Panorama in Berlin-Britz / Germany

 

The Panorama Filmtheater was built in 1958/1959 in Berlin-Britz, planned by the architect Gerhard Fritsche. From 1951 to 1961 he was involved in 17 cinema projects, above all in West-Berlin.

The free-standing building had a futuristic shape, the outer wall caught the eye with its bluish-white block stripes. At that time there was a row of shops in this cinema building.

The cinema had 893 seats with high-upholstered armchairs from Schröder & Henzelmann. With a Zeiss Ikon and Ernemann X projection apparatus and Zeiss Ikon amplifiers and loudspeakers, widescreen films could be shown in 1:2.35 and 1:2.55 in CinemaScope with one-channel optical sound and four-channel magnetic sound. 

In 1980 the cinema was closed and a supermarket opened and is still in use. The building is a listed monument.

The photo was taken in 1961/62, the postcard was sent in 1968. The cinema advertises the movie Die Irrfahrten des Herkules / Goliath contro i giganti / Goliath against the Giants (Italy / Spain 1961, directed by Guido Malatesta. The movie came to West German cinemas on December 8, 1961. The German version was 8 minutes shorter than the original and the hero's name was Hercules and not Goliath.

Kinema in Köln / Germany

I bought this 1914 printed postcard, because I am interested also in naming the cinema and cinemas. The word Kinema for a cinema was used only in Cologne and area. Cinemas with the name Kinema were in Cologne, Düren, Remscheid and Velbert between 1908-1914. The word kinema has survived to this day in the Cologne dialect.

The Pariser Kinema in Cologne was opened in 1908. The French production and distribution company Léon Gaumont was a silent partner in this cinema. The cinema owed its name and program to this business connection. With the beginning of the war in August 1914, the cinema was renamed Germania.

Names tell history.

In the last carnival season before the war, the enthusiasm of the people of Cologne for the cinema even became the subject of a car on the Shrove Monday procession. It was themed "Theatre - Then and Now" and showed a theatre with empty tiers while people crowded in front of a cinema next door.

And the people of Cologne loved a song with the refrain "Frau Flöck die sitz em Kinema" (Lyrics by Alfred Neuwald, music by Emil Neumann, Kapellmeister am Reichshallen-Theater in Köln).

The song tells of Mrs. Flöck, who sits in the cinema all day and neglects her duties as a housewife. So her husband gets divorced.

The postcard was printed in 1914. The picture was drawn by E. Aege. The cinema is advertising two films "Der Mord / The Murder" and - very remarkable - "Die Träne. Kriegsdrama in zwei Akten / The Tear. War Drama in two acts". Maybe more people should have gone to the movies and kept their eyes and minds open ...

Postcards tell history.

Kölle alaaf - forever!

Kino Moskva in Piešťany / Slovakia

Piešťany is a town in Western Slovakia. It is the biggest and best known spa town in Slovakia and has around 28,000 inhabitants. And a cinema, too.

The Kino Fontána (Cinema Fontaine) started showing films on December 1, 1951. Then under the name Kino Moskva. In 1958, the cinema hall was rebuilt and panoramic films could shown. Because of the popularity of the spa, a large number of visitors came to the cinema in socialist times. Some films even premiered in Piešťany. 

A natural cinema extension was built in 1959. This area was put back into service in the summer of 2020. It has now a capacity of 1,000 seats and it is also equipped to host concerts and performances by musical groups and soloists.

The cinema has today a capacity of the fixed auditorium of 262 seats. With additional retractable side and rear seats, the capacity can be increased to a maximum of 386 seats.

The postcard was sent in 1963.