HaJa-30/14
Hans Sigmund Jaretzki's Park Lichtspiele Cinema in Berlin
The Cinema Park Lichtspiele was built in 1930 by the architect Hans Sigmund Jaretzki. In the 1930ies the cinema became one of the most successful entertainment venues in Albrechtstraße 49, Berlin-Steglitz. The building survived the War without any damage, but after the war it became less popular or maybe unaffordable for the residents of this neighborhood. The cinema was closed in 1968.
After that the "Park Lichtspiele Kino" suffered some drastic chances. The EDEKA Supermarket chain completely changed the interior design to suit its purpose as a modern food market purpose with modern amenities to store goods and fresh groceries. When the supermarket moved out, the place was rented by a Music Instruments Store and soon afterwards by an Electronics Store called Atlas Multimedia, which still uses the building today. Today the old cinema is entirely cluttered with washing machines and refrigerators that have regularly been updated so that the modern models at the entrance continuously push the older ones into the depth of this building. It has become the ideal place for the manager of the shop who used almost every corner of the interior to sell, store and archive these products. As he began to tell the history of the building from his process of appropriating the place the project continued to investigate more about the life and work of Hans Sigmund Jaretzki.
With the empowerment of the Nazi regime in 1933 the architect who was Jewish felt forced to leave Germany and to emigrate to Great Britain with his family. He started working again in London, first as an interior architect and also furniture designer and soon he started his own practice. In 1943 he was one of the founders of the Germany Austria Association of Architects and Engineers called “The Circle”. Hans Sigmund Jaretzki died in 1956 in London.
Today Jaretzki’s daughter Eve Haas, who in July 2014 celebrated her 90th birthday, together with her son Timothy Haas can still tell about the architect, his personality and the anecdotes about adapting to the life in a foreign country.
Winner of the creative price: Bauhaus Essentials 2014 & GRAFE
Bauhaus-University Weimar, CDA – Project & Exhibition
Tutors: Prof. Ines Weizman, Wolfram Höhne, Markus Schlaffke, Volkmar Umlauft
Script, camera and editing: Ana Paula Nitzsche, Martin Girard
