Germany's largest art house auditorium is located in a magnificent theater building at Bahnhof Zoo. From the temple-like exterior with stone lions and decorative vases, to the glittering interior, to the Cinemascope screen and an auditorium with over 600 seats, everything here is larger than life.For decades, the Delphi Filmpalast has been one of the city's most important premiere cinemas and Berlinale venues. Together with Bikini-Haus, Galerie C/O and Helmut Newton Museum, the cinema forms the cultural center of West Berlin. International jazz greats also perform in the "Quasimodo" in the basement of the building. The Delphi Filmpalast is one of the few remaining cinemas in Germany where films can still be shown in 70mm format. The fine selection of current productions is complemented by matinees and film premieres. And renowned filmmakers are not only occasionally on stage for Q&As, but also often among audience members.
1927/28
The Delphi Palast dance club opens.1943
The theater is shut down as the war progresses.1949
Walter Jonigkeit restores the badly damaged building and opens the Delphi Filmpalast with state-of-the-art technology and the largest cinema screen in Berlin.1952
The second Berlin International Film Festival is held in the palace.1981
The Berlinale's first Forum of Young Cinema takes place in the newly remodeled Delphi Filmpalast.1980s
The cinema endures several periods of crisis and threats of closure. A new, sophisticated program concept is developed. 2009
On December 25, 2009, founder Walter Jonigkeit dies at the age of 102. He lived to see the 50th birthday of his cinema.2021
The Delphi Filmpalast awakens from the second Covid lockdown with a carefully renovated foyer and a brand-new 4K laser projector.