The Warsaw Fotoplastikon is a

stereoscopic Stereoscopy (also called stereoscopics, or stereo imaging) is a technique for creating or enhancing the illusion of depth in an image by means of stereopsis for binocular vision. The word ''stereoscopy'' derives . Any stereoscopic image is ...

theatre based on the

Kaiserpanorama The Kaiserpanorama (or Kaiser-Panorama) is a form of stereoscopic entertainment medium used chiefly in the 19th and early 20th centuries, a precursor to film, invented by August Fuhrmann (1844–1925). It was patented by the inventor ca. 1890. The ...

system of rotating stereoscopic images located in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officiall ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

. Operating at the same location since 1905, it is the oldest stereoscopic theatre in Europe still in business at its original location. Today it operates as a branch of the

Museum of the Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Rising Museum ( pl, Muzeum Powstania Warszawskiego), in the Wola district of Warsaw, Poland, is dedicated to the Warsaw Uprising of 1944. The institution of the museum was established in 1983, but no construction work took place for m ...

Description

The Warsaw Fotoplastikon has 24 fixed stereoscopic viewports. A visitor sits at a viewport around the circumference of the machine. Each picture, from a sequence of 48 three dimensional stereo images, appears for 15 seconds before moving on to the next. Above each viewport is a window which displays an illuminated card with a brief description of the scene below. The scenes are arranged by themes, such as a travelogue to distant lands or depictions of historic events. Recorded music related to the theme plays in the background. The Fotoplastikon uses a slightly modified version of the Kaiserpanorama

peepshow A peep show or peepshow is a presentation of a live sex show or pornographic film which is viewed through a viewing slot. Several historical media provided voyeuristic entertainment through hidden erotic imagery. Before the development of the c ...

system, differing in having 24 viewports instead of 25 in the Kaiserpanorama system.

History

The Warsaw Fotoplastikon was constructed in 1901. It was first shown at a temporary location but moved to its permanent location in a small theatre at the back of an inner courtyard of Kamienica Hoserów (Hoser Townhouse Apartment Building) at 51

Jerusalem Avenue Jerusalem Avenue ( pl, Aleje Jerozolimskie) is one of the principal streets of the capital city of Warsaw in Poland. It runs through the City Centre along the East-West axis, linking the western borough of Wola with the bridge on the Vistula Ri ...

soon after the building was built in 1905. The Warsaw Fotoplastikon is a Polish adaptation of the Kaiserpanorama peepshow technology invented in the 1890s which was popular across Europe before the growth of motion picture theatres. The Fotoplastikon has been operated at the 51 Jerusalem Avenue location since it opened, owned and run by a series of families more or less continuously since 1905, making it the oldest active ''

in situ ''In situ'' (; often not italicized in English) is a Latin phrase that translates literally to "on site" or "in position." It can mean "locally", "on site", "on the premises", or "in place" to describe where an event takes place and is used in ...

'' peepshow in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. Soon after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, in 1946, it was reopened by the Krempa (or Krępa) family, who ran the theatre until 1973. In 1973 the new owner was Józef Chudy. After his death in 1980, the Fotoplastikon closed but was relaunched by Józef Chudy's grandson, Tomasz Chudy, in 1992. The Fotoplastikon was entered in the Polish Register of Monuments in 1987. In 2008 Chudy leased the device, along with a collection of 3,000 slides, to the

. In December 2012 the museum bought the equipment and has continued to operate it in the original location. In September 2013 Fotoplastikon gained an additional room, next to its original site adjacent to the Hoserow courtyard.

Cultural influence

The Fotoplastikon served as a popular rendezvous point for many years, valued for its entertainment as well as providing a discrete location for couples to meet. In World War II, it was used by members of the Polish underground for clandestine meetings. The Kamienica Hoserów was one of the very few central Warsaw buildings not destroyed during World War II, allowing the Fotoplastikon to survive as a refuge from the horrors of the war and the hardship of the postwar communist era. It provided one of the few ways for Warsavians to view the outside world. The owners of the Fotoplastikon would loan their stereoscopic camera to Poles authorized to travel abroad and thus created new slide shows to supplement the Fotoplastikon's rare collection of original Kaiserpanorama historical travelogues. Imported jazz and pop records often served as the background music, providing an opportunity for Poles to enjoy western music during the communist era. The Fotoplastikon has served as a period location for some Polish films, among them ''Polish Roads'' and ''This Honor''. The Fotoplastikon served as an important setting in the 2013

graphic novel A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...

''The Property'' by Israeli author and illustrator

Rutu Modan Rutu Modan ( he, רותו מודן, born 1966) is an Israeli illustrator and comic book artist. She is co-founder of the Israeli comics group Actus Tragicus and published the graphic novels '' Exit Wounds'' (2007) and '' The Property'' (2013). Bi ...

. Several special performances have been held using live musicians playing inside the Fotoplastikon to accompany the stereo images as well as special evening shows of period erotic images of scientific curiosities.Dariusz Bartoszewicz, "Photoplasticon world: erotic curiosities", ''Warsawa Gazeta'', 2011-02-24
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References

Bibliography

* John Brykczyński, ''Warsaw Townhouses and their inhabitants'', History Meeting House, Warsaw, pp. 8–18, "Jerozolimskie 51

* Agnieska Skórska-Jarmusz, "Magic Barrel", ''Warsaw Courier'', pp. 33–35, June/July 2012

External links

Official website of Fotoplastikon

{{coord, 52.2288, N, 21.0085, E, source:wikidata, display=title Tourist attractions in Warsaw History of Warsaw Fotoplastikon Culture in Warsaw 1905 establishments in Poland Theatres completed in 1905 Stereoscopy Fotoplastikon