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On Easter Sunday, April 16, 1911, the
Lichtspiel-Theater zum Friedrichsbau opened on Kaiserstraße. Non-other
than the well-known Jewish architect Arthur Levi had remodeled Frederic's
building into a cinema.
As for the names: Friedrich was Grand Duke of Baden,
while Kaiserstraße referred to the son of Maria-Theresia, Emperor Joseph II.
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The Friedrichsbau cinema has survived two world wars, the hyperinflation of 1923, the world economic crisis of 1929, television, and the video recorder, making it the fifth or sixth oldest cinema in Germany still in existence.
In fact, according to cinema operator and Doctor of Islamic studies Ludwig Ammann, "There were only a few interruptions in the cinema's operations in the 110 years of existence. Apart from a few rebuilds, operations were interrupted because of the hyperinflation in 1922/23, and they were temporarily suspended during World War II - and now because of the Corona lockdown."
He confirms, "We will survive the pandemic too. Next year we'll celebrate appropriately - the 'schnapps number' 111 invites us to do so."
And he continues, "Nowhere in Germany is the cinema attendance per capita as high as in Freiburg. I assume we will have a skidmark of one to two years until everyone who wants to go to the cinema dares to return. Last summer it was also noticeable that the young people came back immediately because the particular film is the one you want to see in the cinema.”
Indeed, when the Lichtspiel-Theater zum Friedrichsbau celebrated its premiere, Freiburg was already considered a cinema city.
At that time, films were shown at five cinemas in Freiburg, i.e., the Zentral-Theater, the Welt-Kinematograph, the Apollo-Kinematograph, the Colosseum, and the American-Biograph*. Programs with short films were still standard; feature-length films were new at that time.
*None of these cinemas survived
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Red Baron is looking forward to the "schnapps" anniversary on April 19, 2022.
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