Kino Babylon

The Babylon is a cinema in the Mitte neighborhood of Berlin and part of a listed building complex at Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz opposite to the Volksbühne. The building was erected 1928/29 according to plans of architect Hans Poelzig and is regarded as typical of its construction period, Neue Sachlichkeit. In 1948 the theatre was heavily renovated and served afterward as a speciality cinema in the GDR. After the auditorium had been closed because of the danger of collapse, it was refurbished and reconstructed from 1999 until 2001 in accordance with conservation guidelines. In 2002 the reconstruction was awarded the "German Award for Monument Protection". Since 2001 the Babylon is once again open to the public and used primarily as arthouse cinema, as well as a venue for the Berlinale and musical and literary cultural events. Originally the cinema held 1200 members of audience in one hall, but is today divided into two halls with 450 and 70 seats.
By order of building contractor Alfred Schrobsdorff , Hans Poelzig designed from 1927 to 1929 eight blocks for a perimeter development at the Bülowplatz . The completed blocks included 170 apartments and 80 shops. The block where Babylon is located has the form of a right triangle, where Hirtenstraße and Kleine Alexanderstraße form the catheti and Weydingerstraße borders the block as hypotenuse. The layout of the block is given a facet at the acute-angled corner Weydingerstraße / Hirtenstraße, so that the building has a short front on Rosa-Luxemburg-Straße, where the entrance of the cinema is located at the address "Rosa-Luxemburg-Straße 30." After the destruction of World War II the block of the Babylon was the only complete survivor left from the overall design by Poelzig.

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