Rex am Ring

The cinema opened at Friesenplatz in 1928 under the name "Lichtspiele des Westens" (Western Picture House) — the last major purpose-built cinema of the silent-film era. It was the only cinema in Cologne equipped with a theatre organ, capable of producing sound effects such as crashing waves, galloping horses, or ringing bells to accompany the films. The opening programme featured an operetta adaptation; the first talkies followed in 1929. After the Second World War, the cinema reopened in 1951. Two years later Herbert Strate took over, staged the premiere of the film Ich denke oft an Piroschka in 1955, and from 1974 onwards converted the Rex into a multiplex-style box cinema.

In 2000, Catherine Laakmann purchased the building together with its then 833-seat cinema and oversaw a full refurbishment of the seating, carpets, and ventilation. With over 1.77 million visitors, the Rex became the most-attended so-called one-dollar cinema in Germany. From 2008, under the banner "Lichtspiele", the programme shifted to include arthouse and German film. Water damage and building-code requirements stretched a planned renovation into a three-year closure before the cinema reopened in 2017.

Since early 2025, Mustafa El Mesaoudi has run both Rex am Ring and the Metropolis cinema under the umbrella of the Lichtblick Cinema Group. The Rex no longer operates as a discount house. Its programme now features new releases — some with extended runs — alongside repertory screening series and events such as the Afrika Film Festival Cologne and the SchulKinoWochen NRW school cinema weeks.