Special Cinemas
Last updated on 07/01/2026
The 10 best special cinemas in Berlin
Against the interchangeable multiplexes, Berlin's picture houses bring real character. The Zoo Palast in Charlottenburg is the old festival stage of the Berlinale and still welcomes guests in grand style, while next door the Astor Film Lounge turns cinema into a luxury experience with armchairs and legroom. The Kino Arsenal at Potsdamer Platz shows film classics and rarities you will not find anywhere else. In the tiny Lichtblick Kino in Prenzlauer Berg, "Casablanca" runs on permanent rotation, and the ACUD Kino in Mitte is among the last truly independent houses in the city. Here it is not only about the film, but about the whole experience around it. In which of these cinemas would you most like to sink into the darkness?
Top10 Redaktion
I do not go to the cinema to see the latest blockbuster, but for the space and the ritual. I feel most at home in the small Lichtblick Kino and in the Kino Arsenal, where they show films you can hardly find elsewhere. For this list I looked for the houses that make going to the cinema an experience in itself.
The grand old Zoo Palast is back! The elaborately restored, traditional cinema in Berlin shows sophisticated entertainment and family films.
The Astor Film Lounge chases away your blues with an extra helping of luxury and plush as well as selected movies.
A little hidden, actually in the third backyard of Höfe am Südstern in Kreuzberg, you will find the small, relaxed arthouse-cinema which has long turned into an institution. In 2013 the Sputnik Kino celebrated its 25th anniversary.
The Arsenal is the repertory cinema located in the Film Museum on Potsdamer Platz and one of the movie theatres of the Berlin International Film Festival Berlinale.
If you like to watch movies in their original version, you will love the Odeon!
Next to other cultural-social institutions, Kulturfabrik Moabit is also home of the Filmrauschpalast cinema.
The name of the little cinema in the heart of Friedrichshain says it all! With round about 80 seats it’s one of the smallest cinemas in Berlin.
The Eva is a small independent neighborhood cinema with a sophisticated program and less commercial productions.
The Lichtblick is a charming living room cinema on Kastanienallee.
