Gloria Palace: Tallinn’s Cinema Palace
Find the viewpoint and reveal the moment when today’s theatre facade was Tallinn’s most prestigious cinema — with a live orchestra, Art Deco interiors, and the city’s first sound film.
The story
Before this façade on Vabaduse väljak belonged to a theatre, it belonged to the movies — and not modestly. Gloria Palace, built 1925–1926 for Royal-Film, was the cinema that tried to make Tallinn feel like a European capital.
The building was designed by Latvian architect Frīdrihs Skujiņš, with façade reliefs by Estonian sculptor Jaan Koort. From the square it looked almost too compact; the surprise was inside — a grand hall with vaulted ceilings, gilded decoration, ceiling paintings, and the only cinema cloakroom in the city.
Where Tallinn heard cinema speak
It opened on 5 October 1926 with Murnau's Faust, accompanied — in the silent era — by a 25-piece symphony orchestra. Three years later, in November 1929, this hall screened Tallinn's first sound film. A house built for silent images became the room where the city heard cinema speak for the first time.
At the viewpoint, the app reveals the 1928 cinema façade — posters, lights, and all — over today's theatre.
Quick facts
- •Built 1925–1926; opened 5 October 1926 with Murnau's Faust.
- •Silent films ran with a live 25-musician symphony orchestra.
- •Tallinn's first sound film was shown here in November 1929.
Open Gloria Palace in WanderTrails
Walk to the real viewpoint, raise your camera, align the guide with today's view — and watch the past appear over the present, with the full audio story in English, Estonian, or Russian.
