Vul. Bandery, 34 — cinema (no longer in operation) ID: 1612

Grażyna cinema was founded by Joachim Schall in 1912, and it worked until 1939. This was the first case in Lviv that a building was designed specifically to accommodate a cinema. The project was developed by Roman Feliński.

Story

The Grażyna cinema opened in October 1912 in a building at ul. Leona Sapiehy, 34 (today, vul. Bandery). It had 500 seats and was the first one in Lviv built specifically to accommodate a cinema. Located outside the city center, it was part of a larger building called Bazar Groedlów, which has not survived until today.

Grażyna was founded by a Lviv entrepreneur Joachim Schall. Unlike other similar establishments in the city center, it was not aimed at an elite public. It turned out to be a popular cinema, its repertoire changed twice a week, there was also a café next to it, owned by Theodor Kraetter.

In January 1917, the press reported that a new cinema called Czerwony Krzyż (Red Cross) had been opened in the premises of this cinema, with the proceeds going to help war victims. Ticket prices were to be lower than in cinemas located in the central part of the city.

In the interwar period, the cinema had 474 seats. During the intermissions, vocal and choreographic performances were held to entertain the audience.

Extant sources testify about some complaints made about this cinema. In April 1923, a complaint was received that the operator of Grażyna, Włladysław Kawicz, did not comply with safety regulations. An inspection of the cinema in February 1925 identified the following problems: insufficient light at the entrance/exit of the cinema hall; the heating stove in the hall emitted smoke during the screenings; the projection room lacked fire extinguishing equipment; ticket sellers and the cinema manager himself smoked cigarettes in prohibited areas.

From 1926 to 1933, Henryk Atlas was the owner of Grażyna. In the fall of 1930, sound equipment was installed in the cinema. Much attention became paid to advertising. A neon sign "Wester-Electric", advertising the American sound system installed in the cinema, was placed above the entrance. Jakób Schall was the representative of this company in what was known at the time as Eastern Poland (Małopolska). Other neon signs included the cinema's name Grażyna and Kino (the word for cinema in Polish), both were placed at roof level above the cornice. At a corner, another advertising structure, consisting of a display case and a vertical element with the cinema's name, was envisaged: the archival records include an architectural project designed by Jakób Menker.

In 1933, the cinema became once again property of the Schall family. Major renovations of the building soon followed during the same year. In 1939, Grażyna became owned by the Polish gymnastics society Sokół II, located at ul. Kętrzyńskiego, 32 Street (today vul. Fedkovycha), while Joachim Schall remained its  manager.

In 1939, in the early days of WWII, the building was damaged by a bomb, and dismantled subsequently.

People

Władysław Kawicz — cinematographer at Grażyna.
Henryk Atlas — a well-known Lviv restaurateur, owner of "Grażyna" from 1926 to 1933.
Roman Feliński — architect who designed the cinema building.
Teodor Kraetter — owner of the café at the cinema.
Jakób Menker — engineer and architect.

Sources