Castle gate play of light
The Burgtor-Lichtspiele were a Lübeck cinema .
Until its destruction in the British bombing of 28/29. In March 1942 , Lydia Wittenberg and her son Kurt ran the National Cinema on Sandstrasse . After the end of the war, she intended to have the National rebuilt, but this project could not be implemented in the short term.
In front of the castle gate , on Travemünder Allee No. 3 on the southwestern edge of the castle field , there was a catering hall built by the organization Kraft durch Freude after the bombing , which had become the property of the city of Lübeck. In November 1946, Lydia Wittenberg applied to lease the hall and set up a movie theater there. The city administration was positive about the application, as there was a shortage of cinemas in Lübeck: Of the six undestroyed city center cinemas ( Capitol , Eden-Lichtspiele , Stadthalle , Zentral , Holstentor-Lichtspiele and Rialto ) only the Zentral and Rialto were open to the public, the rest had been requisitioned as military cinemas by the British occupying forces for an indefinite period of time . After she had proven that she had two film projectors , Lydia Wittenberg was awarded the contract before another interested party who also wanted to lease the hall.
Due to the general shortage in the early post-war years, the renovation of the hall took over a year. On July 7, 1948, the Burgtor-Lichtspiele with 727 seats were finally opened.
The first renovation took place two years later: at Christmas 1950, the cinema received a foyer , a cloakroom , new ticket counters and a refreshment stand in a contemporary metropolitan style, which replaced the spartan poverty of the immediate post-war period.
In the 1950s and 1960s , the Burgtor-Lichtspiele, now directed by Kurt Wittenberg, were one of the most popular cinemas in town; numerous Lübeck premieres, often with personal appearances and autograph sessions by the actors, took place here.
In April 1973, shortly before bankruptcy proceedings were opened against Kurt Wittenberg, he transferred the lease for the Burgtor-Lichtspiele to Artur Mest , the owner of the Zentral . From 1987 onwards, the cinema was the venue for the annual retrospective as part of the Nordic Film Days , which had previously taken place in Zentral.
In the 1980s , the importance of the Burgtor light plays decreased. The program consisted mainly of popular mainstream films; Attempts were made to counter the general decline in cinema attendance by converting it into a so-called service cinema , in which the number of seats was gradually reduced to 383. In addition, the staff was reduced to two people - a cashier responsible for sweets and a projectionist .
In 1990 the Burgtor-Lichtspiele were closed and completely demolished. In their place there is now a hotel .
See also
literature
- Petra Schaper: Cinemas in Lübeck . Verlag Graphische Werkstätten GmbH, Lübeck 1987. ISBN 3-925402-35-7