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Dear You,
when I look out of my window I see big lumpy snowflakes dancing over the the whole street, and a very strong gale urges them to move quicker. Yes, Berlin has got its share of the hurricane 'Xaver' - though luckily not with those masses and masses of water Hamburg has to cope with.
Winter has arrived - outside you see only those who have business to do - meaning: dogs and their owners. Some cars.
I had a wonderful week with my friend, who visited me - meaning: we sport dark under-eye-circles, because we chatted far, far into each night. Meaning: wonderful new little restaurants were explored. Meaning: exhibitions, walks trough different Kieze (residential quarters) of Berlin, and beautiful shops. And cinema: we saw a hilarious new film - 'Fack ju, Göthe' - (yes, I think you will understand that - it is the German onomatapoetic way how a person who comes from what they nowadays call the 'educational alienated class' would write the four-letter-word and the name of our prince of poets) - in the newly reopened cinema at the Zoo, the famous Zoo Palast.
When we moved to Berlin three years ago, the Zoo Palast was hidden behind wooden panels - you see a section of it on the picture above that I took then (on tiptoes). It took 3 years to rebuild this jewel of the Fifties - which is soaked with film-history. Built in 1956 - though before it had started in 1915 - showing e.g. 1927 the first release of 'Metropolis'. Destroyed by bombs in 1943, then rebuilt and extended. From 1957 till 1999 it was the official contest cinema of the Berlinale - and has seen many famous film actors on its red carpet (e.g. Romy Schneider, Errol Flynn, Gina Lollobrigida, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Sophia Loren, Jodie Foster, Tom Hanks, James Stewart).
About 4,4 millions Euro were invested into the completion of the new interior and building - the owner says: "Going to the movies shall become a celebration again. The Zoo Palace got back its soul by us."
7 cinema halls with (only) 1700 seats, meaning: enough room for long legs - you can almost lie on the comfy leather chairs! - and more than 100 employees, from the liveried (!) porters to the cloakroom attendants - everything in style and elegance. (Sorry that I didn't take pictures of the new glory that evening).
Ah - and hurray, hurray: the cinema is in a very, very nice walking distance to our flat!
So: if I am late with a new letter, dear, bear with me: I might be sitting in the palace, a princess lost in a new (or old) movie.
Yours
Britta
Such a storied history your Zoo Palast has. It seems you have escaped the worst of the hurricane, or at least I hope so--though I'm always mindful when I write something like this, that while some may have escaped, others have not.
ReplyDeleteDear Sue,
ReplyDeletethey say it has been the worst storm tide they had in Hamburg since 1962, the water was even higher - but they were much better prepared (then there were over 340 death to mourn). But there have been damages and deads, and in other northern countries too.
I quite often watch films on DVD but one cannot beat a real cinema. When I go I often prevaricate over what to see but when I get there, as soon as the light shines on the screen, I remember how just being there is great.
ReplyDeleteDear Dominic,
ReplyDeleteI love DVDs, they are often the sole possibility to watch English films or TV series. But as you say: the atmosphere of a cinema is something special, the 'We' is added (though I hate the popcorn-munchers :-)