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100 years of cinema exhibition in Germany - a historical profile
 
In 1896 the Cologne chocolate and vending machine company Gebr. Stollwerk & Co. brought the Cinématographe Lumière
to Germany and patented its name immediately. On April 16 that year they held the first film show in Germany on the company
premises. Four days later the public premiere took place. At the end of the month regular film shows also started in Berlin and
the Deutsche Kinematographische Gesellschaft- (German Cinematographic Society) opened a projection room in the capital
city on April 26. At the end of June, film pioneer Oskar Messter started trading cinema projectors. The Maltese cross
technique made copy-saving intermediate film transport possible. In the late autumn several exhibitors were already active
throughout Germany.
Messter also produced and sold movies; his company catalogue of 1898 offered 84 different titles. In the next year the first
permanent German cinema was opened in Berlin's Münzstraße while the city of Dresden followed one year later. Meanwhile
Messter had founded his Projection GmbH (Projection Ltd) in Berlin, thus continuing his business. In 1902 inventor Theodor
Pätzold brought the wing fade onto the market, ensuring flicker-free projection. Already the next year Messter showed 'sound
pictures' by synchronising the new projection technique with another remarkable invention: the phonograph.
In 1905 the Chief Constable of Berlin ordered preventive censorship. In this year the Alfred Duskes GmbH started as the first German distribution company. Operating from Berlin it not only sold, but also rented out film copies to cinema owners. The number of permanent cinemas expanded in 1906 to the cities of Munich, Cologne and Düsseldorf while at this point in Berlin film censorship became institutionalised. Also the first German film stock company saw the light, in Frankfurt/Main: Allgemeine Kinematographen- Theater Gesellschaft, Union Theater für lebende und Tonbilder GmbH, from 1909 onwards known as Pagu (General Cinematograph-Theatre Society, Union Theatre for Motion and Sound Pictures Ltd).
If in 1905 there were only 16 permanent cinemas in Berlin, in January 1907 official statistics registered 139 permanent cinemas
in the metropolis. At the end of 1907 the first specialised trade magazine, Der Kinematograph - Organ für die gesamte
Projektionskunst (... - Magazine for the Whole Field of Film Exhibition) counted at least 260 stationary cinemas. This
magazine would continue to appear until 1934. With the increasing amount of cinemas, fire regulations were ordered. Special
drums had to be provided around the highly inflammable nitrate film reels. Furthermore, the first objectors organised themselves in the Kinematographische Reformvereinigung (Cinematographic Reform Society), a moralising organisation that crusaded
against 'trash' films in the cinemas.
In 1908 report cards were introduced in Berlin for censored films. Following Berlin, film censorship also became institutionalised in the city of Dresden. In Hamburg a large cinematographic exhibition took place. Also the first issue of the
magazine Licht-Bild-Bühne - Fachorgan für das Interessengebiet der kinematographischen Theater-praxis (specialist
magazine for cinematographic theatre practice) came out. In the following years it was published weekly until it merged with the Film-Kurier in 1940. In 1909 the famous Union Theater opened in the Grand Hotel at Berlin Alexanderplatz, being one of the first cinemas with its own orchestra.
Estimates from 1910 register between 1 000 and 1 500 cinemas in the German Reich. Also thanks to this amount of cinemas
the film copy trade made place for the film rental distribution system. The film synopsis, so far given out by the distributors and
producers to be printed in the newspapers, was gradually being replaced by film reviews in the strict sense. In the cinemas,
Scandinavian movies with a length of 45 minutes were shown. The use of title links gradually made the job of the reciter
