Money Heist Berlin: Is The Vienot Auction House a Real Place in Paris?

Netflix’s ‘Berlin’ brings back one of the most beloved psychopaths from the world of ‘Money Heist.’ Though Berlin died in the first season of the show, a lot of his story still remains to be told. There is so much of his life before the events at the Royal Mint of Spain that are in the shadows, and with the new series centered on him, the viewers get a peek inside a different life for him as he tries to mount a heist on the Vienot Auction House in Paris. Considering that the Royal Mint of Spain is a very real place, could it be that the Netflix series uses yet another real-life location to create the fictional plot?

The Vienot Auction House in Paris is a Nod to the French Artist

The Vienot Auction House in ‘Berlin’ is not a real place. It is a fictional location created solely to serve the purpose of the plot. It is most likely named after the well-known French painter Édouard Viénot. Born in 1804, he was known for painting portraits of some very famous people of his time, which includes names like Emperor Pedro II of Brazil and Marie Duplessis among others. He died in 1884 with several great works to his name.

Considering that Berlin in the Netflix series is a connoisseur of art, it would make sense for him to target an auction house where rare jewels from all parts of the world are put on display. The show’s creator could have gone for cliched choices like the Louvre, but perhaps it would have overcomplicated things, or maybe it would have been a little too much from a production point of view. Above all, it would have been too common and expected a choice for someone like Berlin, who likes to think differently and take a chance on the places that would generally be considered odd or unexpected choices by others.

The Vienot Auction House is perfect for Berlin because it presents quite a challenge. The jewels that it is supposed to safeguard are not there most of the time. In fact, they only come around when they are to be displayed, and they never arrive all at once. They come over the course of several days from different parts of the world. It is only when the last one has arrived that the auction house opens them for display. This leaves a rather small window for someone to steal them, which is what adds to the challenge and excitement.

Considering that the audience has already seen massive heists like the ones carried out by the Professor and his team in ‘Money Heist,’ it would make sense for the creators of ‘Berlin’ to scale it down to something like the auction house that might not be as ambitious but is still worthy of Berlin’s attention. It also falls in line with the fact that before he agreed to take over the Royal Mint of Spain with the Professor and their crew, he had not engaged in something quite as massive, something he knew he wouldn’t come out of alive. For most of his life, he’d stuck to less ambitious but highly rewarding places that had a quick in-and-out kind of thing. With all this in mind, the Vienot Auction House appears to be the perfect choice when telling the story of Berlin from a different perspective.