Verdensteatret's yellow 1915 façade on Storgata, Tromsø, with KINEMATOGRAF lettering over the entrance.
Concert hall 1 hireable space Classical Other

Verdensteatret – Cinemateket i Tromsø

Verdensteatret in Tromsø is Norway's oldest municipal cinema still showing film — a 1916 silent-film house with Sverre Mack's murals, 204 seats and acoustics that make it a favourite concert room too.

Storgata 93B, 9008 Tromsø, Norway
Up to 204
capacity
1 space
hireable
The hall is hired out for private, corporate and cultural events, with the cinema's own projection.
available for hire

About this venue

Verdensteatret opened on 4 June 1916 and is the oldest municipal cinema in Norway still used to show film. Tromsø's council had decided in 1913 to look into running its own cinema — partly for the money, partly because it would let the municipality steer what the town watched — bought the site in 1914, and had the city surveyor P. Arnet Amundsen design the building. The opening night was packed, with a crowd left outside who could not get in, an overture from the orchestra and a screening of "Skjæbnens Søn". Sverre Mack's 1921 wall paintings, with motifs from the Norwegian folk tales, have drawn attention ever since. The hall was built for silent film, and its acoustics and painted walls make it as popular for concerts as for cinema. It seats 204 and is equipped for 35 mm, 16 mm and digital projection. Alongside the daily film programme it is used for talks, lectures, seminars, debates, live opera relays from The Met in New York, and the weekly screenings of Tromsø Filmklubb and Tromsø Barnefilmklubb. Verdensteatret is run by Tromsø Internasjonale Filmfestival and is the regional cinematheque for Northern Norway — a non-commercial, educational operation showing both film-historical classics and new quality cinema in formats true to the originals, alongside the cinematheques in Oslo, Bergen, Kristiansand, Trondheim, Lillehammer and Stavanger. The hall is hired out for private and corporate events, with catering through Verdensteatret Bar.

The Spaces

Kinosalen

Auditorium

The 1916 auditorium, built for silent film, with Sverre Mack's 1921 folk-tale murals and acoustics that make it a favourite concert room. Equipped for 35 mm, 16 mm and digital projection.

Capacity

Seated
up to 204

204 seats per the venue's hire page; its history page gives 216.

Facilities

  • Bar
  • Box office
  • Other: 35 mm, 16 mm and digital projection; live opera relays from The Met; Verdensteatret Bar next door for catering

Technical Specification

Music equipment

  • Acoustics / acoustic treatment: Purpose-built silent-film hall whose acoustics make it a regular concert venue

Gallery

Angled street view of the Verdensteatret building on Storgata, Tromsø. Evening view of Verdensteatret with people gathered outside the entrance. Daytime street view of Verdensteatret with pedestrians on the corner. Detail of the 1915 crest above the entrance of Verdensteatret.

Location

Storgata 93B, 9008 Tromsø, Norway

Contact Information

+47 77 75 30 90

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