unnecessary.
It was in 1911 that the first German cinema palace opened, in Berlin: Cinés at the Nollendorfplatz, with more than 1 000 seats.
In this year, the decisions of the Berlin Board of Censors became binding all over Prussia and soon for the other states of the
German Reich as well. It was controlling about 13 000 movies in the period between 1906-1911 and thus Germany was the
second largest film market in the world after the USA, where 17 000 films were shown in the same period. The amount of
cinema theatres was increasing very fast. In 1911 more than 2 000 cinemas existed in the German Reich, of which 50 were
premiere theatres. Throughout the country the industry organised itself; there existed 22 registered interest groups: 10 for
cinema owners, 1 for distributors, 6 for cinema staff, 4 for projectionists and 1 for managers and reciters. In this year Karl
August Geyer established the first exclusive printing lab.
In 1912 in Munich censorship became institutionalised. In accordance with the police, a national board of teachers examined
movies regarding their suitability for young people. The next year about 6 000 movies were running in Germany. 1913 saw the
beginning of narrativisation in film. In order to improve their reputation, production companies engaged writers as screenwriters. For the first time well-known theatre actors took on film parts, including Denmark's Asta Nielsen, star of the Danish production Abgrunden, who came to Germany and became 'die Asta' for real. Developments evolved in the 'cinema debate', about the rights and the wrongs of cinemas and the films that were shown there. Meanwhile in Berlin-Tempelhof, Alfred Duskes and Paul
Davidson's film stock company Pagu built the first glass atelier. Films could be shot indoors from then on, using sunlight
combined with carbon lighting. In 1917 the studio was taken over by Oskar Messter and one year later by the Ufa. A huge
cinema was opened on the Kurfürstendam in Berlin: the Union Theater, offering 1 000 seats.
Two months after the outbreak of the First World War, the first Wochenschau - the weekly newsreel the Messter Week - was shown in the cinemas. One year later the Decla production company was founded by Erich Pommer and Fritz Holz. In 1917 the army instigated the founding of the Ufa (the word was 'invented' first, not much later 'filled in' as Universum-Film AG) which pursued a monopolistic business in "all the branches of the film industry". On November 12 1918, three days after the abdication of Emperor Wilhelm II, the Rat der Volksbeauftragten (Council of the People's Representatives) abolished state
censorship. In the following year, a general strike of the employees in the film industry, to achieve better wage agreements, was
a great success. It was also in 1919 that the first issue of the daily Film-Kurier (Film-Courier) was published.
In 1920 the Reichslichtspielgesetz (Cinema Act) was enacted: all movies for public view had to be licensed by official
inspectors. Thus film releases were authorised only after receiving a record card. Meanwhile the society for cinema technique,
the Kinotechnische Gesellschaft was founded. Two years later the public showing of the first optical sound film of the Triergon team took place. In 1923 former Decla founder Erich Pommer became director of all Ufa-production companies. In this year also the Spitzenorganisation der deutschen Filmwirtschaft (SPIO) was founded. This umbrella organisation was intended to represent the interests of the whole German film industry.
On September 24 1925, the Ufa-Palast am Zoo reopened its doors, offering more than 2 165 seats. On December 17 the same year the first Ufa sound film, Das Mädchen mit den Schwefelhölzern (The Little Matchstick Girl) premiered. However,
due to technical shortcomings, it was not a successful film. Two days later the Ufa signed the Parufamet-treaty, which provided for distribution cooperation between the Ufa and the US companies Paramount and Metro-Goldwyn.

