Schillergarten-Lichtspiele in Dresden / Germany

 

Schillergarten-Lichtspiele in Dresden

The unwritten and unsent postcard is from the 1920s. You cannot see the cinema itself, only the entrance at the right and the advertising display cases behind the entrance. The cinema opened in 1911 and was known as Schillergarten-Lichtspiele from 1920 onwards.

I like this postcard because it still looks the same there 100 years later. 

Here my photos from May 2026, and the chestnut trees were blooming again.

The entrance with the cinema building at the back

The Blue Wonder-Bridge at the left, the Elbe river, Loschwitz with the 

funicular railway and the suspension railway on the other side of the Elbe

 

A passenger ship is passing by. Steamships like the one on the postcard are still operating.

And the cinema building itself

Since 1911, the cinema has been located in a former ice cellar of the Schillergarten restaurant.  It existed until the 1970s. Then the building became a lost place.

The Schillergarten was renovated and reopened in 1994—without a cinema. It is now a listed monument. Since 2004 in the former cinema building (in the former ice cellar), food and drinks are served for the open-air restaurant.

Ausstellungs-Kinematograph in München / Germany

This well-preserved postcard dates from 1908.

To celebrate the city's 750th anniversary, an arts and crafts, industry, trade, and commerce exhibition entitled "München 1908" was opened in May 1908 at the newly built exhibition grounds on Theresienhöhe. 

It attracted around 3 million visitors – thanks to modern public relations efforts that included postcards.

The exhibition ran until October 1908, the cinema was used during the summer months until 1914. The building was constructed using timber framing, for a period of about 5 years and for 400 people. The cinema was built by the architect Otho Orlando Kurz (1881-1933). It was the first freestanding building built solely for film screenings in Munich, and possibly in all of Germany. And it was the second biggest cinema at this time in Munich. 

Next to it there was also a shadow play theatre and a puppet theatre.

The cinema was run by Wilhelm Sensburg, a German cinema pioneer. It was common practice for cinema owners to make short films about daily attractions and sights themselves and show them to the public as soon as possible.

I found some good information about this cinema in the book "Für ein Zehnerl ins Paradies. Münchner Kinogeschichte 1896 bis 1945".

Mozi in Ják / Hungary

The Hungarian village Ják is known for its late Romanesque St. George's Church - which you can see in the center of the postcard.

On the left of the postcard, you can see the cinema (hungarian: mozi). It's not as famous as the church. That's why I couldn't find anything about it online.

At second glance, the postcard is an interesting contemporary document. The photographer could have simply shown the church. Including the children on bicycles, the cinema, and also the traffic sign indicating the school in the image, the present is depicted and brought to the forefront: It is a modern time with education and culture for everyone and everywhere.

Rodina in Burgas / Bulgaria

In 1958, a five-story complex with public and individual use was designed by the architect Petr-Asen Mirinchev. It housed the cinema Rodina (Homeland), the restaurant Cherno More (Black Sea), the coffee shop Beryozka (Birch tree) and apartments.

The cinema had 780 seats in a well soundproofed hall and two large lobbies.  After 1991, this cinema was converted into a shopping center.

Here you can learn more about cinemas in Burgas.

Gartenbaukino in Vienna / Austria

The Gartenbaukino in Vienna is a unique cinema in the city. Refounded in 1960, it exudes the grandeur and self-confidence of a classic premiere cinema. With its impressive large screen and 736 seats, it is the last remaining large cinema with only one screen in Vienna's city center.

The cinema regularly uses postcards to draw attention to itself.

Here is a series of 6 postcards:

Gartenbaukino, 2011, Photo by Stefan Oláh

Tiled wall in the upper foyer, 2021, photo by Rainer Dempf

Lower foyer, about 1960

Room, 2011, photo by Stefan Oláh

Room, 1961, photo by Lucca Chmel

Upper foyer, about 1961

A postcard to support the Gartenbaukino

The cinema opened on October 19, 1919, under the management of Ludwig Domansky, with the film "Columbus Discovers America." 

The name "Gartenbaukino" is dereived from the "k.u.k. Gartenbau-Gesellschaft" - the Imperial and Royal Horticultural Society. The cinema was established in its former exhibition hall with 639 seats..

To this day, the Österreichische Gartenbau-Gesellschaft  (Austrian Horticultural Society)  owns the cinema. 

Prince Charles Cinema in London / United Kingdom

 

The Prince Charles Cinema is not an average movie theater. It's one of the most famous movie theaters in UK.

The building was built by Richard Costain Limited for Alfred Esdaile and designed by Carl Fisher and Associates, originally functioned as a theatre. Later it was reinvented as a kind of soft porn cinema, and began showing European arthouse movies. By the 1980s it also showed horror films. 

The Prince Charles was taken over by Robins Cinemas in April 1991, and became largely a repertory cinema. It shows a rotating programme of cult, arthouse, and classic films on two screens (300 and 104 seats). It also regularly hosts a sing-a-long version of The Sound of Music, as well as The Rocky Horror Picture Show and The Room. The cinema has achieved a cult status amongst moviegoers and filmmakers.

The postcard is a work by Daniel Battams. In 2023, the cinema was threatened with closure, the artist supported with a new print the PCC.

The canopy above the cinema is not only used for regular advertising for films, also for sports and cult film quotes or other current messages. For instance in 2023 the cinema announced that it had no intention of changing its name after the coronation of Prince Charles.

BBB in Berlin-Kreuzberg / Germany

I found this postcard at the Stadtmuseum in Berlin in autumn 2025. It was an advertising card for the exhibition Berliner Höfe / Berlin Backyards. The photo was made by Ludwig Binder about 1976.

The cinema opened in 1911, and it was very badly damaged in the war. The building was reopened on February 11, 1955, according to the plans of architect Pierre de Born and named in reference to the pre-war cabaret "Berlins Bunte Bühne - BBB". It was no ordinary cinema - in front of the 14-meter-wide Cinemascope screen sprayed the world's largest water organ. And live performances could take place on a 200-m²-stage. But the era of big movie screenings was soon over.

From at least 1975 onwards, films in Turkish were shown here for Turkish-speaking cinema-goers. ATA FILM with Dr. Sakir V. Sözen operated this cinema until its demolition in 1977. 

Franklin Theatre in Franklin, Tennessee / USA

 

I got this postcard via Postcrossing from Whitney. Isn't it a heartwarming postcard?

The Franklin Theatre opened in Franklin near Nashville in 1937. First shown film was The Night Must Fall starring Robert Montgomery and Rosalind Russell.

Over the years, the cinema became an important place for the residents of Franklin, filled with cultural experiences and personal memories. That is, until 2007, when the theater had to close due to high costs and low revenue.

Already in 2008, the Heritage Foundation of Franklin and Williamson County launched the Save the Franklin Theatre campaign and begins fundraising and planning to restore the historic landmark. In 2013, the Franklin Theatre reopened its doors and offers different cultural events, among them of corse films. 

The postcard was created by Andy Gregg and Joel Anderson from the Anderson Design Group in 2011 in honor of this special building.

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.