Gravenbruch drive-in cinema
Coordinates: 50 ° 3 ′ 21.47 ″ N , 8 ° 44 ′ 43.83 ″ E The Gravenbruch drive- in cinema in Gravenbruch near Frankfurt am Main is the oldest and first drive- in cinema in Germany and the second oldest in Europe . It is part of the chain of drive-in drive-in cinemas, of which there are more throughout Germany.
history
The drive-in cinema in Gravenbruch was opened on March 29, 1960 as the first of its kind in Europe north of the Alps. The audience was immediately taken with the nostalgic style of the area with the small yellow ticket booths and the large screen . The film The King and I with Yul Brynner was shown at the premiere . The area was large for that time and offered plenty of comfort for the cinema-goers. The floor is laid out in waves so that the car comes to a stop with the front axle slightly elevated, which improves the view of the screen. You could also enjoy the film undisturbed, as separate loudspeakers were hung inside each car and transmitted the sound of the film. The entrance fees were moderate. All this and the masses of visitors made this drive-in cinema a great success, which also resulted in many imitators in other parts of Germany.
development
The drive-in cinema has changed again and again in the years that have followed. At that time it only had a single screen, now another one has been added. Nowadays, film sound is also transmitted into the car via radio at a certain frequency and not via wired loudspeakers as it was then. Furthermore, the premises of the Starnberg operator are now also used for other purposes, e.g. B. A private car sale is organized there every Saturday. Car radios and fan heaters can be borrowed against a deposit . Also new is a snack bar where you can get food and drink for the later performance. If a performance that starts at dusk has to be canceled due to bad weather (which only happens in extreme weather conditions), you get free tickets for another film. Further developments can be seen in the expansion of the site, there is sometimes space for 1,100 cars , but larger cars are also permitted. Nevertheless, a performance is almost never sold out and the average number of visitors per year is only 60,000, which means that one can no longer build on previous successes.
Technical Equipment
There are two screens on the site, but only one of them is used regularly. This measures 36 meters in width and 15 meters in height. The second, smaller version, which is only put into operation from March to October, is only 24 meters wide and 10 meters high. The film sound is transmitted directly to the car radio in Dolby Stereo on FM and the modern 35 mm film projectors have a light output of 6000 and 4500 watts .
Web links
- Hollywood in the parking lot , article on spiegel.de from July 13, 2006 , accessed on February 1, 2010
- Cinema seats on four wheels - smoking and self-sufficiency allowed , article on the history of the drive-in cinema on outback-magazin.de , accessed on February 1, 2010
- Official website of the operator