Year	Screens	Admissions (x million)
1946* 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969	2 125 2 850 2 975 3 360 3 962 4 547 4 853 5 117 5 640 6 239 6 438 6 577 6 789 7 085 6 950 6 666 6 327 5 964 5 551 5 209 4 784 4 518 4 060 3 739	300,0 459,6 443,0 467,2 487,4 554,8 614,5 680,2 733,6 766,1 817,5 801,0 749,7 670,8 604,8 516,9 442,9 366,0 320,4 294,0 257,1 215,6 179,1 172,2
* Source: SPIO/Statistik, Wiesbaden. Also: MEDIA Salles, European Cinema Yearbook 1994, Milan 1994.

 
 
On March 12 1929 the first German full-length sound film Melodie der Welt (Melody of the World) premiered, directed by Walther Ruttmann. By the end of the year, on December 16, the first Ufa sound film with dialogues premiered. Melodie des Herzens (Melody of the Heart) starred Dita Parlo and Willy Fritsch. The next week the Hamburg Ufa-Palast opened its doors,
with 2 667 seats Europe's biggest cinema at that time. One year later, on December 5 1930, the showing of the movie All Quiet on the Western Front was disturbed by Nazis. Only six days later a national ban was put on this film.
 
After the Nazis seized power many Jewish and left-wing film makers emigrated. Under the aegis of the minister of  Propaganda  Joseph Goebbels, all film production in Germany was put under governmental control. In Berlin  Oskar Fischinger produced Europe's first three-colour full-spectrum film, based on the colour system of the Hungarian brothers Imre and Bela Gaspar (Gasparcolor).
 
In 1934 the amended  Cinema Act sanctioned pre-censorship from beginning to end of the film production process,  from the screenplay on. The Board of Censors was located in Berlin. Two years later Goebbels prohibited de facto any independent film reviews and in 1937 the German Reich took 72,6% of  the Ufa share capital. In practice this signified nationalisation of the German film industry.
 
To stimulate Nazi ideological films, in 1938 the production company Bavaria Filmkunst GmbH (Bavaria Film Art Ltd) was founded in Munich's Geiselgasteig. In 1942 all existing German film companies were centralised in the Ufa- Film GmbH and Fritz Hippler was appointed by Goebbels as Reichsfilmdirektor. After the capitulation of the German Wehrmacht, the Allies sent the American officer and filmmaker Billy Wilder to Bad Homburg to report on the reconstruction of the German film industry.
 
On May 17 1946, the film production company Defa was founded in the Soviet sector of Berlin-Babelsberg. In West Berlin it was Arthur Brauner who founded the production company CCC, which had to wait until the spring of 1949 for its necessary license. In October 12 this year, the Filmaufbau GmbH (Film Construction Ltd) was founded in Goettingen and received a production licence from the British authorities. Three days later, the first German post-war film, Wolfgang Staudte's Defa production Die Mörder sind unter Uns (The Murderers are  among Us) premiered.
 
In April 1949 the director of the Nazi propaganda film Jud Suess, charged with crimes against humanity, was found 'not guilty' by the Hamburg district court. On July 18, three weeks after the Law of the Federal Republic of Germany entered into force, the Freiwillige Selbstkontrolle der Filmwirtschaft (FSK - Voluntary Censorship of the German Film Industry) in Wiesbaden started operating. The organisation examined every movie to be shown in the Federal Republic of Germany. In September the Lex Ufi was enacted. It provided for the dissolving of the Ufa and the re-privatisation of the film property of the Reich.

Year	Screens	Admissions (x milion)
1970* 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990• 1991 1992 1993 1994	3 673 3 412 3 244 3 172 3 218 3 163 3 263 3 142 3 153 3 251 3 422 3 560 3 613 3 669 3 611 3 418 3 262 3 252 3 246 3 216 3 754 3 686 3 630 3 709 3 763	160,1 152,1 149,8 144,3 136,2 128,1 115,1 124,2 135,5 142,0 143,8 141,3 124,5 125,3 112,1 104,2 105,2 108,1 108,9 101,6 102,5 119,9 105,9 130,5 132,8
*  Source: SPIO/Statistik, Wiesbaden. Also: MEDIA Salles, European Cinema Yearbook 1994, Milan 1994. • From 1990 on figures represent unified Germany. Before 1990 the figures represent West Germany only

 
 
At the end of March 1951, the German Bundestag approved the principle of deficit
guarantees favouring film production in West Germany. In May the Occam cinema (Studio für Filmkunst/Studio for Film Art) was opened in Munich by Fritz Falter, being the first repertoire cinema in the Federal Republic of Germany (it ran until 1970). In June the first international film festival was held in Berlin. Also the first German Filmpreis was awarded by the Federal Minister of the Interior. The film Evaluation Board started working in Wiesbaden on August 20 this year. It awarded movies with the grades 'valuable' and 'especially valuable'. The awarded movies received tax relief from the government.
 
On December 25 1953, the Nordwestdeutsche Rundfunk, the broadcasting company of northern Germany, transmitted the first television program. Soon regular broadcasts were aired - every evening between 8 and 10 o'clock. In November of the following year the ARD was founded, a television cooperation of general German broadcasting companies. However, in 1956 cinema attendances were at a record height with 817 million tickets sold.
 
