Odeon ode

Previous Next

Madlen, Heerbrugg, canton St Gallen, opened 1949 Edelstein

Scala, Schaffhausen, opened 1934. Edelstein

Kellerkino, Bern, opened 1970 in a cellar in the old city. Edelstein

Corso, Lugano, canton Ticino, built in 1956 by Rino Tami. Edelstein

Cinema, Näfels, canton Glarus, opened 1960. Edelstein

Filmpodium Zurich (formerly Studio 4), built in 1949 in the Bauhaus style. Edelstein

Elite, Wettingen, canton Aargau, built 1947. Edelstein

The Capitole in Lausanne is Switzerland's biggest cinema. When opened in 1928 it had 1,077 seats; now it has 867. The city of Lausanne and the Cinémathèque Suisse bought it from its owner, 85-year-old Lucienne Schnegg, in 2010. Edelstein

L'Avenir, Le Châble, canton Valais, in operation 1949-1990. Now used as a rehearsal hall by the Avenir music society. Ex-press

Foyer of the Splendid Palace, Bern, opened in 1925. Two new auditoriums were opened in 1988 in the basement, while the original one is now used by a multimedia shop. Edelstein

Cinevox, Neuhausen am Rheinfall, canton Schaffhausen, built in 1957 by Max Bill (1908-1994), in operation 1958-2002. Now a rehearsal hall for a ballet school. Edelstein

The Royal in Tavannes, canton Bern, opened in 1917. Since 1999 the building has housed a cinema, café, two libraries and a toy library. Edelstein

Cinema Teatro, Chiasso, canton Ticino. For the opening in 1935 the painter Carlo Basilico (1895-1966) created an striking futurist mural. The building has been used exclusively as a theatre since 1993. Edelstein

Radium, Zurich. The oldest cinema in Switzerland, built in 1907 and closed down in 2008. The building is protected and has been converted into upmarket flats. Edelstein

Arkaden, Davos, canton Graubünden Edelstein

Orient, Wettingen, canton Aargau. Opened in 1923, run by an association since 2000. Edelstein

• Picture 1
• Picture 2
• Picture 3
• Picture 4
• Picture 5
• Picture 6
• Picture 7
• Picture 8
• Picture 9
• Picture 10
• Picture 11
• Picture 12
• Picture 13
• Picture 14
• Picture 15
• Picture 16

Glamour and nostalgia in Swiss cinemas.

Many cinemas in Switzerland face extinction. The advance of digital technology is stretching the financial limits of many, especially those outside cities. Over the past decade the Geneva photographer and filmmaker Simon Edelstein visited some 300 cinemas and has portrayed the life and death of an era in a bilingual photo book, “Lux, Rex & Corso”.