Cinema Delphi (Berlin-Weißensee)
The Delphi is a former open-plan cinema in the Weißensee district of Berlin . It was built in 1929 and had to be closed to public use in 1959 due to construction defects, although some rooms served other purposes until 2005. In 2016, a new owner was found who financed restoration and renovation work and found tenants. The building at Gustav-Adolf-Straße 2 opened in December 2017 as a new cultural center.
Film city Weißensee
After 1913, Weißensee, which was not yet part of Berlin, developed into a popular location for film productions, as the options in Berlin became increasingly limited. This is why Weissensee was nicknamed “Little Hollywood”. In Weißenseer Lixie movie studio were films like Richard Oswald differently than the others (1918/1919) and Robert Wiene's The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919/1920) shot. In Weißenseer Stuart Webbs Film Studio turned Ernst Reicher films of the series about the eponymous detective, and next door at the Green Tree studio , the director produced Harry Piel for Joe May Movies of Joe-Deeb series . Production companies and playback facilities also settled in the vicinity of the studios. The Great Depression in 1929, however, meant an abrupt end for most companies. There were nearly 400 cinemas in Berlin in the 1920s; There were seven around Weissenseer Antonplatz alone .
Planning, architecture and technology
The Delphi cinema was planned by the architects Julius Krost and Heinrich Zindel as a single- storey cinema hall with a foyer and one tier. The auditorium had rust-colored walls. The screen was mounted above an eight-meter-wide stage, and there was space in the orchestra pit for 13 musicians who accompanied the first silent films shown here. The curtain was made of caterpillar silk . The technical equipment included two AEG projectors from the 'Triumphator' brand. Thanks to the close arrangement of the seats and the use of the tier, there was room for 900 visitors in the cinema.
The Delphi cinema was officially opened on November 26, 1929 with the film High Treason .
Film theater 1945–1959
At the end of the Second World War , the Delphi cinema was only slightly damaged, so that it was able to reopen in July 1945. In contrast to the other cinemas in Berlin-Weißensee, however, it was not fundamentally renovated, but only temporarily repaired. This took revenge no later than 14 years later, when stucco pieces fell into the auditorium. A review by the building commission revealed that the roof had probably leaked from a bomb damage and that more and more water could collect behind the suspended ceiling over the years. On February 12, 1959, the cinema was closed to visitors due to the structural condition.
Interim use 1959–2005
Redevelopment plans in the 1960s were not implemented. The building was in the foyer area in the following years as a vegetable stock, Rewatex , stamp shop and warehouse of -Wäschereistützpunkt Civil Defense of the GDR between use .
After the political turning point in 1990, a new owner set up a showroom for organs , but the owner soon went bankrupt , so that the building was foreclosed in 2005.
New cultural site
Nikolaus Schneider and Brina Stinehelfer have been the new operators of the building since 2013 ; they first visited it on New Year's Eve 2010. In order to meet the requirements of a permanent cultural site, a purchase with subsequent restorations and conversions was necessary, which together cost around 1.4 million euros . Financial help came from the Swiss Edith Maryon Foundation , which acquired the house in mid-2016 and transferred the management to Stinehelfer and Schneider by means of a heritable building lease . On December 2, 2017, it reopened with a festive gala, designed by various artists who were hired for the coming season. For the first open day on December 3, there were opera excerpts, classical concerts, theater, dance performances and other cabaret. In the following season, other performances such as a winter fairy tale by the Shakespeare Company and premieres are planned. Overall, it should be relaxed and informal, with no great distance between the audience and the artists. The Berlin Senate is funding the new venue with 50,000 euros annually.
The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung of October 15, 2018 refers to the TV series Babylon Berlin and writes in the features section about the shooting: "... especially when the charismatic interior of the Delphi Theater in Weißensee becomes the legendary Moka Efti on Friedrichstrasse ."
Cinema dates
At the opening, the cinema was given its name , which has existed since then, after the Greek town of Delphi or after the oracle of Delphi . It is located at Gustav-Adolf-Straße 2; the street name remained unchanged. The house numbers alternated between number 2 and number 3.
- 1929, Nov .: Foundation
- 1931: F: E 6 Weißensee, open daily, capacity 900 seats,
owner: Delphi-Lichtspiele GmbH , Erwin Palkowsky and Heinrich Bartel, CEO: Erwin Palkowsky - 1932: F: E 6 Weißensee, daily, TF, 900 places,
- 1933: F: E 6 Weißensee, daily, TF, 900 places,
- 1934: F: E 6 Weißensee, daily, TF, 900 seats, owner: Delphi-Lichtspiele GmbH, CEO: Erwin Palkowsky
- 1935: 760 places
- 1936: The owners of the entire house are private individuals J. Krost from Berlin-Pankow and J. Meckel from Berlin-Grunewald,
- 1937: F: 561879, daily, 877 places,
- 1938: F: 561879, daily, 877 seats, owner: Delphi-Lichtspiele GmbH, Berlin-Lichtenberg
- 1939: F: 561879, daily, 877 places,
- 1940: F: 561879, daily, 877 places
- 1941: F: 561879, daily, 877 places,
- 1949: Tel. 561 879, 889 places
- 1950: Tel. 423 413, 889 places
- 1957: Tel. 561879
- 1960: VEB Berliner Filmtheater, Tel. 561879 (closed)
- Gf = managing director; Tel. Or F = telephone or telephone number; TF = possibility of showing sound or sound film
literature
- New life in Delphi . In: Der Tagesspiegel , January 20, 2012.
- The Delphi of the East is alive again . In: BZ , October 12, 2012.
- The Edith Maryon Foundation buys the former silent film cinema Delphi . In: Berliner Woche , October 25, 2016.
Web links
- Entry in the Berlin State Monument List
- medienrecht-urheberrecht.de brand name and building "Delphi"
- Official website of the building
- Edith Maryon Foundation
Individual evidence
- ↑ Carla Laudien: In December the Delphi opens its doors again . In: BZ , October 26, 2017, accessed on November 1, 2017.
- ^ Stefan Strauss: Performance with patina . In: Berliner Zeitung , December 1, 2017, p. 12.
- ↑ a b Gustav-Adolph-Strasse 3 . In: Berliner Adreßbuch , 1936, IV, p. 2225.
Coordinates: 52 ° 33 ′ 6 ″ N , 13 ° 25 ′ 52 ″ E