Grenzland-Lichtspiele in Ebersbach in Sachsen / Germany

 

This cinema opened in 1936 in Ebersbach - and it's still open!

Grenzland-Lichtspiele means Borderland Cinema and goes to its situation on the border with the Czech Republic, just across from the Czech town of Jiříkov. Another cinema Grenzland-Lichtspiele opened in 1919 in the town Neustadt in Sachsen, about 35 km away (and also still shows movies). Perhaps they have more in common than their proximity to the Czech border.

Later the cinema had the names Schauburg and Filmtheater.

The cinema in Ebersbach (since 2011 Ebersbach-Neugersdorf) has worked since 2008. Then it had to close because it needed renovations. But the owner didn't have the money. After careful consideration, the city bought the cinema and had it renovated. The prerequisite for this step was that the cinema would be operated as a non-profit afterward.

Fifteen film and culture enthusiasts came together and have been running the cinema since 2011. With a lot of enthusiasm and support, good films are shown here several evenings a week at Filmtheater Ebersbach.

The postcard was sent in 1943. On the roof you can see advertising for a hotel in the same building. Unfortunately, you can't read the film posters.

Dózsa Filmszínház in Dunaújváros / Hungary

 

The cinema Dózsa Filmszínház is the building on the left of the postcard. On the back of this postcard it says "Üdvözlet Sztálinvárosból = Greetings from Stalin City".

Sztálinvárosból (Stalin City) was the name of the city Dunaújváros from 1951 till 1955. The construction of this new industrial city in Middle Hungary started in 1949 with building a big metal industry complex. Houses, roads, administrative buildings, schools, hospitals and cultural facilities were built for the approximately 28,000 new residents. There are several public statues and reliefs in the town, which represent the allegoric union of workers, peasants and intellectuals, surrounded by traditional folk motifs. Thanks to the inspiration of Bauhaus the buildings and monuments of this era (1949–56), like the forge, the cinema, the theatre, the hospital and the city's schools where characterized by a structural functionalism, but the ideological function resulted in classicist decorations, like columns, tympanums and arcades, because of which the informal name of the style became 'Stalin's Baroque'.

The Dózsa Cinema was designed by György Szrogh (1915-1999). The Hungary's most modern cinema palace at this time was opened on December 20, 1951 with the 1942 Soviet film Оборона Царицына / The Defense of Tsaritsyn. 

The cinema named after György Dózsa (1470-1514). He was the leader of the 1514 peasant revolt and is still revered as a Hungarian national hero today. The cinema is called now Kultik Dunaújváros (at Dózsa György Place) and has two screens. It was declared a protected monument on April 13, 2004, and its surroundings were declared a protected monument area. 

Two other cinemas opened in the city in 1951: the Szabadság Cinema in Dunapentel on February 21 and the Vasmű Open-Air Cinema on August 17. The Dózsa Cinema still welcomes its audiences today, in keeping with its original function and the technical requirements of the time.