Off for the Pali cinema in Darmstadt

• ofJens Joachim

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Because of the Corona crisis, the Pali cinema has to close not far from Luisenplatz. The Kinopolis at the main train station and the Citydome buildings in the pedestrian zone will be retained.

The end of a piece of Darmstadt cinema history looks bleak and bleak: Just a few steps away from Luisenplatz and Friedensplatz, there is an inconspicuous and at first glance uninviting building complex in downtown Darmstadt. On the facade above the entrance, a large metal sign with blue inscription reminds of a time that is now over. Because the Pali-Kino on Luisenstraße will no longer open its doors to visitors even after the Corona crisis.

Whoever looked through the closed glass doors of the traditional cinema on Friday saw nothing but sadness in the previous foyer of the cinema. The furniture of the reception and sales counter has been dismantled and expanded in the past few days. Only a coiled cable lies on the tiled floor. The trolley that was on the ground a few days ago has also disappeared.

Next to the building complex on which three cubes in the Bauhaus colors yellow, red and blue are attached to the side of the “Pali parking lot” named after the cinema and on which an old board advertises the “New Service Cinema” above the exit , two containers from the municipal waste disposal company are ready for collection.

The films that were once shown in the Pali are only reminiscent of black graffiti on the two house facades showing Charlie Chaplin, Marilyn Monroe or Johnny Depp as “Captain Jack Sparrow”. Also Sean Connery alias “James Bond”, Humphrey Bogart, the Blues Brothers and the writing “Hollywood” remind of the cinematic highlights of the past decades.

On the Facebook page of the “Pali”, however, the operator of the cinema, Kinopolis Management Multiplex GmbH, announced to previous guests that the cinema had to be shut down on April 15 with a “heavy heart”. The decision was “not an easy one” for the management. However, the current situation forces the company “unfortunately to take this step”.

For more than six decades, the cinema was an integral part of Darmstadt’s cultural life. In recent years, the audience interested in classical music has also enjoyed live productions of operas from New York, which were shown at the Pali.

The plan is now to present the productions on the large screens either in the Kinopolis opposite the main train station, in the Citydome cinemas in the Wilhelminenpassage, which include the Helia, the Festival and the art-house cinema Rex. Due to the corona restrictions, however, the movie theaters will remain closed.

Because all Darmstadt cinemas are operated under the umbrella of Kinopolis Management Multiplex GmbH, the customer cards and vouchers that were sold in the Pali-Kino also remain valid. According to the management, they can still be used and redeemed in the Darmstadt cinemas.

The Pali was opened in 1956 at the height of the cinema boom during the German “economic miracle”. The theater initially had a capacity of 500 seats, which was halved after a renovation in 1978. After that, the house became an arthouse cinema, while the action films were shown in the other houses.

In mid-March 2020, films were shown for the last time in the Pali. Then came the first lockdown. And in summer and autumn the management decided not to open the cinemas in the city center in the first place.

On Facebook, many film fans are now mourning the Pali and remembering their first visits to the cinema. A loyal visitor writes that it is currently “terrible to watch films at home”. “That may satisfy certain people – but nothing beats a movie night!”