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| Where Was The Uprising Filmed? All Filming Locations of the 2026 Movie. |
The 2026 historical action film The Uprising, also marketed in the United States as The Uprising: The Rise of Robin Hood, takes audiences into a bleak version of 14th-century England, but the production actually built much of that world in Germany. Filmed over roughly three months between September and November 2025, the Paul Greengrass-directed film used preserved historic architecture, rural landscapes, open fields and purpose-built sets to recreate the England of the 1381 Peasants’ Revolt. Some filming locations were kept quiet during production, understandably enough when a major film is trying to move thousands of people, horses, equipment and period costumes around without an army of curious fans turning up with cameras.
The Franconia region in Germany provided one of the most important geographical foundations for The Uprising. Its combination of rural landscapes, traditional architecture and open countryside offered the production something increasingly difficult to find in modern Britain: stretches of scenery that could convincingly pass for medieval England without requiring every background building, road and modern object to be digitally erased. The region therefore became particularly useful for the film's outdoor sequences, helping establish the harsh countryside through which the rebels travel.
The Franconian Open-Air Museum in Bad Windsheim was particularly important to the recreation of medieval village life. The museum contains historic rural buildings, including timber-framed structures and traditional farmhouses, giving the production an unusually convincing starting point for its 14th-century world.
Rather than constructing every rural environment from scratch, the filmmakers could work around an existing landscape that already carried the visual character they needed. It also became the setting for scenes depicting villages affected by disease, poverty and royal taxation, with additional temporary facades and controlled effects used where destruction was required.
Lichtenau Fortress near Ansbach brought a very different scale to the production. Its historic fortification provided the kind of heavy stone architecture associated with medieval military power, making it suitable for sequences involving soldiers, defensive positions and the increasingly dangerous conflict between the rebels and the royal establishment. The fortress gives the film a sense of physical authority that would be rather difficult to fake convincingly with a few sheets of plywood and an ambitious production designer.
Nuremberg was another major part of the visual recreation of medieval Britain, with filming taking place around St. Sebald's Church and Rathausplatz, the city's historic central square. These locations allowed the production to transform existing medieval-looking streets and architecture into parts of the film's 1381 England.
The surrounding stonework, narrow routes and historic buildings were dressed with period details such as banners, carts and barricades, helping the locations appear less like modern Germany and more like a city caught in the middle of a popular uprising.
St. Sebald's Church deserves particular attention because its imposing historic architecture helped establish the scale of the world inhabited by the film's characters. Within the story, religious and political institutions represent much of the authority confronting the common people, so architecture plays an important role in reinforcing that divide.
The production could use the church's exterior and surrounding historic environment to suggest the intimidating religious and civic structures of medieval London without having to recreate every detail digitally.
Rathausplatz in Nuremberg was transformed into another piece of the film's medieval setting, particularly for sequences connected with the advancing rebel forces and the city's defensive spaces. The production dressed the square with period props and temporary additions, allowing Greengrass to stage large-scale action against architecture that already possessed the right historical character.
With thousands of extras involved across the wider production, the location also offered the visual depth required to make the rebellion feel like a genuine mass movement rather than ten actors running around pretending to be an army.
The agricultural fields outside Munich became the setting for the rebel camps, where the peasant army gathers before its march towards London. These sequences were filmed on expansive outdoor terrain, with the crew altering the ground and bringing in gravel and dirt to create a wetter, rougher appearance. The result was intended to evoke the miserable conditions of an English autumn in the 14th century, complete with mud, temporary shelters and the enormous logistical headache of moving thousands of extras through an outdoor set.
Penzing Studios outside Munich handled the production's more controlled interior work. Instead of forcing the cast and crew into fragile historic buildings whenever the script required an intimate conversation, the filmmakers constructed the royal interiors on soundstages.
The sets representing royal chambers were designed with heavy stone textures and large wooden beams to create an interpretation of medieval halls associated with the Tower of London. This gave Greengrass greater freedom to stage the tense political exchanges involving King Richard II, Joan of Kent and their advisers while controlling lighting, camera movement and sound.
