Filmtheater Wolfen, Movie theater in Bitterfeld-Wolfen, Germany

Filmtheater Wolfen is a two-part building whose east wing stands crosswise to the west wing, giving a T-shaped ground plan. The entrance block with an open staircase and display cases projects to the east. The classicist-influenced building has a shallow hipped roof, a frieze on the eaves cornice and corners marked by red terrazzo slabs. The main hall lies in the west wing, the foyer with ticket office and cloakroom in the east wing.

The first film screenings in Wolfen took place in 1914 in a circus tent near Leipziger Straße and Bahnhofstraße. In 1925 the circus built the wooden Centraltheater, and in 1929 a restaurateur opened Schauburg Lichtspiele in a dance hall. After both closed after World War II, construction of a dedicated cinema began on 1 July 1956 to designs by architect Hugo Seitz; it opened on 2 August 1957, built by Agfa (later ORWO), initially for company employees. Renamed Kino Wolfen in 1992, it closed in 2009.

The cinema opened on 2 August 1957 as the Filmtheater Wolfen and was initially reserved for employees of the Agfa film factory, later renamed ORWO. Its name changed to Kino Wolfen in 1992 under the Mata Hari Videothek GmbH, which also ran a video library inside the building. Since 2009 the Wolfener Filmtage have been held in the Kulturhaus, with plans to move them here.

The cinema stands at the corner of Leipziger Straße and Thalheimer Straße in Wolfen, with its entrance pavilion, outdoor staircase and display cases facing the street. The building is a protected monument (no. 094 97468) and has been closed since 2009; renovation was postponed to 2024, with reopening planned for 2025. Visitors should expect a fenced, unmaintained site rather than an open interior.

This cinema sits near the former ORWO film manufacturing plant where camera film was produced. This connection shows how film production and film viewing were closely linked in this industrial region.