Fama movie theater

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Neon sign for the former Fama film theater, now above the entrance to the FAMA residential complex

The Fama Filmtheater (also FAMA-Kino ) was a cinema in the Hamburg district of Lurup that was in operation from 1959 to 2011.

Most recently the cinema had 330 seats, according to other sources 280 seats and a screen of 90 m² (70 m² loud). The technical equipment consisted of analog film projectors and a Dolby SR-DIG system sound system.

The program focuses on blockbusters , underground films , porn films , but also sophisticated films, premieres , film series , horror films , trash films and cult films , as well as parties on weekends. In 1995 a number of films by young African directors were shown. There were also regular live performances by music groups in the cinema after their favorite films were shown. In addition, the Fama was the venue for the Fantasy Film Festival .

history

The cinema was built by the von Mallesch family, who ran a successful butcher shop, as part of a social building program together with 200 apartments in a small shopping center with seven shops in Luruper Hauptstrasse 276. The name FAMA was formed from the initials of FA milie MA llesch. The building was a tub construction in the colors turquoise and pink with a facade decorated with mosaic stones. The interior was also elegant and a fountain splashed in the foyer . The screening room had 668 seats, a 12.75 m wide screen and was equipped with the most modern screening technology available at the time. The prices for the tickets were kept low at 1.30 to 1.90 DM . The technical equipment included film projectors Frieseke & Hoepfner FH 99, Telefunken Cinevox Le amplifiers and loudspeakers also from Telefunken. Image u. Sound system Sc, 1 KL, Th, Var, O. Opened was the cinema on June 5, 1959, the German Romance What a woman in spring dreams of Erik Ode . In the beginning of the west of Hamburg there was a need for a large cinema like the Fama, since the Union Theater , which was also operated by the Mallesch family at Luruper Hauptstrasse 90, was closed in 1962 due to construction defects. However, the number of viewers fell in the course of the 1960s due to the increasing spread of television sets and it became more difficult to operate the large cinema economically. On February 8, 1971, this location was closed with the film Our timpanists go into the air . The building was then converted into a supermarket with a restaurant and bowling alley above.

(Former location until 1971: 53 ° 35 ′ 54.1 ″  N , 9 ° 51 ′ 30.7 ″  E )

As a replacement location on the opposite side of the street, Luruper Hauptstrasse 247, the former SPAR supermarket was increased by eight meters. The ground floor of the building had a red brick facade and two shops were located there. The facade of the upper floor was clad with modern, white, profiled decoration tiles. Between the two shops was the entrance to the cinema with the toilet facility and the stairs to the lobby on the upper floor, which had a large window facing the street. The new cinema hall had a smaller capacity. Different values ​​are given in the sources, such as 280 or 330 seats, and screen sizes of 90 m² or 70 m². The technology was taken over from the old location. In November 1971, cinema operations were resumed by the tenants Lieselotte and Horst König. In 1988 Gerd Foelsner took over the business. In 1977, Hans-Peter Jansen and his wife Lydia leased the cinema from Mallesch's community of heirs, who both successfully ran the Alabama cinema in the neighboring district of Hamburg-Eidelstedt . The cinema was modernized with a Dolby SR-DIG system. In 1996 the seating was reduced by 120 in order to create more legroom for visitors. Jansen established the Fama as the venue for the Fantasy Film Festival .

In the 2000s, the number of viewers continued to decline, the business became more and more unprofitable, which thwarted a switch to digital technology . The city's offer of generous funding for the construction of apartments prompted Mallesch's community of heirs to end the lease agreement with Jansen and to close the cinema. Even the last scheduled screenings on December 18, 2011 of Hermine Huntgeburth's Tom Sawyer and Paolo Sorrentino's Cheyenne - This Must Be the Place were characterized by little public interest with 20 to 30 visitors each, although the Norddeutscher Rundfunk also reported live from this event. After it was closed, the screening room was used for a short time as a studio to record a television program. The farewell performance with Hans-Peter Jansen, Mallesch's families and friends was on June 15, 2012 with Ralf Huettner's film All Siberia .

The cinema and neighboring buildings were demolished and the Mallesch family built the senior citizens' residential center, Wohnpark Fama , in their place , above whose main entrance the old, striking FAMA neon advertising of the cinema from the 1960s is attached.

literature

  • Volker Reissmann: Fama (1959–2012) in Lurup - The cinema that simply did not want to die . In: Film- und Fernsehmuseum Hamburg eV (Ed.): Hamburger Flimmern . No. 19 , 2013, pp. 44–49 ( PDF [accessed February 21, 2020]).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Hamburg Fama Lurup. In: Kikowiki. Retrieved December 16, 2019 .
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h Fama. In: Hamburg Film and Television Museum. Retrieved December 16, 2019 .
  3. ↑ a b c Lurup district FAMA. In: Hamburg Film and Television Museum. Accessed December 30, 2019 .
  4. ↑ a b c d e f Volker Reissmann: Fama (1959–2012) in Lurup - The cinema that simply did not want to die . In: Film- und Fernsehmuseum Hamburg eV (Ed.): Hamburger Flimmern . No. 19 , 2013, pp. 44–49 ( PDF [accessed February 21, 2020]).
  5. ↑ Union Theater. In: Hamburg Film and Television Museum. Retrieved February 22, 2020 .

Coordinates: 53 ° 35 ′ 51.6 ″  N , 9 ° 51 ′ 42.8 ″  E