Lichtburg ("fortress of light" or "light castle") has been a popular name for cinemas in Germany. Those in Berlin, Essen and Düsseldorf have been particularly famous; the Lichtburg in Oberhausen is the site of the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, and Quernheim is the smallest municipality in Germany with a cinema, also called Lichtburg.
Düsseldorf The Düsseldorf Lichtburg opened on 5 November 1910 as the "Lichtspiele Königsallee" (Königsallee Moving Pictures, for the name of the street).Lichtburg, Düsseldorf (Nordrhein-Westfalen), Königsallee 38–40, allekinos.com, retrieved 3 April 2011 It was designed by Oskar Rosendahl, a local architect who the following year published an influential article in Der Kinomatograph in which he laid out guidelines for cinema design such as an inviting foyer with cloakrooms through which the public would be drawn rapidly into the auditorium, an equally good view from all seats, achieved by a raked floor and a screen raised at least 2.5 metres off the floor, and toilets within easy reach to minimise disturbances.Joachim Steffen, Jens Thiele and Bernd Poch (eds.), Spurensuche: Film und Kino in der Region. Dokumentation der 1. Expertentagung zu Fragen Regionaler Filmforschung und Kinokultur in Oldenburg, Oldenburg: Bibliotheks- und Informationssystem der Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, 1993, , p. 122 "Das Kinematographentheater der Neuzeit, sein Bau und seine architektonische Entwicklung", Der Kinematograph 8 March 1911; summarised by Daniel Fritsch, Georg Simmel im Kino: die Soziologie des frühen Films und das Abenteuer der Moderne, Bielefeld: transcript, 2009, , pp. 55–58
The cinema was renamed the Union in 1915, the Titania in 1928, the U.T. (Union Theater) Königsallee in 1931, and finally the Lichtburg, also in 1931. Throughout its years as a cinema, the façade retained a stone archway over the doorway and a group of small windows above. The semicircular canopy bore the name Lichtburg in large letters, changing position and script slightly over the years.Die Lichtburg in den 20iger & 30iger Jahren, Lichtburg Düsseldorf with historic photographs; retrieved 3 April 2011. The neon letters came to embody the cinema. Immediately after World War II, it was an AKC cinema for American and British occupying forces, with only limited access for locals.Die Lichtburg in den 50iger Jahren, Lichtburg Düsseldorf ; retrieved 3 April 2011. It originally had a balcony and a total of 1,000 seats, but in the 1970s was tripled into Lichtburg 1, Lichtburg 2, and Studio Lichtburg.Die Säle der Lichtburg, Lichtburg Düsseldorf with photographs; retrieved 3 April 2011. These were renovated in the 1990s to seat 205, 176 and 112 respectively.
It closed on 29 December 2004 despite a petition with 15,000 signatures."Lichtburg: Nur Erinnerungen bleiben", Düsseldorf Magazin-Info, retrieved 2 April 2011, at the Wayback Machine, 17 November 2010 "Düsseldorf war einmal eine Kinometropole", RP Online, 20 August 2003, Bild 5: "Die Lichtburg macht auch bald zu" [The Lichtburg is also closing, too.] On 4 February 2004, the façade had been awarded protected status as an architectural landmark by the City of Düsseldorf.Denkmalschutz!?, Lichtburg Düsseldorf , retrieved 2 April 2011.Königsallee 40 – ehemalige Lichtburg, Denkmalliste, Institut für Denkmalschutz und Denkmalpflege, Denkmalbehörde, Landeshauptstadt Düsseldorf A commemorative plaque was placed in the pavement in front of its former location.Anna Busch, "Düsseldorf nimmt Abschied", WZ Newsline, Westdeutsche Zeitung 3 January 2011 The Lichtburg Studio Theater, a cellar arthouse cinema opened in 2005, revived the nameLichtburg Studio Theater, Biograph: Kino in Düsseldorf und Neuss, 2009, retrieved 2 April 2011 Rolf Hosfeld, Düsseldorf Kulturverführer, Hamburg: Metz, 2005, , p.71 but was itself forced to close in 2009.Uwe-Jens Ruhnau, "Königsallee: Die Lichtburg war ein Stück Kö", WZ Newsline, Westdeutsche Zeitung 14 November 2008
