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She is one of the most successful authors of all time and still thrills us today with her exciting crime stories: Agatha Christie. Now one of her most famous works, MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS, has been remade with a top-class cast and will be released in cinemas on November 9th. We are giving away a total of three fan packages , each consisting of 1x book template, 1x poster and 2x film tickets . To enter the competition, all you have to do is answer the following question in the comment box below:
What was the actual goal of the Orient Express, but could not be achieved directly at the beginning?
Little tip: You can find the answer in our text feature “Follow the Orient Express” below.
The story
What begins as a luxurious train ride across Europe quickly turns into one of the most stylish, exciting and thrilling mysteries ever told. Based on the book by bestselling author Agatha Christie, MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS tells the story of thirteen strangers on a train, each of whom is a suspect. A man must race against time to solve the mystery before the killer strikes again. Kenneth Branagh directs and leads the top-class star ensemble, including Penelope Cruz, Willem Dafoe, Judi Dench, Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Daisy Ridley and Josh Gad.
Follow the Orient Express
For many people, a train journey is a means to an end to get from A to B, often associated with immense stress (train late, reservation invalid, compartments overcrowded, etc.). The world-famous Orient Express, on the other hand, was - at least initially - the exact opposite of normal train travel. The train, which was first used between Paris and Giurgiu on June 5, 1883, was originally a luxury train consisting only of sleeping and dining cars.
From 1890 onwards, the Orient Express or the Simplon Orient Express (named after the newly opened Simplon Tunnel in Switzerland) headed to numerous metropolises and transported (often well-heeled) travelers from one cultural stronghold to the next in a luxurious manner. At the start of the film MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS on November 9th, we will introduce some of the places visited on the Orient Express route in more detail.
Paris
The original Orient Express began its journey in the city of love, the picturesque French capital Paris. The train had made its maiden voyage months earlier, but the luxury train was introduced to the general public on October 4, 1883 at the Gare de l'Est station in Paris in the presence of numerous onlookers and several invited celebrities from all parts of society. The first return trip on the original route in less than two weeks caused rave reviews from the press. The legend was born and expanded with the Simplon Orient Express, which quickly became the most important connection between the cosmopolitan cities of Paris and Istanbul.
Vienna
Vienna was also part of the Orient Express route network. As early as 1885 it was possible to reach Istanbul from or via Vienna. There was also a connection across the German south, so that you could travel via the Orient Express from, for example, Munich to the Austrian cultural stronghold, and later even to Budapest, among others. A trip to Vienna was also attractive at that time, as the city of millions had a lot to offer as a stronghold of classical music, theater and opera as well as the fine arts. Vienna also holds a special position because the CIWL introduced the Suisse-Arlberg-Vienne-Express, a route introduced in the mid-1920s that only connected a limited area.
Budapest
Hungary's capital was part of the main route of the Orient Express very early on. From 1890, the luxury train ran continuously from Paris via Vienna and Budapest, alternately via Sofia to Constantinople and via Bucharest to Constanța. As early as 1884, Budapest was the starting point for a trip to Niš in Serbia, and from 1888 onwards via Budapest, Belgrade and Sofia to a temporary train station in Constantinople. Budapest has always been an extremely important hub for the Orient Express and was a kind of connection between East and West. But the beautiful city on the Danube was and is also suitable as a travel destination.
Istanbul
The former Constantinople, known since 1930 under the name Istanbul, which is still valid today, was the destination of the Orient Express, but at the very beginning it could not be reached directly. In order to get to the distant metropolis, you had to travel to Romania to the start of the luxury train and then continue from there by ferry to Constantinople. From 1888 onwards you could at least go to a temporary train station in the huge Turkish city, and from 1890 onwards to the newly built Müşir Ahmet Paşa station. Within just seven years, the construction work significantly reduced the travel time to Constantinople. By the way: The Simplon-Orient Express, which was snowed in at the end of the 1920s about 80 km from Istanbul, inspired Agatha Christie to write her novel “Murder on the Orient Express”. It has come full circle.
Win one of three great fan packages for the theatrical release of MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS!
