Pongrácz Erzsébet: The Cinemas of Budapest - Our Budapest (Budapest, 1998)

lishment went bankrupt when the large-scale popular festivities marking the millennium were over, in 1899, ownership of the building was transferred to the (Jránia Hungarian Scientific Theatre, which made use of theatrical devices to make its popular lectures widely accessible. As an association whose aim was the dissemination of scientific and scholarly information, it recognised the significance of moving pictures as early as 1901, when the first Hungarian film, A tánc (Dance), a 500-metre reel, was screened at the (Jránia. The piece was a twenty-seven-part “cinemato- gram” made to accompany a lecture by Gyula Pékár illustrating the dances discussed. This new Hungarian sensation, which ran for weeks, featured the greatest stage celebrities of the time. The (Jránia had an important mission in the education of Budapest’s population. 23 December 1916 was a great day in the cinematographic history of Uránia, since as of that date its large theatre auditorium on the ground floor became the venue of the first screening of quality films, in 1930 it was turned into a genuine cinema by its new owner the Berlin-based (JFA company. After World War II the Uránia was the first in Budapest to resume operation as a cinema (owned by the Szov- export company), the first projection taking place on 4 February 1945. Later the cinema reverted to Hungarian ownership and its architectural ornamentation was repaired, which was followed by the regular maintenance and renewal of its interior decoration and equipment (most recently in 1993). The building is a listed architectural monument and as such is among the finest not only in Rákóczi út, but in the whole of Budapest.

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