Apollo, Movie theater in Linden-Limmer, Germany

Apollo is a neighborhood cinema in a rear courtyard off Limmerstraße in Hannover's Linden-Nord district, with 201 seats and Dolby Stereo SR sound plus 35 mm and digital projection. It occupies a converted former dance hall, the Sander hall, and is one of the oldest cinemas in northern Germany still in operation.

Wilhelmine Kaufmann, aged 23, opened the cinema in September 1908 in the former Sander dance hall, showing silent films accompanied by piano. A bomb hit on a neighbouring house in November 1944 made operation impossible. Kaufmann died in June 1945; her daughter Jutta and son-in-law Henk ter Horst reopened the Apollo on 24 July 1945 with the film "Akrobat schö-ö-ö-n". A fire caused by a cigarette end destroyed the cinema on 5 May 1981; it reopened on 1 August 1981.

The Apollo is one of Germany's first program cinemas, a status it gained in 1973 when student Hans-Joachim Flebbe persuaded the owner to let him choose films for a mainly student audience. Attendance rose from 25,000 to 135,000 in a year. Flebbe later founded the Cinemaxx AG.

Film schedules are planned roughly one month in advance and can be checked on the website or in person at the venue. Access to the theater is straightforward and events run throughout the year, making regular visits easy to plan.

In 1973, student Hans-Joachim Flebbe asked the owner at the box office whether he could suggest films; his programming for a mainly student audience raised annual admissions from 25,000 to 135,000 within a year. Flebbe later founded the Cinemaxx AG.