Pathe Tuschinski

Here is what you need to know about Pathe Tuschinski: it is a cinema. You buy a regular movie ticket, you watch a regular movie, you eat regular overpriced popcorn. But you do all of this inside one of the most beautiful buildings in Amsterdam, and arguably one of the most beautiful cinemas in the world. That is the whole pitch. It is that simple and that good.

Tuschinski was built in 1921 by Abraham Tuschinski, a Polish immigrant who wanted to build the most spectacular cinema in the Netherlands. He succeeded. The building is a mix of Art Deco, Amsterdam School, and Jugendstil architecture that sounds like it should be a mess but is actually breathtaking. The first time my buddy Alex walked into the main foyer, he stopped and said "what the hell" out loud. That is normal. Everyone does it.

Here is the important practical stuff. There are multiple screening rooms but you want the Grote Zaal — the main auditorium, also called Zaal 1. This is the original grand theater with the painted ceiling, the ornate balconies, the whole experience. The other screening rooms are nice but they are just regular nice cinemas. Zaal 1 is the reason you are here.

When booking on the Pathe website or app, you can select which auditorium. Filter for Zaal 1 specifically. The tickets cost a few euros more than the regular screens — usually around 16-18 euros — but this is non-negotiable. My coworker tried to save money by booking a regular screen and came back annoyed that she missed the point.

The best seats in Zaal 1 are in the balcony, specifically the first few rows of the loge area. You get a full view of the ceiling, the screen is at a comfortable angle, and you feel like royalty. The loge seats are the most expensive but worth it for a first visit. My buddy Alex has been back three times and always books loge.

What to watch does not really matter. Tuschinski shows regular new releases. Alex saw a Marvel movie here and said it was the most surreal experience — explosions and CGI projected onto a 1921 Art Deco screen while sitting in a velvet chair under a hand-painted ceiling. Pick whatever is playing, the building is the attraction.

Even if you do not see a movie, you can walk into the lobby during opening hours for free. The entrance hall alone is worth five minutes of your time. Look up at the carpets (original Art Deco designs, replicated faithfully), the light fixtures, the stained glass. There is sometimes a small exhibit about the building's history in the lobby area.

The location is on Reguliersbreestraat, which connects Rembrandtplein to Muntplein. You will walk past it if you are in the Centrum area. The facade is impossible to miss — it is the building that makes you stop and pull out your phone.

One historical note that Alex always brings up: Abraham Tuschinski and several of his family members were killed in Auschwitz during World War II. The building survived the war and was eventually restored to its original glory. Knowing this adds a weight to the experience. You are sitting in a building that one man dreamed up against all odds, that survived destruction, and that still operates exactly as he intended it to, a century later. Alex gets emotional about this every time. Honestly, so do I.

A final tip: the building runs guided tours occasionally. Check the Pathe Tuschinski website for schedules. The tour takes you into areas the general public does not see and the guide explains the architectural details. If you are an architecture person, this is worth the extra effort.

The movie is secondary. The building is the experience. Book Zaal 1, sit in the loge, and let a 1921 Art Deco masterpiece remind you that sometimes the container is more remarkable than the content.