Cologne-Porz drive-in cinema threatened with closure: petition to save the cinema

Somewhere ahead is 2001: A Space Odyssey. Hardly anyone in Porz’s huge parking lot in 1968 would realize that this new film is a science fiction blockbuster. Because at the end of the suffocating 60s, the drive-in cinema was above all the refuge of romantic couples. A long time ago. At that time Porz was still an independent municipality. Porz has been part of Cologne for almost 50 years and the cinema is still there. Up to 1,000 cars can be parked here at the same time. And in recent years it has also experienced a small recovery, also due to the period of the strictest restrictions of the coronavirus, when musicians or comedians were forced to gather their applause by turning on the headlights.

The Cologne drive-in is one of the few stationary drive-in cinemas that have survived from its heyday in the 1960s. There are still some in Frankfurt, Munich, Essen and Zwickau, and there are also temporary structures, especially for summer cinema, such as the one in Binz on Rügen. There are no longer any in the Rhineland for a long time: A drive-in cinema in Pulheim near Cologne was closed in the early 2000s. One in Ratingen, which ten years earlier belonged to the bankrupt Minidomm amusement park.

Cinema nostalgia in Porz may soon end after a court upheld the decision of the city of Cologne, according to which the weekly markets and flea markets held there are prohibited because there was no corresponding building permit. However, the markets make a significant financial contribution to the operator, Starnberg’s company DWJ. Without this additional income, business continuity is unthinkable, he said. However, the company does not want to give up the location altogether, probably motivated by the protests of film enthusiasts. DWJ is currently looking into two options: either legal action against the decision or a new event concept that will generate the necessary revenue while also complying with the rules. The only alternative to this would be the termination of the lease, and then it would end up in Porz by the end of 2023 at the latest.

The remaining stationary drive-in cinemas in Germany have around 300,000 visitors annually. Their share of the entire movie business is well under one percent. A niche business, but with constant numbers. And this despite a whole series of opposing developments: the car has largely served its purpose as a place of retreat for parentally supervised couples, and for more and more people it is just a piece of technology and no longer a lovingly cared for object familiar to associated with specific experiences.

Plus, there are far more mundane problems: Because windshields on today’s cars are generally smaller and lower than they once were, it’s nearly impossible to see from the back seats. Sometimes complicated settings are required for the sound reception via FM radio and switching off the daytime running lights when the ignition is switched on is often so difficult that the drive-in cinema Porzer, for example, has put together an online brochure of ten pages with instructions for all common car models. You have to strive for a romantic cinematic atmosphere.

Despite all this, there are apparently still a lot of fans. Within a week, nearly 12,000 people signed an online petition to keep the Porz cinema. Because “not all traditions must die”, because it is “a cultural asset”. Or also because “weekly and flea markets are an important source of supply for people with low incomes”. The outrage is great, also because many suspect that the city just wants to “make money” with the six-hectare site.