The Filmmuseum Potsdam occupies the former royal stables (Marstall), an elegant Baroque building from 1685 near the old city centre. The museum documents the history of the nearby Babelsberg Film Studios — the oldest large-scale film studios in the world, founded in 1912 and still active today — and German cinema more broadly.
The permanent collection covers everything from the silent film era through the UFA years (when Babelsberg was the Hollywood of Europe, producing Fritz Lang's Metropolis and the early Marlene Dietrich films), through the DEFA era under the East German state, to the present. The exhibits mix film posters, set designs, costumes, and original equipment with clips and interactive displays. It is a well-put-together museum in a beautiful building and well worth an hour or two, especially for anyone with an interest in European film history.