Le Paradis in Douala / Cameroon

 

"Le Palais de Justice - Cinéma: Le Paradis"

Douala was the capital of Cameroon until 1920.

The building is in the middle of the picture is the Palace of King Bell, known as La Pagode. It was constructed in 1905 by the Germans for King Auguste Manga Ndumbe (King Bell). 

From around 1920 until recent times, the building served as a residence for various other representatives of the Bell royal dynasty, and other areas were rented out, for example to the Sangha Oubangui Company and later to the Western Naval Company.  The rooms behind it housed Douala's first cinema, Le Paradis, before it was renovated in 1995 by the architect Danièle Diwouta-Kotto to create the doual'art art association on the initiative of Didier Schaub and Marilyn Douala Bell, another member of the Bell royal family.

I don't know much about this cinema. The postcard was sent in 1951. And itsn't easy to say where the cinema is on the picture...

Here you can read something about cinemas in Cameroon.