Young People in Front of a Cinema in Hamburg-St. Pauli (1948)

Even during the war, many German cities (including Hamburg) saw the formation of cliques of young people who refused to submit to the militarization of the Hitler Youth [Hitler-Jugend or HJ]. After the war, many of these young people were disinclined to join youth organizations because of their memories of the HJ. These young people often spent their free time in loosely organized groups or cliques, and their favorite meeting places, once they opened, included dance clubs and cinemas. “Knopfs Lichtspiele” at Schaubudenplatz in the St. Pauli neighborhood of Hamburg was one of ten cinemas whose reopening was permitted by British military authorities in late July 1945. Young people generally favored American films but also had other choices: this photograph shows promotional posters for the British detective film Uneasy Terms (translated as Bigamie, or bigamy, in German) and the Austrian production Fregola, the first postwar film by Marika Rökk. Photo by Gerd Mingram [Germin].

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© Bildarchiv Preußischer Kulturbesitz / Germin