Will Munich’s cinema dying continue? South is fighting for the last movie theater
Culture wasteland on the outskirts of Munich. In the south, the city council and residents worry about the last cinema. It is the last movie theater in Solln.
- The outskirts in the south of Munich are becoming a cultural wasteland.
- Sollner and the city council fight for the last movie theater.
- Is the dying of the cinema going on in Munich?
It’s the last thing in the south of Munich: the cinema in Solln. But there is great concern that the last curtain will soon fall on the house at Sollnerstrasse 43a. And the dying of the cinema in Munich – only in 2019 had two traditional houses closed with the “New Gabriel” and the “Kino an der Münchner Freiheit” – continues.
Because in 2025 the lease for the Sollner cinema will expire after 20 years. The owner, Sedlmayr Grund und Immobilien AG Munich, has applied to the Local Building Commission (LBK) to convert the two halls and the foyer into seven residential units and a shop.
You are “Corona-related in a dispute with the landlord,” says Cornelia Green, spokeswoman for the cinema operator Omaha Film GmbH. Talks are ongoing. Should this fail, however, “the last cinema in a district with almost 100,000 inhabitants would be buried”, regret the district politicians of the 19th district.
Cinema dying in Munich – the south is fighting for the last movie theater in Solln
Stephan Altenburg from Sollner would also have to bury a piece of his identity: “When the cinema is no longer, we are only Munich suburbs who have to go to the city center for cultural programs.”
Altenburg understands that the owners want to make profitable use of the building and that apartments are important. But: “Without culture, Solln withers into a dormitory city”. With its lavish variety – wine tastings, book readings and exhibitions – the cinema contributes to Munich’s cultural program. Especially since people from the neighboring district of Harlaching, Pullach and even Wolfratshausen come to Solln for film screenings. Resident Rosemarie Riszterer believes that the people of Sollner will fight for their cultural center with signature campaigns.
Hildebrecht Braun was already active. The former FDP city council calls on the state capital in an open letter to change the land use plan for the site to a “special area for cultural use”.
The city council supports the idea of saving the cinema, explains city councilor Veronika Mirlach (CSU). But Braun’s proposal is not legally feasible. “A zoning plan can never be changed for a building alone, legal barriers stand in our way here”. The only solution is to get everyone – LBK, Kino and owner – around one table.
Christian Müller, chairman of the SPD / Volt parliamentary group, appeals “to the owner to go beyond his plans” and asks the planning and culture department to “absolutely find a solution”.
Operator spokeswoman Green is currently “confident that we will come to an agreement. Also in the interest of our regular audience, from whom we are currently receiving a lot of encouragement ”.
Program awards for Munich cinemas
The FilmFernsehFonds Bayern has awarded a total of 79 Bavarian film theaters for their excellent programming – including 14 Munich cinemas. The largest award of 20,000 euros went to the “Theatiner Filmtheater”. Each received 10,000 euros: ABC Kino, City / Atelier Kino, Kino Filmtheater, Filmtheater Sendlinger Tor, Leopold Kino, Monopol Kino, Neues Maxim, Neues Rex ”, Neues Rottmann, Rio Filmpalast, Studio Isabella, Werkstattkino – and the cinema in Solln .