Stadtkino

Stadtkino is one of the oldest art-house cinemas (Programmkino) in Vienna, Austria. Its original location was on Schwarzenbergplatz in Vienna's 3rd district, Landstraße, where it opened in 1916 as the Schwarzenbergkino and was re-founded as Stadtkino in 1981. In 2013 it moved to the Künstlerhaus am Karlsplatz, reopening on 26 September as Stadtkino im Künstlerhaus. The cinema was established in 1916 as the Schwarzenbergkino in the souterrain of a Gründerzeit building on Schwarzenbergplatz, built in the style of a Loge cinema with a capacity of 394. It later passed into the ownership of the Vienna cinema operating company Kiba and, after continuous losses, was closed by Kiba in 1980, at that time under the name Kammerlichtspiele. In 1981 the cinema was bought, renovated and reopened as Stadtkino on the initiative of the municipal culture department, the former Z-Bank, the municipal Kiba and Franz Schwartz. Capacity was reduced to 174. The cinema was intended to fill the gap between the programming of the Film Museum and commercial cinema programming, targeting average cinema-goers rather than a purely cinephile audience. This orientation, now known as Programmkino, was rare at the time and unique in Vienna. In the 1980s Stadtkino was one of the few cinemas in Austria to show international auteur cinema by directors such as Jim Jarmusch, Aki Kaurismäki, Raymond Depardon, Jean-Marie Straub, Chris Marker and Jane Campion, reaching a large audience. Films such as Down by Law (Jarmusch), The Piano (Campion) and Sans soleil (Marker) rank among its most-visited films. From the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s the cinema attracted between 48,000 and 58,000 visitors annually, with around 60,000 in its best year. From the mid-1990s, visitor numbers declined. In the 1990s Stadtkino also began operating as a film distributor. Since 1993 it has been one of the four festival cinemas of the Viennale. The Filmhaus am Spittelberg, opened in 1994, was also operated by Stadtkino until 2017; since 6 April 2018 it has been run as "Filmhaus. Kino am Spittelberg" by Filmcasino as a partner cinema. The Stadtkino company was taken over in 2001 as a subsidiary GmbH by the Viennale association in the course of Kiba's dissolution and is largely financed by subsidies from the City of Vienna. After it became known in 2007 that Kiba would no longer cover the operating costs of Stadtkino from 2009, Schwartz handed over his position as managing director to Claus Philipp as of 1 January 2009, after 27 years. At the end of 2011 plans became known to give up the cinema on Schwarzenbergplatz and relocate Stadtkino to the cinema in the Künstlerhaus Wien on Karlsplatz. On 20 December 2012 the two supporting associations, the Viennale and the Society of Austrian Visual Artists, Künstlerhaus, signed a contract initially for 20 years, under which "Stadtkino im Künstlerhaus" began operations at the end of September 2013. Until operations ceased on Schwarzenbergplatz in summer 2013, films such as Ulrich Seidl's Paradise trilogy (Paradise: Love, Paradise: Faith) and Der Glanz des Tages by Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel were still shown there. As "Kino am Schwarzenbergplatz" it remained in operation at the original location for the Viennale 2013. On 26 September 2013 Stadtkino reopened in the Künstlerhaus with the films Soldate Jeannette by Daniel Hoesl, La maison de la radio by Nicolas Philibert and Harmony Lessons by Emir Baighasin (Silver Bear, Berlinale). Since 2014 it has been the main venue and festival centre of the short film festival Vienna Shorts. In November 2017 Norman Shetler took over as managing director, and in early 2023 Wiktoria Pelzer. As of 1 January 2023 Stadtkino took over the Vienna Admiral Kino. As a distributor, since the 1990s Stadtkino has been active in Austria, specialising in international arthouse films. The 15 to 20 films distributed annually reach between 30,000 and 80,000 visitors.

