by Becky Tan

One of six cinemas to host the Filmfest Hamburg, Metropolis Cinema, Dammtorstrasse 30, was founded in 1952 as Filmtheater Dammtor. In 1979 it was renamed Metropolis; it was already well-known for festivals, large and small, as well as many sorts of films: retrospective, innovative, experimental, art house, etc. In 2007 it was officially listed as a German cultural heritage site. (Denkmalschutz). One year later, the building was to be torn down and rebuilt. Therefore, the complete interior of Metropolis Cinema was carefully packed up and film showings changed over to the temporarily vacated Savoy Cinema at Steindamm. Three years later in 2011, it reopened in its original state, except the entrance changed to the side street (next to the opera house), Theaterstrasse 10. There is always something interesting going on in Metropolis; the café is inviting for a coffee break. Walk over and pick up the schedule or google “metropolis kino hamburg program” which will take you to www.bing.com and point to several informative websites. (Source: Mach dir ein paar schöne Stunden, Das Hamburger Kinobuch, Michael Töteberg and Volker Reissmann)