Capitol, Cultural entertainment center in Mannheim, Germany.

The Capitol is a cultural centre in a building on Neckarstadt-Ost in Mannheim, built in 1927 by the firm Joseph Hoffmann & Söhne to plans by Paul Darius as Germany's largest cinema of its time. Its round hall now holds concerts, parties and in-house musical and music-theatre productions, alongside a children's theatre. The house survived the Second World War undamaged.

The Capitol was built in 1927 by Joseph Hoffmann & Söhne to plans by Paul Darius as Germany's largest cinema of its time; its opening film was F. W. Murnau's Sonnenaufgang. It survived the Second World War undamaged, added a curved Cinemascope screen in the 1960s, and under new owner Dieter Spickert from the 1970s hosted music in its round hall. A 1980 sale to a supermarket chain was blocked by private citizens who restored the building; in 1997 Thorsten Riehle and colleagues turned it into a live and event house.

The Capitol's name comes from its original use as a cinema, opened in 1927 with a screening of F. W. Murnau's film Sunrise. Since 1997 Thorsten Riehle and colleagues have run it as a live and event house, with around 300 events and 100,000 visitors a year. Its own small ensemble mainly stages musicals, and a children's theatre branch performs pieces such as "Pettersson & Findus".

Booking in advance is a good idea, as capacity varies depending on the event. The Capitol sits in a central part of Mannheim and can be reached easily on foot or by public transport.

The Capitol is the only event venue in Mannheim that receives no municipal subsidy. To secure it, the non-profit Kulturstiftung Capitol Mannheim was founded in April 2012; two concerts by Bülent Ceylan and Xavier Naidoo together raised 100,000 euros as initial capital.