Play of light hope
The Lichtspiele Hope was a cinema in Lübeck .
founding
The building at Hüxtertorallee 23a originally housed a restaurant called Hope . In 1947, the owner of the house made a proposal to the cigarette manufacturer Willi Derwisch-Ehren to lease the inn and convert it into a cinema. Dervisch had the architect Ernst Blunck prepare an expert opinion on a possible conversion, but then did not pursue the project any further.
Blunck then teamed up with the former officer Albert Kieft and Otto Schwarzloh; Together they founded Lichtspiele Hope GmbH in March 1948 , leased the building and started converting it into a cinema with 517 seats, which was difficult to implement due to the general shortage. Two transportable Sonolux suitcase projectors from Wehrmacht stocks served as demonstration machines . Since the issuing of the operating permit took longer than expected, the opening, originally planned for autumn 1948, could not take place until February 4, 1949.
Astra Cinema
After just one month, the British occupying forces confiscated Hope as a military cinema on March 12, 1949. Kieft, Blunck and Schwarzloh had to find other ways to earn a living, as the monthly allowance was only enough to pay the bills for the renovation. Only the projectionist Willi Hermann was hired again after the British initially dismissed him, as the British technicians could not handle the unfamiliar projectors.
Story to closure
In early April 1950, Hope was returned to its owners, and on April 14th the reopening took place. In the winter of 1951, the interior fittings were rebuilt, which shaped the image of hope until it was closed 53 years later.
After Blunck and Schwarzloh resigned as partners in 1954, Kieft initially ran the cinema independently. At the beginning of 1958, he accepted Wilhelm Grießhammer , who came from a family of cinema operators, as a new partner.
As early as the 1950s , the Hope program concentrated on high-quality films and cinematographic art, which were shown both in its own screenings and in the main program. By serving this niche, the cinema acquired a steady regular audience, so that hope was hardly affected by the general crisis in the cinemas and the increasing decline in visitors since the 1960s . In addition to normal cinema operations, Hope was repeatedly the venue for various film festivals .
On December 1, 1981, Hope received a new concept as a program cinema after the eden-programm-kino in the Eden-Lichtspiele had been abandoned.
In the early morning of December 24, 2004, a fire broke out in the Hope-Lichtspiele, caused by a short circuit in a defective popcorn machine. Because of the fire damage, the cinema was closed. The Kieft group promised an early renovation and reopening, but this did not take place. On December 29, 2005, Marlis Kieft announced that Hope would not reopen as a cinema; the program concept was transferred to the film house in July 2006 . Instead, the former Lichtspiele Hope will be redesigned into an event building.
See also
literature
- Petra Schaper: Cinemas in Lübeck . Verlag Graphische Werkstätten GmbH, Lübeck 1987. ISBN 3-925402-35-7