A piece of cinema and city history is back: The historic illuminated lettering of Offenbach's \u201aUniversum\u2018 cinema is once again displayed in public. Ardi Goldman, a Frankfurt real estate developer and passionate cinephile, rediscovered the landmark after almost two decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When the \u201eUniversum\u201c opened its doors at Kaiserstra\u00dfe 55 in 1956, it set new standards. In just one year, brothers Paul and Wilhelm Merle had created one of the most modern cinemas in the region: over 700 seats, air conditioning, water-cooled projectors, and a continuously adjustable screen. Above the entrance, the lettering shone in bright yellow script \u2013 73 centimeters high and six meters wide, visible from afar. International stars like Rock Hudson and Charlton Heston came to Offenbach specifically to present their films. From 1966 at the latest, when the Universum became a premiere cinema, it was the cultural center of the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the cinema landscape changed. In 1991, the last curtain fell, followed by vacancy, disputes among owners, and strict regulations. Ardi Goldman tried to acquire the building and save the cinema at the time \u2013 in vain. His gaze turned to the last visible symbol: the lettering. He repeatedly made attempts to save it. Even in 2008, when the renovation into a supermarket began, he was still looking for a way. But then the landmark suddenly disappeared \u2013 and seemed lost forever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The lettering remained lost for almost two decades. Then came the unexpected twist: Goldman's garage mechanic told him about a friend in Berlin who owned the historical letters and wanted to sell them. After 17 years, Goldman could finally acquire them. \u201eIt was like getting a piece of cinema history back that I had never lost from my heart \u2013 good things come to those who wait,\u201c he says today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The \"Universum\" lettering is now on display again in public \u2013 this time not in Offenbach, but in Frankfurt am Main. As part of the new museum and memorial project \"The Art of Union \u2013 Topography of Hope.\" Ardi Goldman has had it installed visibly for everyone on the Union site at Hanauer Landstra\u00dfe 189\u2013198. For him, it is far more than a relic from past days: a tribute to the golden age of cinema and, at the same time, a symbol of a passion that has accompanied him since his youth \u2013 a love for film.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ein St\u00fcck Kino- und Stadtgeschichte ist zur\u00fcck: Der historische Leuchtschriftzug des Offenbacher \u201aUniversum\u2018-Kinos h\u00e4ngt wieder im \u00f6ffentlichen Raum. Ardi Goldman, Frankfurter Immobilienentwickler und leidenschaftlicher Cineast, hat das Wahrzeichen nach fast zwei Jahrzehnten wiederentdeckt. Glanzzeit in Offenbach Als das \u201eUniversum\u201c 1956 in der Kaiserstra\u00dfe 55 er\u00f6ffnete, setzte es neue Ma\u00dfst\u00e4be. Die Br\u00fcder Paul und Wilhelm Merle […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2317,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2315","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-neuigkeiten"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unionitaet.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2315","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unionitaet.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unionitaet.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unionitaet.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unionitaet.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2315"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/unionitaet.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2315\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2321,"href":"https:\/\/unionitaet.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2315\/revisions\/2321"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unionitaet.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2317"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unionitaet.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2315"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unionitaet.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2315"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unionitaet.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2315"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}