Vienna · autumn 1948 · four armies, one city
Dark. Someone is standing in the doorway.
A drunk shouts in a dark lane. Upstairs a neighbour puts her light on, and a face is there in the doorway.
Prater · cabin 1 of 15
Burnt out in 1944, the wheel ran again from 1947 with 15 cabins instead of the original 30. Each cabin here carries one real place. Turn the wheel: the cabin at the top is where you are.
Drag the wheel, use the arrow keys, or tap a cabin.
Cabin018 km from the wheel.
Simmeringer Hauptstraße 234, Simmering
The film begins and ends in the cemetery: Harry’s second funeral, and Anna’s long walk.
The film begins and ends at the Zentralfriedhof.
It ends with Harry’s second funeral, and Anna’s long walk away from the grave down one of the cemetery’s avenues; the cemetery is mostly as it was.
Main entrance at Gate 2. Open 7am–6pm from 1 October to 2 November, 8am–5pm from 3 November to the end of February.
Prater · Open all year · 6 October: 10am–9.45pm
The wheel from the film, still turning at 0.75 metres a second. You can also hire a whole cabin.
Book ticketsInnere Stadt · 2.5 hours · €280 for up to 12
A walk through the Inner City of 1945–1955 with the museum’s owner-director, a licensed Austria Guide, including the museum’s post-war exhibition.
Ask about datesKarlsplatz · seven metres down
The city’s sewer workers still take people down the film’s own staircase. Move the torch to read the walls.
The staircaseTours start at the big red sewer grate opposite Café Museum and go down the original staircase from the film, 7 metres below ground, with helmet and head torch.
One chamberAll the sewer scenes shot in Vienna were filmed in one place; the camera work makes it look like several.
The cholera canalsThe cholera canals either side of the Wien river date from the 1830s and are nearly unchanged; the tour ends where the river disappears into a vault under the Naschmarkt.
Under the bordersLime crosses the borders of the occupation zones through the sewers; the Vienna sewer scenes were shot in one chamber.
Torch on the staircase.
Guided only, May to October, Thursday to Sunday, every hour from 10am (last tour 7pm). Minimum age 12; booking required on +43 1 4000 3033.
Fifteen rooms hold 3,000 original exhibits, among them the zither Anton Karas used to record the film music and 420 cover versions of the Harry Lime theme.
Saturdays 2–6pm (adults €12). Open 26 and 30 December 2026 and 2 January 2027, then closed for winter until 27 March 2027. Private tours any day by arrangement.
Karlsplatz, opposite Café Museum · Thu–Sun to October, hourly 10am–7pm · €18 (reduced €14) · age 12+
The city’s own sewer tour: down the film’s staircase into the 1830s cholera canals, ending at the Wien river vault. Helmet and head torch provided.
Book a tourPressgasse 25, Wieden · Saturdays 2–6pm · adults €12 · private tours from €180 for up to 10
Fifteen rooms, 3,000 exhibits and the zither the score was recorded on. Private 75-minute tours with the owners run any day.
Plan a visitInteralliierte Kommandantur · pass
The four powers ran the Inner City together, a different one each month, and patrolled it as the “four in a jeep”. Each power’s military police could act only in its own sector. Stamp the pass to see whose ground each place stood on.
Identity card · Vienna · four sectors and the Inner City
Inner City: 9 places — Josefsplatz, Harry’s building; The Hotel Sacher; Café Mozart; Schreyvogelgasse 8, the doorway; Schulhof and its arch; Am Hof; The Third Man Tour, Karlsplatz; The Hotel Imperial; The Burg Kino.
Taking the chair: American. The four powers ran the Inner City a month each, in turn.
Six strings, six people
Carol Reed chose a single melody played on a zither as the film’s music; Karas composed the Harry Lime theme and became famous for it.
The zither
He opened a smart Heuriger in Sievering in 1953 and closed it in 1966.
Marchfeldstraße 12, corner of Leystraße, Brigittenau
A plaque put up by the district in 2006, for his hundredth birthday, records that Karas was born at Leystraße 46 on 7 July 1906 and lived there until he was 19.
In a small green space on the street corner.
