The "Valkyrie" starring Tom Cruise as Germany's most famous anti-Hitler plotter Stauffenberg began shooting in a forest outside Berlin, media reported Friday.
The German government said it was letting filmmakers shoot anywhere they requested, except the former German general staff headquarters.
The so-called Bendler Block, where Col. Claus Graf Schenk von Stauffenberg was executed by firing squad 63 years ago Saturday, was off-limits, said government spokesman Torsten Albig, citing "the dignity of the place."
The government's refusal to permit filming where Stauffenberg worked and died led to controversy about whether the 45-year-old actor's religious beliefs had triggered the decision.
Cruise is one of Scientology's best-known members. The German government considers Scientology a commercial enterprise that takes advantage of vulnerable people, and some critics maintain that one of its adherents shouldn't be playing one of the Nazi-era's few heroes.
Albig said the decision not to allow filming at the Bendler Block, now a memorial for Third Reich resistance fighters, had nothing to do with Cruise's religion.
"We granted all permissions but the one, for the Bendler Block -- because the dignity of this place should not be violated," Albig said Thursday. "These circumstances show that the religious beliefs of the actor are without relevance."
Source: Xinhua/agencies
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