Karl-Marx-Allee 131A (north side)
Construction period: 1960–1962
Architecture: collective Josef Kaiser with Herbert Aust
An egg for the big screen
In the line of buildings in the National Traditions style, the modernist cinema building stands out.
The small square had already been earmarked for a cultural building in 1951. However, the project was not realised until 1962. That is why the Kosmos Cinema from the 1960s is in the first construction phase on the avenue. It was built at the same time as the International Cinema and the pavilions on Schillingstraße – also to designs by the Josef Kaiser collective.
Its floor plan is unusual: The rectangular front building widens to the rear. That is where the egg-shaped cinema starts.
The Kosmos Cinema, just like the International Cinema opened one year later, was a première cinema. It had 1,001 seats and was the GDR’s largest cinema in 1962. It has been used for other purposes since 2005.