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Lichtburg Essen

Kettwiger Straße 36, 45127 Essen

The Lichtburg opened on Kettwiger Straße on 18 October 1928 with around 2,000 seats under a dome twenty metres across, then the largest in any German auditorium. Rebuilt and modernised since, it still has the biggest single cinema hall in the country: 1,250 seats facing a screen of some 150 square metres, with a full stage behind it. The building has been listed since 1998 and reopened in March 2003 after a restoration costing about seven million euros. The second hall in the basement, 150 seats and named after the actor Sabu, dates from that work. In the 1950s and 60s this was West Germany's premiere cinema, and premieres, concerts, cabaret and theatre still share the room with films. The team behind Essen's arthouse cinemas has run it since April 1998, since 2024 David Schreiber and Oliver Flothkötter. The film programme is mainstream, and in our listings entirely in German.

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October 22, 2026 · Germany
The Perfect Holiday
3.5/5
Original title: Der perfekte Urlaub
The Perfect Holiday
German 2h06FSK 12 Comedy
Bora DağtekinElyas M'Barek, Karoline Herfurth, and Florian David Fitz

The group of friends from “Das perfekte Geheimnis” have to ask themselves the question on a chaotic short trip to the south: Is there life after the truth or is their friendship over?

October 30, 2026 · United Kingdom, United States
Wild Horse Nine
4.4/5
English, Spanish 1h57FSK 16 Comedy, Crime, Thriller
Martin McDonaghJohn Malkovich, Sam Rockwell, and Steve Buscemi

Shortly before the 1973 Chilean coup, CIA agents Chris and Lee are dispatched from Santiago to Easter Island by their bureau chief, MJ. Amongst the Island's iconic statues, and as the longtime partners wrestle with their dark pasts and present conspiracies, Chris's newfound bond with a pair of rebellious students threatens to send everyone’s trip to this remote paradise sideways.

October 19, 2026 · United States
Wildwood
4.3/5
English 2h12FSK 12 Animation, Adventure, Fantasy
Travis KnightPeyton Elizabeth Lee, Jacob Tremblay, and Carey Mulligan

Prue and her classmate Curtis are drawn into a magical forest filled with enchanted creatures, loyal allies, and formidable adversaries as they embark on a desperate quest to rescue Prue's abducted baby brother from a murder of crows led by a mysterious woman named Alexandra.