West German officials would not allow the film to be made in West Germany because of shipping traffic on the
Rhine. The trend was increasing at the time to shoot Hollywood films in
Eastern Europe to save money –
The Fixer was filmed in
Hungary and
Castle Keep in
Yugoslavia. Correspondingly, after six months of location scouting,
The Bridge at Remagen became the first American film to be shot in
Communist Czechoslovakia.
Czechoslovakia , Czech Republic, where scenes for the Remagen Bridge were shot Wolper paid $750,000 and Czechoslovak distribution rights to
Barrandov Studios in exchange for their facilities and local labor. The U.S. World War II equipment was borrowed from the government of Austria, which had originally obtained it from the Americans. The Czechoslovak government provided German uniforms and weapons that had been captured during the war.
Czechoslovak People's Army soldiers served as extras in the film, and were even trained to use U.S. military equipment. The Czechs, however, did not take this charge too seriously, and Czech members of the crew jokingly referring to Wolper as "Mr. CIA". After East German newspaper
Neues Deutschland alleged that the production was a front for preparations of a
U.S. Armed Forces occupation of the country, some Czechoslovak police and military officials did inspect the arsenal of arms at Barrandov studios and found everything in order. The old town was being demolished and rebuilt at a new location at the time so that the
lignite deposits under its soil would become accessible for mining. This lent an unprecedented level of realism to the explosions of real buildings rather than backlot sets. The Remagen Bridge scenes were shot at
Davle on the
Vltava River using the old bridge, which the Czechoslovak Ministry of Transportation closed for the summer. This was controversial because many residents of
Prague used the bridge to access vacation homes in Davle. Fake towers and a fake railway tunnel were constructed for the film. The film's opening scenes, where the U.S. Army fails to capture the
Oberkassel, Bonn bridge, were shot just south of the village of
Vrané nad Vltavou using the railway bridge, which carries the
Prague-
Dobříš line over the river Vltava. During filming, Guillermin told producer Wolper that he did not want the distraction of Wolper being on set, and tried to ban the producer from it. Wolper responded by telling Guillermin that if he could not direct with Wolper on set, then he would be fired. Guillermin promptly apologized. Wolper later called Guillermin "a real pain in the ass".
Soviet invasion On 20 August 1968, when the film was two-thirds complete, the
Soviet Army invaded Czechoslovakia to reinstall a hardline Communist government. Filming had to be halted and the bulk of the cast and crew were stuck in the International Hotel in Prague under advice from the
U.S. Embassy. Wolper had flown out from Prague to Rome the night of the invasion to supervise filming of his other film ''
If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium'' and then quickly flew to
Vienna to negotiate with the new government for permission for the film's crew to be released. Some had to flee to Vienna in a 60-car convoy. Wolper said, "circumstances have conspired to turn an innocent and expensive enterprise into a political football." Unfinished scenes involving the bridge were shot at
Castel Gandolfo in Italy. Wolper also negotiated filming of the blowing up of the bridge in Prague. Wolper says the film had insurance to cover an invasion, but that the insurance company argued that it was not an invasion, rather the government invited the Russians in. The matter settled and Wolper got some compensation, but not the full amount. Contrary to Wolper's expectations, the Soviet occupation force allowed the U.S. military equipment lent by the Austrian government to be returned. The film finished after 93 days. ==Accuracy==