Let the movie begin!130 Years of Cinema and Film in Cologne

Cologne's Cinema Pioneer: How Ludwig Stollwerck Brought Moving Pictures to the Rhine

On April 20, 1896, a sensational event took place in Cologne in the building at Augustinerplatz 12: For the first time in Germany, a paying audience watched a film program featuring moving images from the “Cinématographe Lumière.” The device, developed by the Lumière brothers, revolutionized film technology by innovatively combining the functions of a camera and a projector. Prior to this, film screenings had already taken place in New York by Thomas Edison and in Berlin by the Skladanowsky brothers, though using different, less sophisticated technology and as part of a variety show. Along with New York, Berlin, Paris, and Vienna, Cologne is one of the places worldwide where cinema first took root.

What began with a 50-pfennig admission fee for ten 50-second films is closely linked to a Cologne-based confectionery: The screening was organized by Ludwig Stollwerck, the chocolate manufacturer and founder of the Deutsche Automaten-Gesellschaft Stollwerck & Co (DAG). He recognized the potential of moving pictures early on and acquired the German rights to the film technology from Auguste and Louis Lumière. Shortly after the premiere of the films from France, cinematographer Charles Moisson shot the first moving images of Cologne in May 1896.

With the rise in film production after 1900, the first movie theaters also began to appear in Cologne. Before that, “living photographs” were part of the program at variety shows and theaters, interspersed with skits, acrobatics, magic tricks, and dance performances. Watching movies together was a new and popular experience that fascinated people. Movie theaters were built and enriched the architecture of the city.

Penny Arcade Movies

On August 24, 1895, the German vending machine company Stollwerck & Co. opened the first vending machine theater in the Königin-Augusta-Passage. Anyone who inserted ten pfennigs into one of the machines could enjoy watching short films.

A tech enthusiast from Cologne

Chocolate manufacturer Ludwig Stollwerck (1857–1922) had a keen interest in technology. In 1895, he founded the Deutsche Automaten-Gesellschaft Stollwerck & Co. (DAG). Through this company, he produced and distributed films. In 1896, 1.4 million visitors attended screenings at DAG venues in several major German cities.

The Invention of Cinema

The “Cinématographe Lumière,” invented by brothers Auguste and Louis Lumière, is both a movie camera and a projector in one and offers a completely new level of image quality. The name of the device—known at the time as the “cinematograph”—also gave cinema its name.

Cologne Goes to the Movies

Starting in 1900, the first movie theaters opened in Cologne. The number and size of movie theaters grew rapidly, both in the city center and in the suburbs. The so-called “Kintopps” (colloquial Berlin slang for “movie theater”)—which had been located inside rooms of restaurants—were transformed into grand palaces. Cologne’s movie theaters reached their peak in the 1950s and early 1960s. In 1959, there were 87 movie theaters with a total of 45,683 seats and 16.35 million moviegoers.

Movie theaters come and go

The number of movie theaters in Cologne has fluctuated greatly over the course of its 130-year history. After a golden age in the 1920s and 1930s, all but seven movie theaters were destroyed during World War II. By 1946, there were already 14 again. By the time television was introduced, the number had grown to 87 movie theaters in Cologne. After that, the number declined again: by 1969, there were only 47 movie theaters left in Cologne.

“Living Photographs”

On Pentecost 1896, the people of Cologne saw their city and its residents on film for the first time: churchgoers streaming out of the cathedral after Mass, a train pulling into the main station, and workers leaving the Stollwerck chocolate factory. The scenes were filmed three weeks earlier by Charles Moisson, who was working with the Lumière brothers. He was commissioned by Ludwig Stollwerck. While still in France, the Lumière brothers had already filmed workers leaving their factory and the arrival of a train. The first films shot in Cologne captivated audiences. For two months, the films were shown daily at 30-minute intervals at the Automaten-Magazin in the Königin-Augusta-Passage.

In September 1896, Ludwig Stollwerck invited a second “Opérateur” from the Lumière brothers to Cologne. Constant Girel decided to film along and on the Rhine. With the shot “Panorama of Cologne,” filmed from a moving boat, he created one of the first tracking shots in film history.

Curiosity and Moving Images

The fascination with everyday, mundane life—this primal form of cinematic curiosity—is already evident in the first Cologne film miniatures from 1896. The audience gazes spellbound at themselves and their own city, captured in this new medium of the modern era. Over the decades, this curiosity has evolved and intensified in the city of the cathedral. At the beginning of the 20th century, viewers peered through the peep boxes in the Königin-Augusta-Passage with curiosity and secret fascination; then their gaze broadened to include film footage of political and sporting events. A longing for fantastical stories and real adventures quickly took hold. A milestone came in 1927 with “The Beggar of Cologne Cathedral”—the first major Cologne crime thriller.

Today, 130 years later, Cologne looks back on a rich cinematic history. The urge to watch, to catch glimpses of new worlds, and to let images captivate, entertain, and distract us has remained. Cologne’s film history impressively demonstrates that the cinema is not only a place for storytelling but has always been a space for our inexhaustible curiosity.

