In the 1920’s, Filmstadt Weißensee, the now quiet area in northern Berlin was once one of the city’s cultural hotspots. Stars like Marlene Dietrich and Fritz Lang were there, at Calagariplatz and on the Gustav-Adolf Straße, which at that time was lined with bright lights and 20 cinema houses. Among the finest and most popular of these was the former silent-movie theater Delphi. Direct on Caligariplatz, this relic rests like a hidden jewel, unrecognizable from the outside, and even unknown to most Berliners. The original interior of this former 870 seat theater remains intact. It is one of the best remaining examples of the glamour and flair of this important cultural era- the heyday of German silent film.
The theater survived WWII, and remained closed during GDR times. It remained closed to the general public until the artist team Per Aspera e.V. re-opened the space in 2012. In 2013 they signed a 20 year rental contract, and when the building went up for sale in 2016, they entered in a partnership with the Edith Maryon Stiftung, a Swiss foundation who bought the building to secure it for further development and permanent use as a public cultural venue under the direction of Per Aspera e.V..