Roxy-Palast

The Roxy-Palast is an office and retail building in Friedenau that was originally built in 1929 as a cinema with over one thousand seats. Its facade along Hauptstrasse extends 59 meters (194 feet) and displays Streamline Moderne features marked by horizontal lines and curved elements.

Architect Martin Punitzer designed this steel-frame structure in 1929 as a state-of-the-art cinema for its era. After suffering damage during the war, the building was later repurposed and received protection as a historical monument.

The building served as a workplace for notable writers during the 1960s and 1970s, who worked in its office spaces. It demonstrates how cultural creation was woven into the daily rhythm of a Berlin shopping street.

The building sits in an easily accessible location on Hauptstrasse in the Tempelhof-Schöneberg district and is recognizable from the street. The interior now houses offices and retail shops, and the original cinema space is no longer in use as such.

The original cinema hall featured an orchestra pit sized for about 40 musicians and was used during the building's opening. This reveals how Berlin's cinemas of the 1920s were still designed as venues for live performance and cultural events.