The Berger Kino has been closed since March 2020 - and unfortunately it won't be opening again. After almost 40 years, the Frankfurt cinema scene thus loses an extremely popular movie theater. Due to the lack of income as a result of the Corona crisis and the lack of support from the federal government, operator Harald Metz was forced to file for insolvency. Since 1981, mainly arthouse highlights, but also children's films and audience favourites were shown in their original versions at the location on Berger Straße. But now, unfortunately, it is finally over.
Even before the Corona crisis, the Berger Kino, like so many other movie theaters, had to suffer from increasing competition from streaming services. At the time, Metz and his team were still holding on valiantly. But after almost a year without revenue - because the Berger Kino did not open for a few months last summer like most other cinemas in Frankfurt - there is simply no longer any prospect for the future. Especially since it is still not clear how long the closure of the cinemas will last and what the film offer will look like after the reopening. After all, many potential crowd-pleasers have already been moved from the spring to the fall of 2021.
What will happen next with the location in Bornheim Mitte, which has been showing films since the 1940s and currently houses a Corona test center, is currently still written in the stars. But one thing is certain: the Berger Kino, as its many regulars know and love it, will no longer exist. And given the difficult situation in which the entire industry finds itself, it cannot be assumed that a successor can be found who has the courage (and the means) to open a new cinema here in this market situation.
It is always sad when a cultural institution has to close. In view of the ever thinning cinema landscape (not only in Frankfurt), the loss of the Berger Kino is all the more painful. In the end, all that really remains is the hope that this closure will not soon be followed by others.
