It has been a while since I’ve done this, but time to continue my journey through the cinema history of Rotterdam. This time with a big cinema which stood in the centre of Rotterdam, close to Central Station: Lutusca.
During the second World Ware several cinemas in Rotterdam were destroyed when the city was bombed including Lumière, Tuschinski theaters and Scala. Rotterdam started rebuilding which meant building temporary emergency buildings for businesses. The various destroyed cinemas also wanted such a building for their business, but were too late to request these. The city of Rotterdam told them that if they were willing to work together though they would allow one emergency building. This new cinema could have a total capactity of a thousand seats and had to be demolished by 1961.
Construction of the new cinema, designed by architect Hermans, started on the 20th of March 1946 and on the 18th of December that same year the cinema opened it’s doors. It was located on Kruisplein and had 999 seats. Its opening film was The Four Feathers. The name of the cinema, Lutusca, is a combination of the names of the destroyed cinemas. In september 1959 Rotterdam instructed the cinema to close its doors. It was demolished and the square was used as a tram station. During the last couple of years it was changed again and it is now a square which leads to central station and which houses a huge underground carpark.
Sources:
“Fantasie, illusie en betovering, herinneringen aan Rotterdamse bioscopen” van Herman Romer
“Over stalles, Rotterdam en het witte doek en parket” van Henk Berg
Gemeentearchief Rotterdam
maurisdumas.nl
With special thanks to the World Trade Center Rotterdam for allowing me to photograph on their building.