Royal bathing
The Royal Baden is a cultural center in the city of Baden in Switzerland.
It was founded in 1913 as a cinema, at that time still under the name "Radium". In 1935 it was bought by Eugen Sterk and later incorporated into his family business. The building has been used for a cultural program since 2011. Today the cinema is owned by Zuriba AG.
History as cinema
The Royal Baden was founded on June 1st, 1913 as the oldest free-standing cinema in Switzerland. The founder was the Parisian Marie Antoine, while architect Arthur Betschon directed the construction. The cinema was founded under the name Cinema Radium in response to the 1912 city council ban. The latter found it immoral because of the Catholic faith that predominated in Baden. The cinemas were also opposed by teachers and pastors. Nevertheless, with the help of the government council, Marie Antoine managed to have the cinema ban abolished. After the opening, 400 people saw the film “A Queen's Last Love” with Sarah Bernhardt . Despite the efforts of Marie Antoine, the films could only be shown under strict police supervision, as scenes of murder , robbery and adultery were forbidden in Baden . In addition, such scenes were allowed in Aarau and there was competition in Baden with the cinemas “Sterk” in 1923 and “Orient” in 1928. In 1935 Eugen Sterk, nephew of the Zurich cinema pioneer Jean Speck, bought the "Orient" and "Radium" cinemas and renamed the "Radium" to "Royal". In 1951 Eugen Sterk founded Eugen Sterk Lichtspieltheater AG Baden, which owned the Royal from then on. The Royal remained active as a cinema until 2008, when the Sterk cinema was reopened after its renovation and renovation. In its final years as a cinema, it was a studio cinema with around 160 seats. It could be rented for individual events until 2010, when it was sold to F. Aeschbach AG. At the end of November 2010, plans were discovered to tear down the Royal and put 13 parking spaces there. The demolition was prevented by 4,000 signatures and a list of regional and national filmmakers who wanted to save the Royal from demolition. Under the cheers announced Stadtammann this message and thus the way for a cultural program was leveled in the building.
Royal House of Culture
The voluntary association Royal Baden has been organizing a varied cultural program since 2011, including music , visual arts , literature , a flea market , podiums, scandal films and German courses . Swiss filmmakers will also find a screen here for films that probably would not have made it into commercial cinemas . After the contract for the cultural interim use had already been extended, Zuriba AG did not want to extend the contract again in 2016, despite the fact that the population and the city of Baden were in favor of an extension of the contract and the Royal still had many visitors. The city promised to ensure that the program could be continued at another location, but nothing comparable could be found in the surrounding area. Then the city council and the owner finally agreed to extend the contract, as Zuriba AG had not yet found use for the building. However, the new contract expired at the beginning of 2018 and Zuriba AG wanted to convert the building into an office complex. This time it took 7,000 signatures and a protest march to force a contract extension. The people who wanted to keep the royal finally wanted a longer term solution. In the late summer of 2017, the city of Baden and Zuriba AG signed a contract until 2038 and the house of culture was saved once more.
Rapid rave
Once a month there is a rave in the Royal on Wednesday evening for exactly 120 minutes , which is open to young and old. Hard bass and exciting people are two of the many things that you experience when you decide not to go to bed, but to party on that evening. The idea of a party during the week has been around for a long time. A good example of this is the Nordstern in Basel. The organizers explain the success of this spectacle with the fact that there is still nothing like it in the Baden region. What makes this two-hour music event so attractive is also the limited duration, which has several reasons: On the one hand, you don't want to receive a report for disturbance of the peace and, on the other hand, two hours of concentrated techno music at full volume is enough. The organizers consciously want to remain a non-profit organization and are doing well to waive entry. It is important to them to continue to maintain and shape the cultural diversity in Baden. The genre of music is not for everyone. Many visitors confirm that they don't listen to techno in their free time, but with this atmosphere it's just fun.
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