Kino International in Berlin will close its doors for two years while the cinema’s technical systems are refurbished.

Kino International Berlin closes its doors

Berlin’s iconic Kino International cinema has closed its doors ahead of a renovation project which is expected to last two years.

According to Yorck Kinogruppe, which runs the cinema on Berlin Mitte’s Karl-Marx-Allee boulevard, 80 percent of the cinema's technical equipment will be refurbished during the project. 

“Every cable and every radiator in the building will be replaced,” the company, which operates 15 cinemas in the city, said in a statement.

Kino International: The most iconic cinema in Berlin

In a city of open-air, palatial and early 1900s Kino spots, Kino International’s title of most iconic cinema in the city is hard-earned.

It is the cinema’s scale, style and location that are largely to thank for this status. Opened on November 15, 1963, the cinema is a stone’s throw away from Berlin’s recognisable TV Tower, for which construction began just two years later, in 1965.

In Socialist Classicist style, the cinema’s facade juts out over the pavement, accommodating a grand bar area at the front of the building. With its largest cinema holding 555 attendees, the building is used as one of the main venues for the annual Berlinale.

Thumb image credit: Alekk Pires / Shutterstock.com