The Magic of Light

The Laterna Magica is the precursor to the cinema. It allows people to view projected images together in darkened rooms. Inside the box, a reflector focuses the light from a candle or lamp. Sliding glass plates create simple movements, which artists accompany with stories and music.

“The Magic Lantern”

From the 17th century through the early 20th century, the images projected by the Laterna Magica served as the precursors to today’s motion pictures. Sophisticated sliding and overlay techniques involving hand-painted or printed glass plates brought the projection to life. Popular subjects included fairy tales and picture stories, landscapes and travel scenes, as well as spooky imagery.

Chocolate wins!

Commissioned by chocolate manufacturer Ludwig Stollwerck, the promotional film “Auf der Ski-Tour” was produced in 1926. Director Hans Fischerkoesen uses humorous drawings and comparisons to parody the consumer and food culture of the Weimar Republic. In the battle of the calories, chocolate comes out on top.

Find Love with Chocolates

The theme of chocolate also inspired animation pioneer Lotte Reiniger: “Die Barcarole” (1924) is a short animated silhouette film and commercial that offers an elaborate reinterpretation of the romantic tragedy “Romeo and Juliet” for the chocolate brand “Mauxion.”

Cologne Becomes a Crime Scene

The German silent crime film “Der Bettler vom Kölner Dom” was made in 1927 and directed by Rolf Randolf. The masked agent Tom Wilkins hunts down a gang of jewel thieves in Cologne’s underground. What makes it special is that the film features rare historical footage of the Cologne Rose Monday parade from 1926.

Cologne as a Film Location

As early as the beginning of the 20th century, cinematographers were capturing images of the city of Cologne. They documented social and sporting events. The first sensational dramas set on the Rhine, adventure and crime films, comedies, and commercials followed. The city on the Rhine serves as a versatile and adaptable location for filmmakers: not only the cathedral and the main train station are popular settings, but also Cologne’s lively neighborhoods and suburbs.

During the “Golden Twenties,” Cologne flourished as a cinema city, but fell behind Berlin, the film capital, in terms of production. After World War II, only a few feature films were made in Cologne. The comedy “Das ideale Brautpaar” (1953/54) and the DEFA production “Der Hauptmann von Köln” (1956) were the exceptions.

This trend changed with the advent of television. Cologne has since become the setting and backdrop for a wide variety of productions, ranging from TV movies and adaptations of literary works to action-packed crime dramas. Well-known long-running series such as the Cologne-based “Tatort,” “SOKO Köln,” and “Lindenstraße” have shaped German television for decades. Since the 1990s, Cologne’s film studios have also been attracting national and international film productions. With the Academy of Media Arts, the ifs Film School, and a vibrant independent scene, a creative environment is taking shape from which film projects are developed and brought to life.

Jazz, Ice Cream, and Intellectuals

The short documentary “Heißer Jazz und kaltes Eis,” set to a poem by Jürgen Becker, profiles jazz impresario Gigi Campi. The “Campi” ice cream parlor on Hohe Straße has been a gathering place for artists, intellectuals, musicians, and journalists since 1948.

The legendary “Cologne Concert”

The feature film “Köln 75” tells the story of Keith Jarrett’s legendary “Cologne Concert” on January 24, 1975, at the Cologne Opera House from the perspective of the young event organizer Vera Brandes. The Cologne Philharmonic Hall and the opera house in Łódź, Poland, serve as filming locations.

Playground of Images

With the invention of film, a new art form was born: moving images offer the opportunity to document scenes from everyday life. From the very beginning, fairground performers and artists have used this new medium to tell short stories: They staged situational comedy and slapstick, added music to the silent black-and-white footage, thereby enhancing the dramatic effect, and made use of film editing techniques. In doing so, 130 years ago, they laid the foundation for what we all know and see today: feature films and TV series, reels, clips, and videos.

The medium of film is evolving rapidly, both technically and artistically: from silent films to sound films, from black-and-white to color films, and from attractions at fairs and variety shows to film adaptations of middle-class theater plays. Animated films, music films, action films, and concert films are emerging, as well as aesthetic experiments. Civil society uses video as a medium for self-empowerment. Filmmakers interpret the past, envision utopian worlds, or confront the audience with uncomfortable truths.

Art at Every Turn

Benjamin Patterson (1934–2016), a musician and performance artist from the United States, moved to Cologne in 1960. There, he became part of the young experimental scene centered around Mary Bauermeister’s studio. In 1990, in conjunction with his exhibition, he staged the performance art piece “Blind Walk,” which ran from Cologne Cathedral to the gallery at Engelbertstraße 30 in the Belgian Quarter.

‘Heimatfilm’ set in the university cafeteria

“8 Essen III” is a regional film with a difference. The “Cologne Group” documents its meetings in the university cafeteria on film. The collective emerged in the 1990s from the creative circles surrounding Filmclub 813 and the Cologne Filmhaus.

---