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!