Stadtkino is one of the oldest art-house cinemas in Vienna. Its original location was on Schwarzenbergplatz in Vienna's 3rd district, Landstraße, where it opened in 1916 as the Schwarzenbergkino and was re-founded as Stadtkino in 1981. In 2013 it moved to the Künstlerhaus am Karlsplatz, reopening on 26 September as Stadtkino im Künstlerhaus. The cinema was established in 1916 as the Schwarzenbergkino in the souterrain of a Gründerzeit building on Schwarzenbergplatz, built in the style of a Loge cinema with a capacity of 394. It later passed into the ownership of the Vienna cinema operating company Kiba and, after continuous losses, was closed by Kiba in 1980, at that time under the name Kammerlichtspiele. In 1981 the cinema was bought, renovated and reopened as Stadtkino on the initiative of the municipal culture department, the former Z-Bank, the municipal Kiba and Franz Schwartz. Capacity was reduced to 174. The cinema was intended to fill the gap between the programming of the Film Museum and commercial cinema programming, targeting average cinema-goers rather than a purely cinephile audience. This orientation, now known as Programmkino, was rare at the time and unique in Vienna. In the 1980s Stadtkino was one of the few cinemas in Austria to show international auteur cinema by directors such as Jim Jarmusch, Aki Kaurismäki, Raymond Depardon, Jean-Marie Straub, Chris Marker and Jane Campion, reaching a large audience. Films such as Down by Law (Jarmusch), The Piano (Campion) and Sans soleil (Marker) rank among its most-visited films. From the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s the cinema attracted between 48,000 and 58,000 visitors annually, with around 60,000 in its best year. From the mid-1990s, visitor numbers declined. In the 1990s Stadtkino also began operating as a film distributor. Since 1993 it has been one of the four festival cinemas of the Viennale. The Filmhaus am Spittelberg, opened in 1994, was also operated by Stadtkino until 2017; since 6 April 2018 it has been run as "Filmhaus. Kino am Spittelberg" by Filmcasino as a partner cinema. The Stadtkino company was taken over in 2001 as a subsidiary GmbH by the Viennale association in the course of Kiba's dissolution and is largely financed by subsidies from the City of Vienna. After it became known in 2007 that Kiba would no longer cover the operating costs of Stadtkino from 2009, Schwartz handed over his position as managing director to Claus Philipp as of 1 January 2009, after 27 years. At the end of 2011 plans became known to give up the cinema on Schwarzenbergplatz and relocate Stadtkino to the cinema in the Künstlerhaus Wien on Karlsplatz. On 20 December 2012 the two supporting associations, the Viennale and the Society of Austrian Visual Artists, Künstlerhaus, signed a contract initially for 20 years, under which "Stadtkino im Künstlerhaus" began operations at the end of September 2013. Until operations ceased on Schwarzenbergplatz in summer 2013, films such as Ulrich Seidl's Paradise trilogy (Paradise: Love, Paradise: Faith) and Der Glanz des Tages by Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel were still shown there. As "Kino am Schwarzenbergplatz" it remained in operation at the original location for the Viennale 2013. On 26 September 2013 Stadtkino reopened in the Künstlerhaus with the films Soldate Jeannette by Daniel Hoesl, La maison de la radio by Nicolas Philibert and Harmony Lessons by Emir Baighasin (Silver Bear, Berlinale). Since 2014 it has been the main venue and festival centre of the short film festival Vienna Shorts. In November 2017 Norman Shetler took over as managing director, and in early 2023 Wiktoria Pelzer. As of 1 January 2023 Stadtkino took over the Vienna Admiral Kino. As a distributor, since the 1990s Stadtkino has been active in Austria, specialising in international arthouse films. The 15 to 20 films distributed annually reach between 30,000 and 80,000 visitors. The most successful film of Stadtkino Verleih to date was Müllers Büro (1986), a film not shown at Stadtkino itself but which reached 441,000 cinema visits nationwide. In 2023 Stadtkino received the Austrian Cinema Prize (Österreichischer Kinopreis) of the Federal Ministry for Arts, Culture, the Civil Service and Sport: main prize for outstanding programming work.

• 2023

  Wiktoria Pelzer became managing director; Stadtkino took over Admiral Kino on 1 January; received Austrian Cinema Prize.

• 2018

  Filmhaus am Spittelberg taken over by Filmcasino as partner cinema on 6 April.

• 2017

  Norman Shetler took over as managing director in November.

• 2014

  Became main venue and festival centre of Vienna Shorts.

• 2013

  Reopened as Stadtkino im Künstlerhaus on 26 September.

• 2012

  On 20 December, Viennale and Künstlerhaus signed a 20-year contract for relocation.

• 2009

  Claus Philipp succeeded Franz Schwartz as managing director on 1 January.

• 2001

  Stadtkino company taken over as subsidiary GmbH by the Viennale association.

• 1994

  Filmhaus am Spittelberg opened, operated by Stadtkino until 2017.

• 1993

  Became one of the four festival cinemas of the Viennale.

• 1981

  Reopened as Stadtkino after renovation; capacity reduced to 174.

• 1980

  Closed by Kiba under the name Kammerlichtspiele after continuous losses.

• 1916

  Opened as Schwarzenbergkino on Schwarzenbergplatz, capacity 394.

Art-house cinema (Programmkino) bridging the gap between Film Museum programming and commercial cinema, specialising in international arthouse films and film distribution.

• Art-house film screenings

• Film distribution (Stadtkino Verleih)

• KINO FÜR DIE KLEINSTEN children's programme

• Viennale festival cinema

• Vienna Shorts main venue

1. 1Stadtkino Wien official websitestadtkinowien.at
2. 2Wikidata: Stadtkinowikidata.org
3. 3Wikipedia (German): Stadtkino (Wien)de.wikipedia.org