The unveiling took place on Tuesday, September 5, 2023 Ode to Tuschinski – Ode to the city, a memorial to Abraham Tuschinski. This cinema magnate opened his first cinema in 1911 in Rotterdam. In the following years he played an important role in the cultural life of the city. Ode to Tuschinski – Ode to the city is an initiative of visual artist Anne-Mercedes Langhorst and was created in collaboration with visual artist Han Goan Lim. The artwork, which was executed by the Zuliani company, was placed on the square in front of Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences, which borders the new Little C district.
The Jewish-Polish Abraham Tuschinski (Brzeziny, Poland, 1886 – Auschwitz, Poland, 1942) was an important figure in pre-war Rotterdam. Although as an Eastern European emigrant he initially planned to leave for the United States via Rotterdam, he started working as a vest maker in the port city. In 1911 he opened the first of his four cinemas: Thalia. Two years later he took over Cinema Royal from Jean Desmet, and Scala and Olympia followed. In 1921 he opened the world-famous Theater Tuschinski in Amsterdam. In 1923, another Rotterdam cinema was added, the Grand Theater on Pompenburgsingel. During the bombing on May 14, 1940, he lost all his cinemas in Rotterdam in one fell swoop. On July 1, 1942, he was arrested with his wife Mariem Ehrlich and taken to Westerbork, after which he was deported to Auschwitz and murdered by the Nazis that same year.
The artwork is based on the interior of the Grand Theater and is shaped like a stage. This makes the work not only a memorial, but also an invitation to use as a place for creativity and inspiration. On the edge of the stage is the text 'Nothing is impossible!' applied, Tuschinski's life motto with which he urged to keep dreaming big. The text also carries awareness about the Second World War; that what was not thought possible happened. In the context of the present, recent history can be a commemoration of World War II. Ode to Tuschinski – Ode to the city is placed near Little C, where a number of streets are named after Jewish film entrepreneurs, and close to Rochussenstraat where many traces of his life lie.
Ode to Tuschinski – Ode to the city was created thanks to a private initiative by visual artist Anne-Mercedes Langhorst that was supported by Tuschinski Rotterdam Foundation. She found it incomprehensible that virtually nothing in Rotterdam was still reminiscent of Abraham Tuschinski and decided to design a work of art for him. Her sketches and preliminary research were developed into a memorial based on a collaboration with visual artist Han Goan Lim. BKOR acted as advisor and contributed to the artists' fees. In the days following the unveiling, it took place Tuschinski Festival place in the Tuschinskipark, Little C and Coolhaven.
