Uránia Movie Theatre

• 1088 Budapest, Rákóczi út 21.

The clubs closed in 1899 and the building was used under the name Uránia Scientific Association, upon the initiative of the scientific theatres of Berlin and Vienna. 

Performances were held, illustrated by motion pictures that were given the strange-sounding name Uránia Hungarian Scientific Theatre. The premier was held on November 4, 1899, performing The Battle for the North Pole. The acts were accompanied by still and motion pictures. Although the function of the building would change later on, the name Uránia remained.  

It is an important event that, during the spring of 1901, the first individual Hungarian feature film under the direction of Béla Zitkovszky was shot right here, naturally a mute film. Lujza Blaha was dancing czardas in the famous Táncz, and Sári Fedák was doing the Japanese clog dance. Once finished, the tape unfortunately burned completely, leaving the Táncz box seat the only place to keep its memories.

The cinema partially stopped operating in 1916. Its inner halls were transformed in 1917 in a way that would be suitable for showing motion pictures on canvas. Starting at 4 p.m. there were scientific presentations, later followed by the films.

The movie was transformed on the basis of the Berlin Universum Film Aktien-Gesellschaft into a motion theatre in 1930, and was called UFA Film Theatre. The building with its beautiful interior soon became one of the favorite film theatres of the capital. It was here where the first movie was played in 1945, right after the Second World War. Before and after the war, Uránia has been a venue for numerous premieres, film reviews and social happenings. 

Programs at Uránia Movie Theatre