Early cinema – attraction and sensation: the development of a medium

The first projection of cinematographic recordings in Vienna took place in March 1896 when Emperor Franz Joseph was offered a personal showing in the Hofburg. The new medium soon became popular not only in the court but also among the general public. The travelling showmen who toured the country were replaced increasingly in the years 1903 to 1905 by permanent cinemas. The market was dominated initially by international productions, but in the years 1906 to 1910 the first Austrian production companies began to establish themselves. The film pioneers Anton Kolm, Jakob Fleck and Louise Veltée-Kolm (later Fleck) were soon in direct competition with another early master of domestic film making, Count Alexander ‘Sascha’ Joseph Kolowrat-Krakowsky. Liane Haid, Mia May and the comic double act Cocl & Seff (Rudolf Walter and Josef Holub) were the first silent movie stars in the Monarchy.

Translation: Nick Somers