The publication and the award of the researcher prize of the historical association falls precisely at a time when the cinemas are closed due to the corona: Hermann Kraus has devoted himself to the history of the movie theaters in the city and district of Erding on over 100 pages.
And with it a new, readable capital of local history was written.
Erding - Kraus got the idea for this documentation a year ago when he was taking part in a city tour with Winfried Scholten.
He reported to the senior boss of the Kraus fashion house that he had handed over former cinema seats to the Erdinger Museum.
That triggered the research instinct in the 76-year-old.
In the middle of his paperwork, he announced the annual researcher award.
Kraus applied - with success.
The history of cinema in Erdingen began before World War I - in Kordonhausgasse, where silent films were shown.
This chapter is now 100 years old.
In the 1920s, Helene Kiermaier opened the "Lichtspielhaus im Weißen Bräuhaus", later also called the "Weißbräu-Lichtspiele", on the Lange Linie.
Kraus kept coming across a name - Enrico Calligaro.
He married Sofia Blumenthal from Erdingen.
As tenants, they opened the Weißbräu-Lichtspiele in January 1947.
These were located above a pigsty.
Rats were inevitable there.
Kraus unearthed the nice anecdote that a moviegoer was happy to have petted a kitten during the screening.
“In fact, it was awesome,” reports Kraus with a smile.
Only two years later the Calligaros got ready to establish a big-city cinema in Erding.
To do this, they rented the former malt house of the Ferstlbräu on the Lange Linie.
The story of the city theater began in March 1951, and it wasn't until many years later, in 2002, that it became a real stage.
The "Erdinger Lichtspiele" ("ELI-Kino") opened a year earlier.
Behind this is the second family that is closely related to this genre - the Kalmowicz '.
The ELI was built on the corner of Prielmayerstraße and privy councilor Irl street.
It corresponded to a “real cinema” with a box.
Cultural events and graduation celebrations also took place there.
Ralf Kalmowicz's cinema roots are in Dorfen, where he took over the cinema in 1946.
Later, in 1954, he also launched the town hall light show next to the Heiliggeistkircherl, where the Greißl hall once stood and is now a drugstore.
This is where the Narrhalla found a stage for years.
There were not only 500 upholstered armchairs, but for the first time also a sound system for the hard of hearing.
In 1974 the Rathaus-Lichtspiele moved to the city theater after Calligaro had given up his cinema there and the rooms were empty for some time.
In the early / mid-1950s, the Calligaros ran the “Filmbühne St. Paul”, also known as the “Schachterlkino” because of its small size.
Especially Wild West films flickered across the screen here.
At the same time, from 1954, the Calligaros ran another cinema - the "Ringtheater" on Gießereistraße.
In 1989 the "Filmcasino" was rebuilt and the Calligaros leased it to a company that also included the legendary Arri cinema in Munich.
The film casino, built for one million marks, was then considered the most beautiful and modern cinema in the Munich area.
But after less than ten years, the last projector was switched off in 2002.
Instead, the big cinema hit the Egger site on Dorfener Strasse.
In March 2000 the lights went on in the "Lichtspielberg-Kino" - with more than ten halls and 1000 seats.
It has been operating as the Cineplex Kino since 2004, and is still managed today by the Fläxl family of cineastes.
There was also a cinema in the air base, which was of course reserved for US soldiers.
Kraus also dealt with the cinemas in the district.
The variety was significantly greater.
There were also plays of light in Dorfen, Forstern, Goldach, Hörlkofen, Moosinning, Reithofen, Taufkirchen and Wartenberg.
Today film fans only get their money's worth in Erding, Dorfen and Taufkirchen.
The annual journal of the historical association with the essay by Hermann Kraus is available for ten euros from the Kraus fashion house and from chairman Heike Kronseder on tel. (0 87 62) 94 92.
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