Capitol (Cologne)

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Capitol is the name of a former cinema in Cologne , which is located in Neustadt-Nord on Hohenzollernring 79-81.

Origin and first years

Between 1901 and 1928 the Kammerspielhaus “Deutsches Theater” stood on the site of Hohenzollernring 79–81, which was closed in the summer of 1928. Jacob Koerfer was commissioned to build a modern movie theater here. He moved the main entrance of the former Kammerspielhaus from Bismarckstraße 7 to the livelier Hohenzollernring. Here he built a characteristic cinema entrance, the glass and light architecture of which attracted attention in the street scene, especially during peak cinema hours. The opening of the “Capitol” took place on February 20, 1929 in a residential and commercial building with the silent film The Pandora's Box . Before the opening, the Kölnische Zeitung stated the seating capacity was 2035 seats. The cinema buildings were constructed in such a way that after the film was over, viewers were directed to the exits on the nearby Bismarckstrasse so that they would not meet the visitors of the next film. The Capitol had an orchestra pit in which the cinema’s own film music orchestra could be found. However, the orchestra played for the last time on March 26, 1930. The first sound film Dreyfus under the new operator Phöbus-Emelka was released on October 2, 1930. During the Nazi era - at the same time as the November pogroms - the anti-Semitic film Jews without a mask was shown since November 1938 . In 1939, UFA joined the company as the new operator .

After the Second World War

After its destruction in the Second World War , the house was rebuilt in 1954 according to plans by the architect Hans Land, so that the cinema could reopen on September 28, 1954 with the film The Gypsy Baron . The operator at the time was Hans Herbert Blatzheim , who opened the Palermo milk bar right next to the cinema . Blatzheim, married to Romy Schneider's mother , saw the brisk demand for movie tickets for Sissi with Romy Schneider, which started here in December 1955. The Capitol now had an auditorium that was 32 meters long and 20 meters wide and only held 1144 spectators. In 1990 the audience capacity decreased further to 700 seats. As a result of the decline in visitors due to the opening of the Cinedom multiplex cinema , the UFA subsidiary Olympia-Filmtheater joined the company in 1992 after several changes of operator . After the audience continued to decline, the cinema had to close on September 29, 1995.

New use

From December 5, 1995, Sat.1 used the former cinema after a complete renovation to record the late-night show The Harald Schmidt Show . In August 1998, the production decided to move to Schanzenstrasse in Cologne-Mülheim . The vacancy was again very short, because from August 15, 1998, Sat.1 recorded Die Wochenshow here , which remained until December 2000. From January 2001 TV total from ProSieben followed , which used the premises until December 2002.

After that no new use could be found for the Capitol, it was closed in December 2005. In July 2011 the building was acquired by a Swiss family office ; After its renovation, the neon sign "Capitol" on the facade still reminds of the former cinema, which is now a furniture store.

Individual evidence

  1. Klemens Klemmer: Jacob Koerfer (1875–1930): An architect between tradition and modernity , 1987, p. 189
  2. ^ Rolf-Peter Baacke: Lichtspielhausarchitektur in Deutschland: from the Schaubude to the Kinopalast , 1982, p. 44
  3. The new cinema is called Capitol. In: Kölnische Zeitung , June 13, 1928

Coordinates: 50 ° 56 ′ 29 ″  N , 6 ° 56 ′ 23.6 ″  E