Sievering cemetery, Nottebohmstraße 51, Döbling
Anton Karas was buried at Sievering cemetery on 21 January 1985, in an honorary grave: group 28, row 9, number 9.
Group 28, row 9, number 9. Open 7am–6pm until 2 November, 8am–5pm in winter.
Opernring 19 · still showing
The original version has played there since 1980. The Burg Kino shows The Third Man in English every Sunday, and on Tuesdays with German subtitles.
Tickets €10.50. The box office opens 30 minutes before the first screening. No trailers run before The Third Man, so it starts almost on time.
Simmering · the last shot
The film begins and ends at the Zentralfriedhof. It ends with Harry’s second funeral, and Anna’s long walk away from the grave down one of the cemetery’s avenues; the cemetery is mostly as it was.
It holds 330,000 graves, around 1,000 of them graves of honour.
Main entrance at Gate 2. Open 7am–6pm from 1 October to 2 November, 8am–5pm from 3 November to the end of February.
Albertinaplatz, Innere Stadt
The hotel that features in several of the film’s scenes, opposite Café Mozart on Albertinaplatz. Open since 1876; after the war it was in Russian, then British, hands.
Check rooms15 places you can visit, the same fifteen the wheel carries. The doorway in Schreyvogelgasse is a home: see it from the lane.
Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A public square beside the Hofburg. The doorway belongs to a private building: look from the square.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A working five-star hotel opposite the Albertina; its café and bars are open to non-residents.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Open every day, 8am to 11.30pm; the kitchen closes at 10.30pm.
General reference · Restricted access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A lived-in house on a public lane. Look from the street; the doorway is someone’s front door.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A public lane running into Am Hof.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A public square, open at all hours.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Guided only, May to October, Thursday to Sunday, every hour from 10am (last tour 7pm). Minimum age 12; booking required on +43 1 4000 3033.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A working hotel on the Ring; its café is open to non-residents.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Tickets €10.50. The box office opens 30 minutes before the first screening.
Cabin 2 · Josefsplatz, Innere Stadt
Harry’s flat was filmed in a building on Josefsplatz marked by its pillars; the square is still intact.
A public square beside the Hofburg. The doorway belongs to a private building: look from the square.
Cabin 3 · Philharmonikerstraße 4, Innere Stadt
The Sacher features in several scenes of the film.
A working five-star hotel opposite the Albertina; its café and bars are open to non-residents.
Cabin 4 · Albertinaplatz 2, Innere Stadt
Holly Martins meets the mysterious “Baron” Kurtz at the Café Mozart.
Open every day, 8am to 11.30pm; the kitchen closes at 10.30pm.
Cabin 5 · Schreyvogelgasse 8, Innere Stadt
Harry Lime is first seen in the doorway of number 8 Schreyvogelgasse; the doorway is preserved, with fresh paint.
A lived-in house on a public lane. Look from the street; the doorway is someone’s front door.
Cabin 6 · Schulhof, Innere Stadt
When Harry flees, the street he runs down into the square is Schulhof, with its arch; the arch remains.
A public lane running into Am Hof.
Cabin 7 · Am Hof, Innere Stadt
Anna’s flat was filmed in Am Hof; the derelict block was later demolished and replaced by a modern building.
A public square, open at all hours.
Cabin 9 · Girardipark, Karlsplatz, opposite Café Museum
Tours start at the big red sewer grate opposite Café Museum and go down the original staircase from the film, 7 metres below ground, with helmet and head torch.
Guided only, May to October, Thursday to Sunday, every hour from 10am (last tour 7pm). Minimum age 12; booking required on +43 1 4000 3033.
Cabin 10 · Kärntner Ring 16, Innere Stadt
The Hotel Imperial was the Soviet headquarters in occupied Vienna.
A working hotel on the Ring; its café is open to non-residents.
Cabin 12 · Opernring 19, Innere Stadt
The Burg Kino shows The Third Man in English every Sunday, and on Tuesdays with German subtitles.
Tickets €10.50. The box office opens 30 minutes before the first screening.
Stay
The Sacher, which features in several scenes, and the Imperial, once the Soviet headquarters.
Albertinaplatz, Innere Stadt
The hotel that features in several of the film’s scenes, opposite Café Mozart on Albertinaplatz. Open since 1876; after the war it was in Russian, then British, hands.
