Linden Theater (Frechen)
The Linden-Theater is the only remaining, since 1993 under monument protection standing theater in Frechen .
history
On September 6, 1957, the fifth and most modern cinema in Frechen with 461 seats was opened by Heinrich Bucco in Lindenstrasse. It was run continuously by the Bucco couple until 1993. The trademark was a VW Beetle of the same year of construction, which was pushed out of the ticket hall that served as a garage before each performance. This movie theater survived the death of the great cinema and auditorium in the 1970s. When the Bucco couple had to gradually give up showing in the early 1990s for reasons of age and health, the non-profit association Frechen-Film eV initially maintained regular play on one day of the week. This association emerged from a student film club at the Frechener Gymnasium, which has shown an artistically valuable film as a program cinema once a week since 1978, first in the break hall, then since 1990 with financial help from the city's cultural office in the Linden Theater . The volunteers from Frechen-Film eV took over the entire process
In 1993 the Linden Theater was placed under a preservation order both inside and out, as the interior fittings had never been modernized and even the presentation technology still corresponded to the original equipment from 1957.
When the builder and owner Heinrich Bucco died in 1994 and the future of the meanwhile last remaining cinema in Frechen was uncertain, the Linden-Theater eV was founded from committed members of Frechen-Film eV, which now operates the cinema. According to a statement by the tax authorities, the non-profit Frechen-Film eV was prevented from fully operating the cinema, so a non-profit operating association had to be founded for this purpose. The cinema was owned by the Bucco family until 2019 and was leased to Linden-Theater eV by the daughter and heiress Heinrich Buccos. It has been owned by a local contractor since July 2019. The cinema continues.
Revenues are used to maintain and renovate the cinema, insofar as they not only cover the running costs. Since 1996, thanks to the city's cultural grants and the industry-standard support from the FFA Film Funding Agency and the NRW State Film Foundation , the original seating has been upholstered and reupholstered, and the 35mm demonstration technology has been brought up to date (xenon lamps, cross-country skiing equipment, new projection lenses, 5.1 surround sound with Dolby SR, SRD and DTS, new Cinemascope screen). 17 years later, in the course of the comprehensive digitization of the cinema world, digital projection technology according to the DCI standard was also installed, again with funding from FFA, BKM , and state funding from European structural development funds ('Ziel2.NRW') mediated by the Filmstiftung NRW. Since then, the Linden Theater has had a Sony SRX-R515P 4K projection system, the sound system has been expanded from 5.1 to 7.1 surround, and the hall control has been automated. Apart from the visual and audible projection and sound quality, these modernizations are not visible to the public as disturbances of the monumental substance.
The old 35mm projection technology with the Ernemann -IX projector still does its job if necessary.
In 2017 the Linden Theater celebrates its sixtieth anniversary. Apart from the modernized projection technology, it is likely to be the only cinema in Germany that has been in operation unchanged for 60 years.
Awards
- In 2002 what it claims to be the oldest cinema in Germany that is still in its original state (or its operating association) received the Rheinisch-Westphalian State Prize for Monument Preservation endowed with € 7,000
- In 2008 there was the special culture award of the Rhein-Erft district
- In 2014 the longstanding volunteers Hilmar Stumpf, who was already involved in the Schüler AG, and Petra Gatting on behalf of the Linden-Theater eV received the Rhineland Taler (→ list of sponsors of the Rhineland Taler )
program
In addition to a normal current cinema program, a film predominantly from the art house segment is shown on Wednesdays . For certain films, a culinary multi-course menu is offered as a flicker dinner before the film. In summer there is an open-air cinema at the outdoor terrace or at the adventure playground . There is a children's film every first Sunday of the month. In addition, a children's film week is held as a permanent facility during the Easter and autumn holidays, in which a children's or youth film is shown every afternoon of a holiday week.
Web links
Coordinates: 50 ° 54 ′ 50.3 " N , 6 ° 48 ′ 16.2" E