“Maybe Senckenberg needs an event hall or a larger room for gastronomy,” hopes Uhrmacher. He wants to wait and see for now. If nothing happens with Senckenberg, an event hall could also be created, or in German: an event hall. Watchmakers can imagine theater performances in them, as can concerts. “But definitely not a disco,” he says.
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Senckenberg has no need
Senckenberg actually declines with thanks. “We have planned a larger event hall ourselves, even with more seats than in the Humboldthaus,” says Museum Director Willi Xylander. The research campus also plans to have its own bar canteen without a kitchen: “We need that too, because we are 200 people including the students,” explains Xylander. Because both are planned, he sees no need to use the former Capitol. He is also a little surprised about the offer, because watchmakers have not yet approached Senckenberg. “In the meantime, our planning has reached a certain level and the trade fairs have been sung,” says Xylander.
The Capitol Hall collapsed more than ten years ago – definitely before Uhrmacher bought the building. The outer walls have been preserved, including the remains of a stage and a few steel girders inside. An arch is also visible on one wall, and old painting in another place. Uhrmacher has invested in the front building. There was a nightclub there for a long time, now a kebab restaurant has opened. But not much has happened in the Capitol so far. “I have had the rubble disposed of and keep things tidy, for example I regularly clear the undergrowth,” says Uhrmacher.
Grass grows in the former hall of the Capitol behind Berliner Straße 32. Only the outer walls are still standing. © nikolaischmidt.de
In the summer of 2018 he had already announced major construction work. “The hall will be covered again, it will start in mid-2019,” Uhrmacher said at the time. The outer walls should be kept at their current height, maybe a meter lower. Then he planned a flat roof: “It is better soundproof than a pitched roof, both inside and out,” said Uhrmacher.
He owns nine houses in Görlitz, at that time he drove every month from his home in Düsseldorf across the country to check on the Neisse. His plans for the Capitol were not yet too detailed: “We are only just preparing the building application.” Now he explains that everything else depends on the future use. In any case, he needs “a sensible partner to run it,” says Uhrmacher.
A house with a long history
The Capitol has a long history. It was built around 1870. The builder was the master butcher August Altmann from Görlitz. He set up a restaurant in the front building and a hall in the back building. The complex was alternately called “Zur Deutschen Reichshalle”, “Café und Weinhaus Astoria”, “Astoria-Theater”, and for a short time also “Empire Theater”. From 1907 it was known as the Reichshallentheater with a variety theater and 1,300 seats. In 1924 the hall in the rear building became a movie theater. The cinema was called “Deulig Palace”, and for a few years also “Deulig Palace Tivoli”.
Around 1935 the cinema was called “Capitol”. In the front building, Rüdiger’s restaurants later took over the restaurant. Rüdiger was known for its good quality as a dining restaurant in Görlitz with several facilities. Even after 1945, Rüdiger’s restaurants remained in the front building, while the “Capitol” in the hall reopened in autumn 1945. In the GDR, the “Capitol” in Görlitz with its 800 seats was considered to be the home of second performances, while premieres were reserved for the “Palace Theater”, which could hold 1,200 visitors. The “Capitol” was closed after 1990. After reunification, there was a nightclub in the front building with changing owners and names: “California”, “La Notte”, “Daily Motion” and Nightlife. A few years after 1990 there was a video library in the hall.
You can read more news from Görlitz here.
Read more news from Niesky here.
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