The Lost Cinemas of Rotterdam: Arena

Lost cinemas of Rotterdam Arena

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Although most people in Rotterdam will know this location, on the Kruiskade, as the former stage Nighttown (where a lot of famous musicians have played, it was a cinema for a couple of decades before. It was also one of the few cinemas which survived the second world war.

After the success of his W.B.Theater located on Nieuwe Binnenweg Karl Weisbard decides in 1930 to open a second cinema: Roxy Theater. The building is designed by Jac Van Gelderen. It has a thousand seats and opens its door on May 31st. Besides movies some stage performances take place as well. Continue reading

The Lost Cinemas of Rotterdam: Cineac NRC

Lost Cinemas of Rotterdam: Cineac NRC history

In the past I have looked at several lost cinemas, but there are still a lot I had not touched upon yet. Time to continue with my journey to the past, this time with Cineac NRC cinema which was located at the Coolsingel, next to department store Bijenkorf. Pathé started the Cineac cinemas to show the latest news. It was shown constantly and visitors would be able to stay there as long as they wanted. With the slogan “A journey around the world in 50 minutes!” it tried to lure them in.

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The Lost Cinemas of Rotterdam: Oscar

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In this series I take a look at cinemas in Rotterdam that have closed down. This week it’s the Oscar cinema. It opened in the centre of Rotterdam in 1975 at the Meent and closed it’s doors in 1989 and had 215 seats.

What surprised me though is that I didn’t know it existed even though I could have walked past it when I was younger. I asked my parents and other people about this, but no one could remember it. It was the one where the original location eluded me. I had an idea of its location, but no one could confirm it. I came into contact with someone who’s grandmother used to work there, but even he couldn’t pinpoint where it was after I sent him some pictures. It took me two weeks of research to finally track it down and once I thought I found the location I couldn’t wait to see if I was right. Continue reading

The Lost Cinemas of Rotterdam: Alhambra

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My search for cinemas that were lost to time continues. This week with the Alhambra cinema, which opened in 1979 and closed in 1995, had 195 seats and was located on the Coolsingel. It’s a cinema I do remember because it was converted to a “riskbioscoop”, which meant that it showed older movies which you could watch for just 2 and a half guilder (which would be around 1 euro 10). As a teenager it meant a very cheap way to get out of the house and watch a movie and I would be there often. Continue reading