city) The location of Görlitz helped it escape damage in World War II, since the British Royal Air Force never flew far enough east to bomb it. The nearby town of Zgorzelec, Poland, was part of Görlitz until 1945. It is just across the river, and you can reach it by crossing the Old Town Bridge (Altstadtbrücke). This gorgeous hidden gem of a city is full of iconic filming locations. Locals tend to call it Görliwood. If you haven't heard of Görlitz, Germany, you might not immediately appreciate the play on the city's name, but welcome to the Hollywood of Central Europe. Skirting the Neisse River and the Polish border in the German state of Saxony, Görlitz survived World War II's ravages to become a magnet for on-screen period pieces.

+ On its 10th anniversary in 2017, the European Film Commissions Network named Görlitz the best movie location of the decade. This followed the city's appearance in Wes Anderson's Oscar-winning dramedy "The Grand Budapest Hotel." Görlitz and the Academy Awards, however, have a history going back all the way to 1929. That was the year when Emil Jannings, who grew up in Görlitz, beat out the dog Rin Tin Tin to win the first-ever best actor award.Since then, Görlitz has appeared in several other Oscar-winning films, including Quentin Tarantino's war epic, "Inglourious Basterds," for which Christoph Waltz won best supporting actor. "The Grand Budapest Hotel" wasn't even the first Ralph Fiennes movie where the city showed up: He and it had also appeared in "The Reader," for which Kate Winslet won best actress. When you visit Görlitz and take in Germany's scenic beauty, you might feel like you're the star of your own cinematic European travelogue.

+ Several hotels have provided lodging for Hollywood stars. This includes the Hotel Börse in the Lower Market Square (Untermarkt), where the cast and crew of "The Grand Budapest Hotel" stayed while filming in Görlitz. When Kate Winslet and Nicolas Cage were in town, they reportedly stayed at the Hotel Tuchmacher and Hotel Sorat (now the Am Goldenen Strauss). You can book some movie location tours, including a 90-minute English-language tour, through Visit Görlitz. For a self-guided two-hour walking tour, grab a "Welcome to Görliwood" flyer from the Görlitz-Information tourist center to help lead you through the city. The Walk of Görliwood will even take you past movie-themed shop windows.