To spot the Lichtspiel / Kinemathek Bern, look for a sturdy, tan brick building with a classic industrial feel, topped with red roof tiles and a mix of tall, narrow windows, set just off the main street-its simple, strong outline stands out between leafy trees and parking spaces.
Now, let me take you back in time-imagine Bern in the year 2000, where an amazing collection of film treasures was nearly lost to history. This is where our story begins, with a man named Walter A. Ritschard, a real cinema wizard from Bern. Walter was completely obsessed-in the best possible way-with everything to do with film. I mean, he started putting on private cinema shows when he was just a teenager, calling it “Cinéma Hardy.” In his lifetime, he gathered over 100 projectors, 500 film reels, and piles and piles of film magazines-honestly, if you sneezed in his attic, you’d probably start a silent movie.
But when Walter passed away in 1998, his legendary collection was nearly scattered to the winds. In swooped the Lichtspiel Association, whose members probably had more energy than a popcorn machine on a Saturday night. They rescued this mountain of cinematic history and, with a lot of elbow grease (and maybe a few dropped film rolls), built a one-of-a-kind regional film archive.
And here’s the fun part: In 2012, volunteers-picture a parade of film lovers-carried those massive, ancient projectors by hand to this very building. Now, the Lichtspiel doesn’t just keep films safe; it brings them to life. Every Sunday night for years, people gather to watch rare, short films from the archive. The collection now boasts about 15,000 reels-everything from local documentaries to quirky animation stored in a chilly vault.
Odd fact: the library is packed with old Swiss film magazines and technical books, making it part-museum, part-cinema, part time machine. And yes, this spot is so important it’s listed as a Swiss cultural treasure. So, as you stand here, picture that hum of old projectors, the thrill of a lost film flickering back to life, and the care of a community determined never to let movie magic fade away.
