The Koninklijk Theater Tuschinski (English: Royal Theatre Tuschinski) is a

movie theatre A movie theater (American English) or cinema (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), also known as a movie house, cinema hall, picture house, picture theater, the movies, the pictures, or simply theater, is a business ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

, Netherlands, near

Rembrandtplein Rembrandtplein (English: Rembrandt Square) is a major square in central Amsterdam, Netherlands, named after Rembrandt van Rijn who owned a house nearby from 1639 to 1656. History The square has its origins in the defensive walls constructed in t ...

History

The theatre was founded by Abraham Icek Tuschinski, together with his brothers-in-law Hermann Gerschtanowitz and Hermann Ehrlich. Tuschinski already operated four theatres in Rotterdam and wanted to open a worldclass theatre in Amsterdam. Construction started on 18 June 1919, the theatre was built in

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

Jugendstil (; "Youth Style") was an artistic movement, particularly in the decorative arts, that was influential primarily in Germany, Austria and elsewhere in Europe to a lesser extent from about 1895 until about 1910. It was the German and Austrian cou ...

and the Amsterdams School style at a cost of circa ƒ 4 million.Anton van Elburg, Dennis Römer: ''75 jaar Tuschinski Theater''. Publish, Amsterdam 1996, Tuschinski wanted to open the theatre with the first

theatre organ A theatre organ (also known as a theater organ, or, especially in the United Kingdom, a cinema organ) is a type of pipe organ developed to accompany silent films from the 1900s to the 1920s. Theatre organs have horseshoe-shaped arrangements of ...

in the Netherlands; unfortunately

Wurlitzer The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to as simply Wurlitzer, is an American company started in Cincinnati in 1853 by German immigrant (Franz) Rudolph Wurlitzer. The company initially imported stringed, woodwind and brass instruments ...

could not deliver in time; determined to open with an organ Tuschinski travelled to Brussels to acquire an existing one from another cinema. On October 28, 1921, the theatre opened its doors and the next day Dutch newspaper ''

Het Vaderland The ''Algemeen Dagblad'' (; ), also known by its initialism ''AD'' () is a Dutch daily newspaper based in Rotterdam. History and profile ''Algemeen Dagblad'' was founded in 1946. The paper is published in tabloid format and is headquartered i ...

'' wrote: "We declare before us generously that the wildest expectations have been exceeded and that Mr. Tuschinski has donated a theatre to our country which is unparalleled." The theatre contained electro-technical features, then considered revolutionary. Its unique heating and ventilation system kept the temperature even throughout the building. During the bombing of Rotterdam on 14 May 1940 Tuschinski lost all four of his cinemas there; his four cinemas outside Rotterdam survived. Following the bombing the Nazis occupied the Netherlands and in May 1940 Tuschinski, Ehrlich and Gerschtanowitz were fired by the Nazis from their own company. Tuschinski was taken over by the German film company

Tobis Film Tobis Film was a German film production and film distribution company. Founded in the late 1920s as a merger of several companies involved in the switch from silent film, silent to sound films, the organisation emerged as a leading German sound s ...

. As an act of resistance, on the birthday of

Queen Wilhelmina Wilhelmina (; Wilhelmina Helena Pauline Maria; 31 August 1880 – 28 November 1962) was Queen of the Netherlands from 1890 until her abdication in 1948. She reigned for nearly 58 years, making her the longest-reigning monarch in Dutch history, as ...

a Dutch and British flag were flown from a window of the theatre. Tobis changed the name Tuschinski to the Tivoli on 1 November 1940. During the occupation in July 1941 a fire broke out in which murals of Pieter den Besten were lost. Tuschinski and Gerschtanowitz were deported to

Auschwitz Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It consisted of Auschw ...

and Ehrlich to

Sobibor Sobibor ( ; ) was an extermination camp built and operated by Nazi Germany as part of Operation Reinhard. It was located in the forest near the village of Żłobek Duży in the General Government region of Occupation of Poland (1939–1945), ...

; all three were murdered by the Nazis in 1942. After the Dutch liberation the name Tuschinski was restored, but only three members of the Tuschinski, Gerschtanowitz and Ehrlich families survived. Max Gerschtanowitz inherited Tuschinski. The site was declared a

national monument A national monument is a monument constructed in order to commemorate something of importance to national heritage, such as a country's founding, independence, war, or the life and death of a historical figure. The term may also refer to a sp ...

in 1967 due to its distinctive architecture. In 1983 the Nöggerath Cinema, which was located on the same block, was acquired and renamed Tuschinski 3. The entire complex was sold in 1985 to Cannon and again in 1991 to MGM Cinemas. The French-based

Pathé Pathé SAS (; styled as PATHÉ!) is a French major film production and distribution company, owning a number of cinema chains through its subsidiary Pathé Cinémas and television networks across Europe. It is the name of a network of Fren ...

acquired the MGM Cinemas chain in The Netherlands including Tuschinski in 1995. They renovated the cinema from 1998 to 2002 to its original style and a corridor was constructed to Tuschinski 3, giving the complex a total of 6 auditoriums. Leading up to the cinema's centennial in 2021 Pathé renovated the complex yet again. This time auditorium 2 was brought back to its former glory, including the lost murals of Pieter den Besten. The former Nöggerath auditoriums were also given an update and in their foyer ''Bar Abraham'' opened. During the centennial '' Time Out'' magazine named Tuschinski the most beautiful cinema in the world. On 28 October 2021

Femke Halsema Femke Halsema (; born 25 April 1966) is a Dutch politician and filmmaker serving as Mayor of Amsterdam since 2018. She is the first woman to hold the position on a non-interim basis. She previously was a member of the House of Representatives ...

, mayor of Amsterdam, announced that King William-Alexander granted the cinema the royal predicate, renaming the complex to ''Koninklijk Theater Tuschinski'' (Royal Theatre Tuschinski).

Architecture

The western facade is flanked by two towers. It is decorated with

ceramic A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant, and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcela ...

sculptures and contains several

leadlight Leadlights, leaded lights or leaded windows are decorative windows made of small sections of glass supported in lead cames. The technique of creating windows using glass and lead came to be known as came glasswork. The term 'leadlight' could b ...

windows. The facade blends several architectural styles:

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...

and the

Amsterdam School The Amsterdam School (Dutch: ''Amsterdamse School'') is a style of architecture that arose from 1910 through about 1930 in the Netherlands. The Amsterdam School movement is part of international Expressionist architecture, sometimes linked ...

.Theater tuschinski in Amsterdam
Rijksmonumenten.nl. The building contains Asian influences while the lobby was designed in a way to offer theatergoers the feeling that they are stepping into an illusion. The Tuschinski's main auditorium has served as both a movie theater and a live performance space since its opening. In addition to a film screen, it also contains a stage and an organ.Bob Logger, Xandra Knebel u. a. (Red.): ''Theaters in Nederland sinds de zeventiende eeuw''. Theater Instituut Nederland, Amsterdam 2007, , S. 133–134

Gallery

File:Haltusch.jpg, Foyer File:Interieur, de filmzaal met balkons - Amsterdam - 20356832 - RCE.jpg, Auditorium File:Theater Tuschinski (2).jpg, Auditorium

References

External links

Pathé Tuschinski

Tuschinski cinema in Amsterdam
- history of the theater {{Authority control Cinemas and movie theaters in the Netherlands Art Deco architecture in the Netherlands Art Deco cinemas and movie theaters Art Nouveau architecture in Amsterdam Art Nouveau theatres Theatres completed in 1921 Rijksmonuments in Amsterdam 1921 establishments in the Netherlands