Cinema Eden

50sSNIPES on February 19, 2026 at 6:25 am

The Cinema Eden opened its doors on December 12, 1907 as the Theater-Kinematograph, and during its silent days, the Eden primarily screens foreign productions, primarily French, Danish, and German. It was first managed by Anton Schlumprecht, who already held a license to screen films in Innsbruck, and the Bolzano Eden itself effectively became a subsidiary of the Eden company. It had a few management changes throughout its first few years of operation. Management passed to Paul Gutweniger in 1908, who until then had worked at the Eden as a cashier. Anna Depaoli took over the theater the following year in 1909.

The need for small but significant maintenance projects to improve the quality of the projections led the theater’s management to frequently close the Cinema Eden during its first years of operation, albeit for short periods. For architectural improvements, the theater remained closed from April 6 to 18, 1908. On February 4, 1909, a spark during a screening caused a fire in the projection booth, but was quickly extinguished thanks to the intervention of some soldiers present in the theater who rushed to fetch water from Streiter Street, where a stream flowed at the time. The blame was attributed to Schlumprecht, who had a habit of hiring very young and inexperienced projectionists to save on operating costs, both in Innsbruck and Bolzano.

Improvements to the theater in these years included replacing the projectors with a new model that reduced image flickering, as well as rearranging the seating to reduce the discomfort caused to spectators when latecomers took their seats after the show had started. After several months of closure, the theater reopened on September 11, 1909, under the new name “Eden Theater”. With the reopening, musical interludes were introduced for the first time between shows, and a piano was purchased from a renowned Viennese firm for the occasion. The theater’s management paid particular attention to the musical aspect, and famous Austrian musicians were hired to play during screenings and interludes. While the presence of the piano in the theater was appreciated by the audience, protests from local residents led the municipality of Bolzano to establish a maximum time after which music could no longer be played in the theater. The projectors were also replaced again to keep pace with rapidly advancing technology.

It was a period of great success for a movie theater in Bolzano, and weekends were regularly sold out. Even the summer closure, which had always been practiced until then, was abolished, as many tourists were also beginning to frequent the cinemas. However, due to lower box office receipts, renovations to the theaters were often carried out during the summer months. The Eden Theater closed for two weeks in August 1910 for a complete renovation: the theater was equipped with two entrances, the outside steps were removed, the side walls were decorated with oil paints, and a starry sky was painted on the ceiling. The theater was also equipped with a ventilation system, essential for ensuring the comfort of spectators during the summer months. A contract was also signed with Pathé Frères for the supply of films. All these improvements were rewarded by the public, who did not hesitate to besiege the cinema after its reopening. The following years passed uneventfully, including in 1911, a new projector was ordered from the United States, and folding chairs were installed in the stalls.

In 1912, new regulations were published at the state and local levels, regulating both film production and the architectural design of the theaters themselves. The already evident inadequacy of the municipal theaters on Via Portici was officially recognized. However, it was already known that the Eden Theater would soon be moving next door. Thus, in August 1913, operations on Via Portici ceased, and the imminent opening of the second location was immediately announced, at Via Defregger 6 (later renamed Via Leonardo da Vinci 6). The building, originally designed to house shops, was renovated. The theater had seven exits: three onto the side courtyard, two onto the stairwell adjacent to the theater.

The capacity of 300 seats at the time are folding seats, electric lighting (although oil and battery-powered lamps were also available), and the theater was equipped with a heating system and air circulation and filtration. A permanent fire hydrant was also installed to quickly extinguish any fire. The new theater opened on September 7, 1913. The move to a new location marked a significant leap in quality. New projectors eliminated the annoying flickering of the images, a common defect at the time, which consisted of constantly varying brightness of the images projected on the screen. With the opening of the new location, the theater was brought to the same level as the renowned Viennese cinemas.

During the war years, cinemas, including the Eden Theater, served as outlets for news from the front and political propaganda. While the number of printed newspapers declined, cinema activity continued apace despite the limited availability of commercial films, thanks to collaboration with the military authorities. So much so that in Bolzano there was even talk of building a full-fledged military cinema. Between October and November 1918, local authorities ordered the closure of all Bolzano theaters following the Spanish flu epidemic.

Linguistic problems arising from the Italian conquest prompted the management of the Eden Cinema to seek a bilingual cashier through an advertisement dating back to 1919. Following the introduction of a ban on screening many films in German, Bolzano’s cinemas equipped themselves with an ingenious system to project German intertitles simultaneously with the Italian intertitles that were part of the film. In the summer of 1919 and the following year, the Eden Cinema organized open-air film screenings in the garden of the Hotel Schgraffer at Piazza Walther 1. The existence of only one print of the film caused the Eden Cinema to close early that evening at 9:00 PM, just in time to bring the film to Piazza Walther for the start of the film. At 6:30 PM on November 25, 1922, a fire broke out in the projection booth, but the flames were quickly extinguished and no one was seriously injured. Following this accident, a state-of-the-art fire prevention system was installed, and the seats were numbered for the first time, allowing advance ticket sales for the most crowded shows.

Between 1923 and 1924, management of the Eden Cinema passed from Franz Pergher to Francesco Stampfl, whose family still owns the theater. Among the initiatives offered by the Eden during this period were charity screenings and discounted shows for school groups. In the following years, the cinema continued without any major incidents, also showing educational and socio-economic films. On May 10, 1928, another fire broke out in the projection booth, but the machinery was not seriously damaged, and the cinema resumed normal operations the following day. Sound was installed in November 1930.

However, 1931 turned into a clash and was marked by a protest against the cuts to which movie theaters subjected films in order to reduce their running time and thus increase daily profits. The way the film “The Taming Of The Shrew” was being shown at the Eden Cinema had surpassed the bounds of decency. The fame of the masterpiece attracted such a large audience that not only all the seats were packed, but even the aisles were packed. But the audience was disappointed because the film had been cut by a full third. The cuts, then—as usual—were made so clumsily as to arouse visible discontent. The owners will claim that the film arrived untouched from Rome, and the cuts were possibly made in the capital. The film has been so edited that it is no longer interpretable. Entire scenes of crucial importance are cut, often in a brutal manner, so that the sequence of events becomes a myth. The Tre Venezie Agency of Artisti Associati sent the staff a long letter contesting the reader’s assertions and supporting the comment with technical considerations, stating that, since the film was synchronized with discs, any cuts were impossible.

During 1932, film screenings were added at the Eden. In addition to the film, short subjects were also added, such as Cines sound newsreels and cartoons. In July 1933, the 50% reduced admission prices imposed by the Fascist regime went into effect. Despite the reduced prices, the material shown will be equally good, and we ask our audiences to honor us with their presence in the future as well. In April 1934, Stampfl received authorization to replace the old sign above the entrance to the Eden Cinema with a new illuminated sign. In November 1935, the business temporarily changed its name to the Luce Cinema, due to Mussolini’s political stance, which opposed that of British Prime Minister Antony Eden. The Eden Cinema name returned sometime later in its history.