Fotoplastikon, Kaiserpanorama in English, is an entertainment medium which was used mainly in the 19th and early 20th centuries, a precursor of film (this is why I am posting Fotoplastikon in the category cinema). The one in Warsaw was built at the beginning of the 20th Century, in 1905. Today’s Fotoplastikon is led by T. Chudy who is a descendant of the old owners and it’s one of the last machines of this type in the world.

Today Fotoplastikon shows not only old Warsaw (the world from before the 2nd World War) but also historical scenes (in cooperation with the Museum of the Warsaw Uprising) and, less expected, close-ups of biological phenomena, photos of traveling through Poland by bus and many more.

You must admit that there’s a lot of elegant old pre-war charm to Fotoplastikon and going into this place is a magical tour on its own. The building (Aleje Jerozolimskie 51) used to belong to one of the greatest garden companies of brother Hoser in pre-war Warsaw.