The Union-Theater was a large cinema located on the
Alexanderplatz
() ( en, Alexander Square) is a large public square and transport hub in the central Mitte district of Berlin. The square is named after the Russian Tsar Alexander I, which also denotes the larger neighbourhood stretching from in the nort ...
in the German capital
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
. Opened in 1909 it was the first of a chain of cinemas built by the German film magnate
Paul Davidson. Equipped with an
orchestra
An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families.
There are typically four main sections of instruments:
* bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...
to accompany the action on screen, it provided a model for numerous subsequent film palaces across the
German Empire
The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...
. In 1913 Davidson had it remodelled and expanded its capacity to 1,200 seats, at that time the largest in the country.
[ Elsaesser & Wedel p.61] It hosted a number of
premiere
A première, also spelled premiere, is the debut (first public presentation) of a play, film, dance, or musical composition.
A work will often have many premières: a world première (the first time it is shown anywhere in the world), its first ...
s of new films, both German and foreign imports.
Like the rest of Davidson's cinemas, it was subsequently taken over by the large
UFA
Ufa ( ba, Өфө , Öfö; russian: Уфа́, r=Ufá, p=ʊˈfa) is the largest city and capital of Bashkortostan, Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Belaya and Ufa rivers, in the centre-north of Bashkortostan, on hills forming the ...
concern.
References
Bibliography
* Elsaesser, Thomas & Wedel, Michael. ''The BFI companion to German cinema''. British Film Institute, 1999.
* Hardt, Ursula. ''From Caligari to California: Erich Pommer's life in the International Film Wars''. Berghahn Books, 1996.
* Kreimeier, Klaus. ''The Ufa Story: A History of Germany's Greatest Film Company, 1918-1945''. University of California Press, 1999.
* Reimer, Robert C. & Reimer, Carol J. ''The A to Z of German Cinema''. Scarecrow Press, 2010.
{{coord missing, Berlin
Cinemas and movie theaters in Berlin