Check roomsKärntner Ring, Innere Stadt
The Soviet headquarters in occupied Vienna, now a hotel on the Ring again. Not a filming location.
Check roomsGo there
The city’s sewer tour, the museum and its zither, a turn on the wheel, and a walk through occupied Vienna.
Karlsplatz, opposite Café Museum · Thu–Sun to October, hourly 10am–7pm · €18 (reduced €14) · age 12+
The city’s own sewer tour: down the film’s staircase into the 1830s cholera canals, ending at the Wien river vault. Helmet and head torch provided.
Book a tourPressgasse 25, Wieden · Saturdays 2–6pm · adults €12 · private tours from €180 for up to 10
Fifteen rooms, 3,000 exhibits and the zither the score was recorded on. Private 75-minute tours with the owners run any day.
Plan a visitPrater · Open all year · 6 October: 10am–9.45pm
The wheel from the film, still turning at 0.75 metres a second. You can also hire a whole cabin.
Book ticketsInnere Stadt · 2.5 hours · €280 for up to 12
A walk through the Inner City of 1945–1955 with the museum’s owner-director, a licensed Austria Guide, including the museum’s post-war exhibition.
Ask about datesVienna
Live marketplace results for Third Man walks in Vienna. Check each itinerary; none is run by the film’s custodians.
Live marketplace results · itineraries change
Compare toursWhat’s on
The Burg Kino’s next screenings, and the museum’s last openings before its winter break.
Checking current event dates…
Take it home
Greene’s story in two editions, a book on the film, and Karas on shellac and vinyl.
Graham Greene
Greene’s Third Man story, paired with The Fallen Idol, in Penguin’s Twentieth-Century Classics.
Find the bookGraham Greene
The same pairing in the Vintage Classics edition.
Find the bookCharles Drazin
Charles Drazin’s book about the film.
Find the bookAnton Karas · 10-inch 78, London Records, 1949
The zither solo, with a waltz named after the café on its B-side.
Live marketplace search · listings and condition change
Find a copyAnton Karas · LP, London Records, 1957
A long-player of the theme and Viennese pieces.
Live marketplace search · listings and condition change
Find a copyAnton Karas · 2 × LP, Epic, 1974
A French double album, with Karas on the cover at his zither.
Live marketplace search · listings and condition change
Find a copyDates, prices, rooms and stock change: confirm with the provider before you travel or buy. A stay or tour is described as a filming location only where the card says so.
Every place and moment behind this page, with sources.
15 of 15 places · 15 of 15 Moments
Simmeringer Hauptstraße 234, Simmering
The film begins and ends in the cemetery: Harry’s second funeral, and Anna’s long walk.
Josefsplatz, Innere Stadt
Holly arrives at Harry’s flat; Kurtz shows him the spot by the statue where Harry died.
Philharmonikerstraße 4, Innere Stadt
The Sacher features in several scenes.
Albertinaplatz 2, Innere Stadt
Holly meets “Baron” Kurtz at the Café Mozart.
Schreyvogelgasse 8, Innere Stadt
A window light falls on a doorway and Harry Lime is there, smiling.
Schulhof, Innere Stadt
Harry runs down Schulhof under the arch.
Am Hof, Innere Stadt
Holly loses him in the square of Am Hof.
Riesenradplatz 1, Prater
Holly and Harry talk in a cabin high above the Prater.
Girardipark, Karlsplatz, opposite Café Museum
Lime crosses the borders of the occupation zones through the sewers; the Vienna sewer scenes were shot in one chamber.
Kärntner Ring 16, Innere Stadt
In the story Harry hides under the protection of the Russian occupying power.
Gumpendorfer Straße 63, Mariahilf
The film’s first showing in Austria.
Opernring 19, Innere Stadt
The original version, at the Burg Kino since 1980.
Pressgasse 25, Wieden
The zither Anton Karas recorded the score on, on show in Pressgasse.
Marchfeldstraße 12, corner of Leystraße, Brigittenau
Anton Karas is born at Leystraße 46.
Sievering cemetery, Nottebohmstraße 51, Döbling
Anton Karas is buried at Sievering.
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