Upper Bavaria served as another important production base, particularly for interior work and technically demanding sequences. Its connection with the Munich-area production infrastructure meant the filmmakers could combine the flexibility of studio facilities with the surrounding landscapes required for the film's larger-scale scenes. The result was a production that moved between carefully controlled sets and huge outdoor environments without making the shift too obvious on screen.
The Kent and Essex coastlines in southeastern England were also used by secondary camera units to capture additional landscapes, horizons and atmospheric material. These shots were intended to provide a stronger connection to the real geography associated with the historical events.
The resulting footage could then be incorporated alongside material filmed in Germany, helping the finished film retain a recognisably English sense of place even though its principal production was based elsewhere. It is one of those filmmaking tricks audiences may never consciously notice, which is generally a sign that the trick has done its job.
The decision to shoot the main production in Germany was largely practical and visual. Modern development has changed substantial portions of Britain's landscape, while parts of Germany still offer historic buildings, rural spaces and preserved environments capable of standing in for medieval Europe.
For a film attempting to depict the world surrounding the 1381 Peasants' Revolt, that distinction matters. The Uprising needs to look like a society that has barely escaped the Middle Ages, rather than modern Britain after someone has turned the saturation down and removed a few cars.
The scale of the production was considerable, with approximately 5,000 live extras involved in recreating the movement of the rebel forces. That made location choice more than an aesthetic decision. Large fields were needed for camps and marching armies, historic urban spaces had to accommodate major crowds, while studio facilities provided the controlled environments necessary for complicated interior scenes. The locations were effectively part of the film's storytelling machinery rather than simply attractive backgrounds.
The locations also reflect the film's central contrast between ordinary people and the institutions controlling their lives. Muddy agricultural fields and rural settlements represent the hardship experienced by the commoners, while fortified buildings, churches and royal interiors provide the visual language of authority. The geography therefore supports the story of a farmer, played by Andrew Garfield, whose personal tragedy and anger eventually become part of a much larger rebellion involving historical figures such as Wat Tyler and John Ball.
For fans, the appeal of these locations is obvious. The Uprising is the sort of historical film that makes you look at a centuries-old building and immediately wonder whether someone marched a few hundred extras through it while Andrew Garfield was standing somewhere in the middle. The fact that much of medieval England was recreated in Germany makes the location hunt even more interesting, because viewers expecting every scene to have been shot in Britain may be surprised by how effectively German landscapes can sell the illusion.
Bad Windsheim, Nuremberg, Lichtenau and the Munich-area countryside each contribute something different, from village life and fortified architecture to enormous rebel camps. It also shows how much period filmmaking depends on practical locations rather than CGI alone. For me, that makes these places almost as interesting as the finished movie itself: you can see where the illusion begins, and then wonder how many trucks, muddy boots and slightly exhausted crew members were required to make it work.
Fans' reactions to the filming locations have understandably varied. Some viewers are fascinated by the discovery that Germany supplied so much of the movie's medieval England, particularly because the finished landscapes are designed to feel distinctly British.
Others are more interested in visiting the historic buildings and rural settings themselves, turning the location hunt into a potential travel itinerary. There is also a natural curiosity around the locations that were not publicly disclosed while filming was underway. Keeping certain details private can help a large production avoid unnecessary disruption, especially when thousands of extras and complicated period scenes are involved.
For anyone hoping to follow in the footsteps of The Uprising, several of the identified locations are accessible destinations rather than mysterious movie sets hidden behind studio gates. Nuremberg and Bad Windsheim in particular offer plenty of historical atmosphere beyond their connection to the film, while Lichtenau provides another striking example of the architecture that helped the production create its medieval world. Studio-based scenes, of course, are a different matter, because a soundstage designed for filming is not quite the same as turning up with a camera and asking politely whether you can have a look around.
The Uprising's filming locations ultimately demonstrate just how much work went into making 14th-century Britain believable. Germany supplied the principal landscapes and historic environments, Munich provided the production infrastructure, Nuremberg delivered its medieval urban character, Bad Windsheim offered an authentic rural backdrop, Lichtenau brought fortress architecture, and parts of southeastern England helped complete the geographical illusion.
The locations may not all have been publicised during filming, but the places that have been identified give fans plenty to explore. Would you visit these locations after watching The Uprising, and which one would you most want to see in person? Tell us what you think and share your favourite location with other fans.