The Tuschinski Theater is the child of the turn of two beautiful eras of architecture. The tumultuous design process resulted in a combination of outgoing art nouveau, art déco and even oriental style. Interestingly, the Polish Jew Abraham Tuschinski, who fled the Russian partition in search of a better life in America, is responsible for the extravagant cinema. Fate would have it that during his journey he decided to stay in the Netherlands to create the world’s most beautiful cinema.
The Dutch dream
Abraham Icek Tuszynski was born at the end of the 19th century in the small town of Brzeziny near Łódź. Already at the age of 18, Tuszynski illegally emigrated from the Russian partition to the west. His destination was America, but Rotterdam, from where he was to sail, kept him for the rest of his life. He found his feet quite quickly in his new surroundings and began showing other Jewish immigrants from Poland around the city. A while later he managed to find work as a shoemaker, and after a while he brought his wife Manja to live with him. Interestingly, Tuszyński was also the founder of the Polish Hotel for Jews emigrating from the east.
The business sense inherited from his father came in handy when scouting out lucrative new developments in the city. By the end of the first decade of the 20th century, cinema was flooding America and Europe, and Tuszynski sensed a way to make money. In 1911, an enterprising Jew bought an old church and converted it into an innovative cinema. The films in the Thalia cinema, although silent, were played with catch-up music, which attracted many viewers. However, after just one year, Tuszynski had to move out of the old building due to the demolition of a nearby street. The entrepreneur did not give up and instead of abandoning his unsuccessful business, he rented a nearby bakery to hold film screenings there.
Something the world hasn’t seen
Thalia returned after a year of changing venues, and in time Tuszynski created a recognisable chain of cinemas in Rotterdam. In 1917, the businessman wanted to establish his representative cinema in Amsterdam. To this end, he bought almost 2 square kilometres of land in a poor area of the city and commissioned Hijman Louis de Jong to design the cinema. However, the outbreak of the First World War prevented the start of construction and the project did not get off the ground until the early 1920s. During the Great War, Tuszynski searched for materials for the construction, which proved to be very difficult. For example, the wooden piles needed for the foundations were ordered from Germany, which did not want to export such strategic materials. The Dutch tile manufactory, on the other hand, was struggling with flooding at the time.
After the war, there was also a problem with the architect. Tuszynski quarrelled with Jong and broke off the collaboration, and the task of completing the project was given to a higher-class architect. Willem Kromhout was an architectural genius who was responsible, among other things, for the design of the Dutch pavilion at the 1915 World Exposition and dozens of outstanding projects. The visionary was excellent at mixing styles such as Art Nouveau and Brick Expressionism, which was particularly appreciated by Tuszynski.
The representative cinema was to be something the world had not yet seen. The heavy symmetrical façade is divided into three richly decorated segments. The central part of the façade is protected by two bay windows spaced at the sides. The geometric design on the consoles suggests that we are dealing with the art déco style, but the pilasters next to them seem to refer to something else. This is not an accidental observation, as the architect was inspired by the Amsterdam school, unique to the Netherlands, in which maritime motifs were an integral part of the design. The long oval pilasters are reminiscent of fish backs submerged in the wall. The same goes for the metal lamps that mimic organic shapes.
Total art
In the middle of the façade is a large bay window with stained glass. The bay window is topped by an Art Nouveau face, which could just as well refer to Art Déco. An Art Nouveau balustrade spans the roof and the two domes next to it conceal a small secret. As the building was constructed with long delays, the lanterns placed on the towers were probably never put into operation. Interestingly, the copper turrets are somewhat reminiscent of elements of Helsinki’s pioneer railway station.
Tuszynski was an ambitious perfectionist, so the interior of his showpiece cinema had to be as lavish as the façade. The building was to represent the idea of total art, where everything in the design was to be part of an artistic experience. For this reason, the colourful vestibule greets visitors with an incredibly ornate carpet designed by Jaap Gidding. The geometric design is reminiscent of the rich ornaments of the Neo-Mayan style. On the walls, other artists created polychromes combining the gentle shapes of Art Nouveau with the angular blocks of Art Déco. The interior could not lack artistic woodwork either, and the wood needed to create the furniture was imported from the Dutch colonies of the time (present-day Indonesia). Among the types of wood, ebony, Coromandel wood or walnut can be spotted. Exotic materials and ornamentation were also used in the oriental foyer boxes.
The most interesting display of artists is the main hall. The walls are covered with cubist polychromes, the arch above the stage contains oriental ornaments and the fine metal details are a feat of early art déco. The main auditorium is the site of a perfect synthesis of several different styles present in the early 1920s. Geometric lamps float on a sea of Art Nouveau shapes, and oriental cranes float above the vastness of vibrant colours. The decor of the Tuschinski Cinema Amsterdam puts most of the iconic American cinemas of the era to shame.
In German
Theatre Tuschinski opened in 1921, although many elements remained under construction. The cinema became a hit and its unprecedented style attracted thousands of viewers. Five years later, Tuschinski was awarded Dutch citizenship as a token of thanks for his contribution to the country’s cinema. The triumph of the Polish Jew lasted until 1936 when the company went bankrupt. However, the new owner left decision-making over the repertoire to Tuschinski until 1940. It was then that Tuschinski’s Rotterdam business was burned down in bombing raids that razed the city to the ground. Not a single cinema survived, and today there is no trace of the old Thalia cinema building. Fortunately, Amsterdam was not as badly damaged as Rotterdam, so Tuschinski’s cinema survived, despite the 1941 fire. However, the Germans still took over the building in 1940 and renamed it Tivoli, so that the signboard would not bear the founder’s Jewish name.
The Germans made quite a few changes to the cinema’s décor and layout. Of course, the repertoire also changed, but the former owner did not have much time to worry about the affairs of his cinema. In 1942, Tuszynski was arrested and sent to a transit camp in Westerbork. From there he was sent to the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp, where the Germans murdered him on 17 September that year. Unfortunately, in the same place the Germans also killed Theatre Tuschinski’s first architect, Hijman Louis de Jong.
Three years after Tuschinski’s death, the sign bearing his name returned to the building’s facade. In the 1970s, the building gained landmark status and two decades later the cinema was taken over by the Dutch branch of cinema giant Pathé, which you can read about HERE. Today, the Tuschinski Theater can safely be called the world’s most beautiful cinema, which is still thriving today. In this wealth of styles and colours, one must not forget that it is all the work of an immigrant from Poland.
Source: European Film Academy
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