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 thish 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.