In 1957 the Youth Protection Act became law. It categorised the release of films by approving them to age groups ranging from 6, 12, 16, to 18 years and older. In 1963 the Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF - Second German Broadcasting Company) started broadcasting from Mainz.
 
In the Federal Republic of Germany the Federal Film Funding Act was enacted. Cinema owners had to donate 10 Pfennigs of every ticket sold to a Fund which supported film production. The support was organised by a newly founded Filmförderungsanstalt (Federal Film Fund Administration). In the following years there were several amendments to this act. Today the cinemas pay about 2% of box office receipts to the Film Fund Administration.
 
In October 1990, UCI opened the first multiplex, comprising 14 screens and 2 899 seats, in a shopping  centre near Cologne. In March the following year, the Flebbe Group followed with the Cinemaxx in Hannover City, a cinema with 10 screens and 3 281 seats. Until today this has been one of the most successful cinemas in Germany. In December 1991 the Cinedom was opened in Cologne by Bernd Eichinger. It has 13 screens, 3 183 seats and, since the opening of its screen 4, has had the highest attendance figures in Germany (408 268 spectators in 1994). Today there are 15 multiplexes in Germany. 10 more will be opened in 1996.
 

english version

Dopo la presa di potere da parte dei nazisti, molti autori cinematografici ebrei e di sinistra emigrarono. Per iniziativa del Ministro della Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, tutta la produzione cinematografica tedesca fu posta sotto controllo governativo. A Berlino, Oskar Fischinger produsse il primo film, a tre strati di colorante, basato sul sistema del colore dei fratelli ungheresi Imre e Bela Gaspar (Gasparcolor). Nel 1934 un emendamento alla Legge sul cinema autorizzò la censura preventiva sull'intero processo di produzione cinematografica, dal momento della stesura della sceneggiatura in poi. La Commissione della Censura fu insediata a Berlino. Due anni dopo Goebbels proibì de facto la pubblicazione di qualunque rivista cinematografica indipendente e, nel 1937, il Governo si impossessò del 72,6% del capitale dell'Ufa. In pratica questo significava la nazionalizzazione dell'industria cinematografica tedesca.

Nel 1938, per stimolare i film caratterizzati dall'ideologia nazista, venne creata la società di produzione Bavaria Filmkunst GmbH presso il Geiselgasteig di Monaco. Nel 1942 tutte le società cinematografiche esistenti furono riunite nel'Ufa-Film GmbH. Fritz Hippler fu nominato da Goebbels Reichsfilmdirektor. A seguito della capitolazione della Wehrmacht tedesca, gli Alleati inviarono Billy Wilder, ufficiale e autore cinematografico, a Bad Homburg per riferire sulla ricostruzione dell'industria cinematografica tedesca.

Anno	Schermi	Presenze   (in milioni)
1970* 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990• 1991 1992 1993 1994	3 673 3 412 3 244 3 172 3 218 3 163 3 263 3 142 3 153 3 251 3 422 3 560 3 613 3 669 3 611 3 418 3 262 3 252 3 246 3 216 3 754 3 686 3 630 3 709 3 763	160,1 152,1 149,8 144,3 136,2 128,1 115,1 124,2 135,5 142,0 143,8 141,3 124,5 125,3 112,1 104,2 105,2 108,1 108,9 101,6 102,5 119,9 105,9 130,5 132,8
* Fonte: SPIO/Statistik, Wiesbaden. Anche: MEDIA Salles, European Cinema Yearbook 1994, Milano 1994. • Dal 1990 questi dati si riferiscono alla Germania riunificata. Prima del 1990 i dati si riferiscono soltanto alla Germania dell'Ovest.

 

Il 17 maggio 1946 venne fondata a Babelsberg, nel settore sovietico di Berlino, la Defa, società di produzione cinematografica. A Berlino Ovest Arthur Brauner fondò la società CCC, che dovette attendere fino alla primavera del 1949 per ottenere la necessaria licenza. Il 12 ottobre di quello stesso anno venne creata a Gottinga la Filmaufbau GmbH che ottenne una licenza di produzione da parte delle autorità britanniche. Tre giorni dopo, il primo film tedesco del dopoguerra, DIE MÖRDER SIND UNTER UNS (Gli assassini sono tra noi), una produzione Defa di Wolfgang Staudte, venne proiettato in prima visione.

