1949–1960: After the Founding of the Two German States
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Filmbühne Wien (formerly: U.T.; Ufa-Lichtspiele), Kurfürstendamm 26 (Charlottenburg/West Berlin), 1949
Photo: Wimmer, source: Deutsche Kinemathek -
Filmbühne Wien (formerly: U.T.; Ufa-Lichtspiele), Kurfürstendamm 26 (Charlottenburg/West Berlin), 1949
Source: Deutsche Kinemathek -
Astor, Kurfürstendamm 217 (Charlottenburg/West Berlin), 1949
© Schubert, Berlin, source: Deutsche Kinemathek -
Bonbonniere, Kurfürstendamm 68 (Charlottenburg/West Berlin), 1950. The small movie theater Bonbonniere (later the Hollywood) opened in 1949 in the former box office of the destroyed Alhambra (Emelka-Palast).
Source: Deutsche Kinemathek -
Babylon, Liebknechtstraße 30 (Mitte/East Berlin), now Rosa-Luxemburg-Straße 30, 1950
Source: Deutsche Kinemathek -
Marmorhaus, Kurfürstendamm 236 (Charlottenburg/West Berlin). In 1951 the Marmorhaus advertised Vittorio de Sica’s ‘Ladri di Biciclette’ (‘The Bicycle Thief’) with bicyclists who rode through the city.
Source: Deutsche Kinemathek -
Capitol, Kurfürstendamm 153 (Wilmersdorf/West Berlin), 1952. The Capitol opened in 1946 in a scaled-down hall of the severely damaged Universum building. It was first used as a venue for the Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale) in 1952.
Source: Deutsche Kinemathek -
Colosseum, Wiener Straße 1–6 (Kreuzberg), 1950s
Source: Deutsche Kinemathek -
Alhambra, Seestraße 94 (Wedding/West Berlin), 1950s. The movie theater, destroyed during the war, was not rebuilt until 1953. It included a tiled façade in the style of the time.
Source: Deutsche Kinemathek -
Alhambra, Seestraße 94 (Wedding/West Berlin), 1950s
Source: Deutsche Kinemathek -
Die Kurbel, Giesebrechtstraße 4 (Charlottenburg/West Berlin). In the 1950s Die Kurbel showed classics such as ‘Gone with the Wind’ (USA, 1939, directed by Victor Fleming), a film that audiences kept in the program for years through sold-out screenings.
Source: Deutsche Kinemathek -
Astor, Kurfürstendamm 217 (Charlottenburg/West Berlin). In 1953 the Astor screened ‘Eine Königin wird gekrönt’ (‘A Queen is Crowned’) ‒ a visual reportage of Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation ceremony, which had taken place only a few days before.
Source: Deutsche Kinemathek -
Gloria-Palast, Kurfürstendamm 10 (Charlottenburg/West Berlin). In 1953 the Gloria-Palast reopened its doors in a new, modern building.
© Deutsche Kinemathek – Mario Mach -
Filmbühne Wien (formerly U.T., Ufa-Lichtspiele), Kurfürstendamm 26 (Charlottenburg/West Berlin), 1955. As of 1953 the Filmbühne Wien featured Berlin’s first Cinemascope screen. Until the turn of the millennium, the building’s historical façade largely disappeared behind lights and poster advertising.
© Deutsche Kinemathek – Heinz Köster -
Cinema Paris, Kurfürstendamm 211 (Charlottenburg/West Berlin), 1956‒57. In 1950 the Allies opened a movie theater with a French focus at the newly built Maison de France.
Photo: Harry Croner, source: Deutsche Kinemathek -
Corso, Behmstraße 7–9 (Wedding/West Berlin), 1956. Corso (built in 1929 as the Lichtburg in the Gartenstadt Atlantic development) was used as a “border cinema” in the postwar period. During the Berlinale discounted film screenings were also shown here for East Berliners.
Source: Deutsche Kinemathek -
MGM, Kurfürstendamm 197–198 (Charlottenburg/West Berlin), 1956. As of the mid-1950s MGM (Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer) wanted to expand its European market with its own film theaters. This theater had to close in 1977.
Source: Deutsche Kinemathek -
Zoo-Palast, Hardenbergstraße 29a–e (Charlottenburg/West Berlin). On April 16, 1957 Helmut Käutner’s ‘Zürcher Verlobung’ opened the new building on the site of the Ufa-Palast am Zoo, which had been destroyed in the war.
Source: Deutsche Kinemathek -
Zoo-Palast, Hardenbergstraße 29 a–e (Charlottenburg/West Berlin), 1957
Source: Deutsche Kinemathek -
Zoo-Palast, Hardenbergstraße 29a–e (Charlottenburg/West Berlin), 1957. Beginning in 1957 the awards ceremony of the Berlin International Film Festival was held in the newly opened Zoo-Palast, and this cinema became the middle point of the Berlinale.
© Deutsche Kinemathek – Heinz Köster -
Atelier am Zoo, Hardenbergstraße 29a–e (Charlottenburg/West Berlin), 1957. Located beneath the main auditorium in the Zoo-Palast, the Atelier am Zoo had its own entrance on the side of the building.
Photo: E. und H. Fischer, source: Deutsche Kinemathek -
Atelier am Zoo, Hardenbergstraße 29 a–e (Charlottenburg/Westberlin), 1957
Source: Deutsche Kinemathek -
Die Waldbühne has been used as an open-air movie theater since the 1950s, also as part of the Berlinale (photo: 1960).
Source: Deutsche Kinemathek
