Estonian Destinations: the Movie Palace of Nõmme

Dr. Judith Thissen from Utrecht University demonstrates in “Introduction: A New Approach to European Cinema History” that film has often been considered the “quintessential metropolitan medium.” Nõmme, already a wealthy, verdant “forest town” on the edge of Tallinn, took part in this. As Open House Tallinn describes, in the fall of 1931, brothers Jakob and Karl Kahro started to construct a new building on Pärnu maantee to replace the old local cinema.

Designed by Friedrich Wendach together with young architect Edgar Velbri, the venue opened in 1933 under the name “Victoria Palace.” The building was conceived from the outset as a multifunctional hall for films and formal parties. An orchestra would have played here during silent films, too.

Archival photographs preserved at ajapaik.ee / Tallinn City Museum show a structure oriented somewhere between theatricality and modesty. The side of the exterior looks like a typical compact civic block, leading up to a rounded entrance on the corner, with spheres over the doors and three tall vertical lines reaching up to the sign of the cinema. Descriptions from the time, like in Nõmme Sõnumed (1933), indicate that the hall offered “warmth and comfort.” The publication praised its genuine aesthetic satisfaction whether “sitting in the stalls or on the wide balcony.” Decades later, Maaleht (2012) recalled that when it opened, the hall was considered “one of Estonia’s most modern and representative cinemas.” These sources point to an interior that combined functionality and grace. The foyer and balcony were built for social exchange. The hall was able to transform from film venue to ballroom, with a user’s relaxed experience in mind. On a technical level, to this day, the space has good acoustics, efficient for projection and performance.