Autokino Gravenbruch, Drive-in cinema in Neu-Isenburg, Germany
The Autokino Gravenbruch is a drive-in cinema in Neu-Isenburg where visitors watch films from their vehicles under the open sky. The facility features a sizable projection screen and parking for roughly 1100 cars, operating on most days throughout the year.
The Autokino Gravenbruch opened on 29 March 1960 as the first drive-in cinema in Germany and the second oldest in Europe. Its premiere screening was the film The King and I with Yul Brynner. The site was large for its time, with separate speakers hung inside each car, and its success led to many imitators elsewhere in West Germany.
The site hosts a private used-car sale every Saturday, and visitors can borrow car radios and heaters against a deposit. A snack bar supplies food and drink before the screening, and if a show is cancelled for extreme weather, ticket holders receive free passes for another film.
Visitors can choose their parking spot and follow the film from their car while audio plays through the car radio. It is helpful to book in advance online and arrive with a full car battery.
The site's ground is shaped in waves so that cars park with their front axle slightly raised, improving the view of the screen. In 1960 each car received its own wired speaker hung inside; today the sound reaches the car radio on 91.5 MHz for Screen 1 and 88.6 MHz for Screen 2.
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