Nell'aprile 1949 il regista dei film di propaganda nazista, JUD SUESS, accusato di crimini contro l'umanità, fu giudicato "non colpevole" dalla corte distrettuale di Amburgo. Il 18 luglio, tre settimane dopo l'entrata in vigore della Legge della Repubblica Federale di Germania, la Freiwillige Selbstkontrolle der Filmwirtschaft (FSK - Censura Volontaria dell'Industria Cinematografica Tedesca) iniziò a svolgere la sua attività a Wiesbaden. L'organizzazione esaminava ogni film destinato alla proiezione nella Repubblica Federale di Germania. A settembre fu decretata la Lex Ufi. Essa si occupò dello scioglimento dell'Ufa e della riprivatizzazione del patrimonio cinematografico del Reich.

Alla fine del marzo 1951, il Bundestag tedesco approvò il principio delle garanzie sulle perdite per favorire la produzione cinematografica nella Germania occidentale. A maggio venne aperta, a Monaco, ad opera di Fritz Falter, la sala cinematografica Occam (Studio für Filmkunst/Studio per l'arte cinematografica). Essa rappresentò la prima sala cinematografica di repertorio della Repubblica Federale tedesca e fu attiva fino al 1970. In giugno ebbe luogo, a Berlino, il primo festival internazionale del cinema. Il Ministro Federale degli Interni assegnò anche il primo Premio Cinematografico tedesco. La Commissione per la Valutazione dei Film incominciò a svolgere la sua attività a Wiesbaden il 20 agosto di quello stesso anno. Essa classificava i film "di valore" e "di particolare valore". I film premiati avevano diritto ad uno sgravio fiscale governativo.

 
Il 25 dicembre 1953, la Nordwestdeutsche Rundfunk, la società di telediffusione della Germania del nord, trasmise il primo programma televisivo. Presto iniziarono regolari emissioni - ogni sera, tra le ore 20 e le 22. Nel novembre dell'anno successivo venne istituita la ARD, una cooperazione televisiva delle società tedesche di radiotelediffusione. Comunque, nel 1956 la frequenza delle sale raggiunse un livello record con 817 milioni di biglietti venduti.

Nel 1957 fu promulgata una legge sulla tutela dei minori. Essa suddivideva i film in più categorie, classificandoli adatti ai vari gruppi di età, a partire da 6, da 12, da 16 oppure da 18 anni ed oltre. Nel 1963 la Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF - Seconda Società Tedesca di Televisione) diede inizio, a Mainz, alle sue trasmissioni.

Nella Repubblica Federale di Germania venne istituita una legge federale per il sostegno al film. I proprietari delle sale cinematografiche dovettero versare 10 Pfennigs per ogni biglietto venduto ad un Fondo di sostegno alla produzione cinematografica. Tale azione di supporto era predisposta dalla Filmförderungsanstalt (Amministrazione del Fondo Cinematografico Federale) di recente costituzione. Durante gli anni successivi furono emanati molti emendamenti relativi a questa legge. Oggi le sale cinematografiche versano circa il 2% degli incassi al Fondo Cinematografico.

Nell'ottobre 1990, l'UCI aprì il primo multiplex, dotato di 14 schermi e di 2 899 posti, in un centro commerciale di Colonia. Nel marzo dell'anno seguente, il Gruppo Flebbe seguì questo esempio inaugurando il Cinemaxx nella città di Hannover, un multiplex comprendente 10 schermi e 3 281 posti. Fino ad oggi questo è rimasto uno dei complessi più importanti della Germania. Nel dicembre 1991 venne aperto, da Bernd Eichinger, il Cinedom di Colonia, dotato di 13 schermi e di 3 183 posti. Dal momento dell'apertura, il suo schermo 4 ha totalizzato il maggior numero di biglietti venduti dell'intera Germania (408 268 spettatori nel 1994). Oggi in Germania esistono 15 multiplex. Altri 10 sono previsti nel 1996.