Essen
The Lichtburg in Essen was built as a result of the city general plan of 1924, which included the redevelopment of the Burgplatz in the city centre by Die Burgplatz-Bau AG, a consortium of city government and private investors, to include a large new cinema within an office building, in order to give the city centre "urban flair".Film-Dienst volume 61, issues 21–26: "Mit dem am 18. Oktober 1928 eröffneten Haus wollte der rasant wachsende Industriestandort Essen seinem Stadtkern urbanes Flair verleihen" The exterior was designed by municipal planner Ernst Bode in a stark New Objectivist style without surface adornment; the interior by the local company of Heydkamp und based on designs by the city architect, Lothar Kaminski.Lars Büttner, 'Lichtburg', Architektur Ruhr The building had a 20-metre dome, at the time the largest in a German theatre., p. 15 . It had 2,000 upholstered seats with an electrical system which sent a message to the cashier when the seat was occupied, and a 150,000 Reichsmark Wurlitzer organ, at the time the largest in any European cinema,Film-Dienst: "Man lauschte der in der damaligen Stummfilmzeit größten Wurlitzer-Orgel Europas". with sound effects including traffic noise and thunder. The 30-person orchestra was drawn in part from the Gürzenich Orchestra. The cinema opened on 18 October 1928: evening dress was requested from those attending the multi-part gala, which included a concert performance and a ballet by a Parisian troupe from the Folies Bergère before the featured film, Marquis d'Eon, der Spion der Pompadour."Die Kinosaurier: Historische Filmtheater", Einestages, Der Spiegel 14 October 2008, and Picture 8
Under the Third Reich, the Lichtburg's operator, Karl Wolffsohn, a Berlin publisher and entrepreneur, was forced as a Jew to sell it in 1933/34 for a tenth of its value to Universum Film AG (UfA). and the commemorative plaque on the building, reproduced on p. 66 and shown in a photo on Wikimedia Commons] He and his family fled to Palestine in 1939 and he did not live to see the end of his lawsuit for recompense. In 2006 a memorial plaque was placed on the building; Wolffsohn's nephew, the historian Michael Wolffsohn, was present at the unveiling"Gedenktafel erinnert an Karl Wolffsohn", Press announcement, City of Essen, 24 January 2006 and heads the Berlin Lichtburg-Stiftung (Lichtburg Foundation), among whose projects is a German-Turkish-Jewish cultural centre.
During World War II, the building was almost completely destroyed by Allied bombing in 1943. The auditorium was completely destroyed by fire, but the walls remained standing.
Responding to a newspaper advertisement placed by the city of Essen, Heinrich Jaeck and Erich Menz, who had run several cinemas in the city, became the new operators almost two years after the war. In 1948–50, the cinema was rebuilt in contemporary style, with approximately 1,700 seats. It reopened on 23 March 1950;, p. 115 the mayor, , gave a speech and Gustav Heinemann, later to be President of the Republic, and Willi Forst, the director of the featured film, Wiener Mädeln, were both present.
