A special visit - Günter Kautzmann and the Bauer film-projectors
On Saturday, November 16, we had a very special visitor: Günter Kautzmann from Leonberg, born in 1940. He had contacted us because he had read on our website that we still use 35mm projection and Bauer B14 projectors. Curious to know what a man of his age wanted from us, we invited him over and had an encounter that touched us all deeply.
Kautzmann began his career in the 1950s as a teenager in Stuttgarts cinemas. After completing his training as a precision mechanic, he moved to Kino-Bauer, where he continued his training under the legendary Eugen Bauer himself. Later, he managed Bauer's factory cinema, where customers from all over the world were introduced to the latest projectors. This is also where the film projectionist exams were held, which were mandatory until the 1960s.
We had to smile at his anecdote about his own exam: although he was already managing the factory cinema, he did not have a projectionist's license himself. When he was called in for the exam, the examiner simply said, “Kautzmann, I can't show you how to project in your own cinema. You've passed.” A “license without an exam”, until now.
Because when he entered our screening room, it immediately became clear that someone was encountering his past. He stroked our Bauer B14 projectors, because that was exactly the type he had assembled himself in the factory back then. Perhaps, as we like to imagine, he was holding in his hands the very devices he had once built.
Of course, we didn't miss the opportunity to “officially” give him his long-overdue test. After more than 65 years, he inserted the film as if he had last done so yesterday. With a slight red tint, Gone with the Wind flickered perfectly across the screen. A brilliant performance.
After his time at Kino-Bauer, Kautzmann moved to the USA, later he worked in a photography shop specializing in narrow-gauge film projectors. Since retiring, he has returned to his great passion: the history of cinema. Today, he gives lectures on the magic of early projection – from the laterna magica to modern film.
This visit was more than just a meeting for us. It was a vivid reminder of how much heart and soul, craftsmanship, and history goes into every single projector and how sometimes, after decades, things come full circle.
