Grand theatre Groningen by Humphry Jacobs

About "Grand theatre Groningen"

by Humphry Jacobs

About the artwork

Nice panoramic photo with the Grand theatre on the Grand Market as its centrepiece. The Grand Theatre was built in 1929 to a design by British architect G. Saville (1881-1973) in a building style with elements of art deco and the Amsterdam School. The façade in particular is one of the few examples of art deco in Groningen.

It was the fourth major cinema in the city. The oldest cinema, Elite, had already disappeared by the time Grand opened. Before World War II, the city also had the cinemas Luxor on Herestraat, Cinema Palace, also on Grote Markt, and Beurs on Akerkhof.

At the opening on 24 April 1930, Her Highest Desire, with Olga Tschechowa was screened. Alex de Haas provided a performance during the interval. This was followed by the film Heroes of the Air.[1] In August 1930, the Grand Theatre showed a sound film for the first time: Ich glaub' nie mehr an eine Frau by Max Reichmann, starring Richard Tauber. After an internal refurbishment in 1949, a number of brass geese were installed in the main auditorium,[2]

In 1977, Grand Theatre closed, after which the building stood empty for three years. In 1980, it was squatted and redeveloped as "alternative culture palace". The building retained its original name, also because it referred to its new use as a theatre.

In 1994, Grand Theatre was designated a national monument because of "its cultural-historical and architectural-historical value" and because of its "great significance for Groningen's cultural history" as a former cinema.

Following the national cutbacks in culture, the Grand Theatre Foundation ran into difficulties in 2012; it went bankrupt in March 2015. A few months later, the theatre was reopened.