In the 1950s, the Lichtburg in Essen was the foremost cinema for film premières in Germany. Its importance declined with the increasing popularity of television and increasing economic hardship in the Ruhr region. However, unlike most cinemas in Essen, it survived as a result of its size and stage facilities. In 1991 the German cinema chain CinemaxX opened the largest multiplex in Germany nearby. The building was in need of renovations and in 1994 it was suggested it should instead be demolished and the central site used in some other way. In 1998 the Essener Filmkunsttheater GmbH (Essen Cinema Art Theatre) acquired the building and it received landmark protection.On 17 December 1998: Kettwiger Str. 036 / I. Delbrügge 06, City of Essen Landmarks listing (listing Bucerius as the architect) After advocacy by cultural and political figures including Wim Wenders, Wolfgang Niedecken und Gerhard Schröder, the city council passed a resolution in 2000 to retain it as a cinema.Kino Lichtburg Essen, Spielstätten, Ruhr Triennale 2008 ; retrieved 4 April 2011. It was decided to relocate a folk high school and investors were found. The building was comprehensively rebuilt to historic building standards in 1950s style in a 7 million Euro project. The tea room became the film bar and the 1970s Atelier-Theater became the Blue Salon. The college building was designed by Hartmut Miksch and Wolfgang Rücker. The college now uses most of the office space in the Lichtburg building itself. The cinema reopened on 16 March 2003 and now has modern sound and video equipment and is once again the site of many premières."Ruhr 2010: Auf Stahl gebaut", Manager magazin 23 February 2010
The main auditorium seats 1,250 and is still the largest cinema auditorium in Germany.Markus von Scheele, "Seele kostet extra", Der Spiegel 8 October 2007, (pdf) with pictures of Cinemaxx and of Lichtburg interior. The stage behind the screen enables the space to also be used for theatrical and cabaret performances. The small secondary auditorium below ground level seats 150 and is named for the Indian-American actor Sabu.
Berlin
The Lichtburg in Berlin opened on Christmas Day in 1929. It was designed by Rudolf Fränkel as the centrepiece of his housing development in Gesundbrunnen (Fränkel's first project as an independent architectProgressive Architecture 32 (1981) p. 88.) and was next to the Gesundbrunnen station. It seated 2,000 and was part of an entertainment complex which also contained spaces for dancing and banqueting, meeting rooms, restaurants, bars, cafes, shops and a bowling alley.Die Anlage historisch ..., Gartenstadt Atlantic It was one of the most important cinemas in Germany.According to Franziska Nentwig (ed.), Berlin im Licht , exhibition catalogue, Stiftung Stadtmuseum Berlin, Berlin: G & H, 2008, , p. 6 (pdf) the best known of the "cinema palaces" in Berlin.
Architecturally, the Berlin Lichtburg was of international significance., p. 13 names it as one of 6 Berlin cinemas with that status, and uses it for the cover picture. The building was distinguished by the interplay of verticals and horizontals, p. 102: "Dieses Spiel horizontaler und vertikaler Elemente erinnert an Fränkels erstes Projekt, das Kino Lichtburg in der Gartenstadt Atlantic, bei dem der zylindrischer Turm ein Gegengewicht zu den horizontalen Bändern der Gebäudeflügel bildete." [This play of horizontal and vertical elements recalls Fränkel's first project, the Lichtburg cinema in the Gartenstadt Atlantic, in which the cylindrical tower acted as a counterbalance to the horizontal banding of the building's wings.] and recalled works by other avant garde architects of the period such as Erich MendelsohnDieter Bartetzko, Illusionen in Stein: Stimmungsarchitektur im deutschen Faschismus. Ihre Vorgeschichte in Theater- und Film-Bauten, Rororo Sachbuch: Kulturen und Ideen, Reinbek bei Hamburg: Rowohlt, 1985, , p. 180 in its expressive use of curves and mostly horizontal divisions. It consisted of two horizontally defined wings, 5 and 4 storeys high, between which the main body of the cinema was located. A 22.5 metre high rotunda positioned at the street corner contained the foyer and event spaces and was topped by a glass roof pavilion; the cinema was given pride of place.Rolf-Peter Baacke, Lichtspielhausarchitektur in Deutschland: von der Schaubude bis zum Kinopalast, Berlin: Frölich & Kaufmann, 1982, , p. 44 In the auditorium, the decor featured mahogany, wine-red upholstery and swooping curves.. The new building received praise in the architectural press for its innovative and successful technical realisation and use of space, including two-sided access to the cloakrooms so that entering and leaving people did not hinder each other.