Union-Theater in Fürstenwalde / Germany

It's always a surprise when I find a nice old cinema postcard and find out that the cinema is still being used. The cinema Union-Theater in Fürstenwalde (50 km away from Berlin) opened on December 18th, 1909. Then it had 400 places (I counted about 180 seats on the picture). Today, the cinema Filmtheater Union has 150 seats.

The postcard was sent in 1911 - 111 years ago. Another surprise - the cinema is mentioned on the back.

The Rietsch family wrote to Mr Lepke in Parchim (in German handwriting Kurrent): 

"Zur Erinnerung an den Kinntopp sende (ich) Ihnen die besten Grüße vom ganzen Personal. Jetzt bin ich dabei aus dem alten Kintopp eine Wohnung zu machen. Da gibt es viel Arbeit, Schmutz und Geldausgaben, Mit Gruß, Familie Rietsch"

"As a reminder of the Kinntopp, I send you the best greetings from the whole staff. Now I'm making an apartment out of the old Kintopp. There's a lot of work, dirt and money to be spent. Best regards, the Rietsch family."

Kintopp is a slang term for a cinema in the 1910s, especially in the Berlin area.

Emil Rietsch was the owner of the cinema until spring 1912. The new owner Otto Gerlach had later at all three cinemas in Fürstenwalde. I don't know what Rietsch wrote about converting the old cinema into an apartment.

He was also the owner of the first cinema in Perleberg, the cinema Union Theater. It has been in use since 1912, today Moviestarkino Perleberg.

Osterburg-Theater in Weida / Germany

The castle Osterburg is located in the Thuringian Vogtland. It lies prominently above the river Weida and the town of the same name. And is worth visiting.

The cinema Osterburg-Theater was built in 1928 in the New Building style. Bauobersekretär Otto Becker from Weida was the architect. It had more than 800 seats. It was also equipped with a stage, stage building, fly loft and orchestra pit for a variety of uses like films, stage shows, variety shows, theater and concerts. 

The postcard was sent in 1950 from Weida to Görlitz. Unfortunately, no publisher or artist is noted on it. It is still in very good quality today. Especially the strong paper is striking. I think the postcard was printed as early as around 1930.

When taking a tour of the old center of Weida, you will notice that the cinema is one of the few buildings there built after 1918.

In 1977/78 there was a comprehensive renovation, among this the installation of a Visionsbar (vision bar). The vision bar was a speciality in East German cinemas. In the 1970s, parts of the cinema hall were partitioned off with a pane of glass and fitted with armchairs and tables. You could eat and drink during the cinema performance. So really a mixture of cinema (vision) and bar.

Films were shown in the Osterburg-Theater until 1993. 

A Pentacon film projector, which was used until 1993, stands in front of the former cinema.

In 2003 the building was transformed into a community center, a modern cultural meeting place. 

A modern postcard shows the former cinema, now the community center Bürgerhaus top left. The photos was taken and the postcard was made by Silva Görner.

Für meine Freundin Astrid aus Weida!

Wünschendorf with the former cinema Lichtspiele der Freundschaft is 5 km away. But there isn't any cinema building now.

Oktyabr in Moscow / Russia

The cinema Oktyabr (October) on Novy Arbat opened in 1967 to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the October Revolution. 

It was a purpose-built twin screen cinema, with 2.450 seats in the big hall and 442 seats in the small basement cinema. The main auditorium was equipped with Stereo 70 projection. Michail Posokhin, Ashot Mndoyants, Yuri Popov, A. Zhbakov, V. Turchinovich, G. Umnov were the architects. 

Cinema's facade is decorated with a mosaic panel made of natural stone, dedicated to the theme of the October Revolution (artists N. Andronov, A. Vasnetsov, V. Elkonin and L. Syrkin). This panel has the status of an object of cultural heritage of regional significance

In the interior of the cinema there is a stained-glass window made by the Lithuanian artist Algimantas Stoshkus based on his other work Song of Life. 

In 2005 the cinema was converted into a 11-screen multiplex with 1.518 seats in the biggest hall.

Today it is operated by the Karo chain of cinemas and is one of the host cinemas of the Moscow Film Festival. 

The postcard was published by APN - the Soviet Press agency and was sent in 1969. I don't know why it has this color.

Filmtheater in Lübtheen / Germany

Lübtheen is a village near Hamburg. Today it has about 4.600 inhabitants and no cinema.

The postcard was published in 1979.

I couldn't find much information about the cinema on the postcard. allekinos.com writes, the cinema was opened on June 15th, 1919 and closed about 1990. There weren't shown movies every day. It seems the hall belonged to the restaurant Deutsches Haus at the right.