Adalbert Baltes, a “pilgrim on the path of total immersion” (Reißmann, 2006: p. 17), first presented plans for his Cinetarium at the Photokina 1958 trade fair in Cologne, Germany. This special-venue immersive projection format used a domed screen with a diameter of 7m (22.97 ft), in an auditorium that could seat 45 people. Baltes, from Hamburg, Germany, was an inventor of experimental media, and a filmmaker and producer for culture-, image- and industrial films.     

Baltes had various plans to project an immersive wraparound image. Historians Reißmann, Tröbst, Piccolin and Wulff describe a cylindrical projection, achieved with the help of a spherical mirror, or projected directly onto the surrounding dome screen through a clustered arrangement of projectors (Piccolin/Wulff, 2007: pp. 3–4; Reißmann, 2006: pp. 17–21; Tröbst, 1957: pp. 9–14). Baltes's original vision was for a permanent venue, a large “spherical structure made of concrete, steel and glass [...], looking like Saturn with its rings” (Tröbst, 1957: p. 9) – but these plans didn’t come to fruition. In 1959/60 Baltes sold his Cinetarium-related patents to filmmaker Bill Rebane in the United States and Moulin Rouge manager Jean Bauchet in France. Due to legal complexities, the sales did not lead to any new Cinetarium installations, however Rebane did apparently shoot and exhibit new footage in Chicago. 

In Germany – where he retained the rights – Baltes planned the construction of a dedicated Cinetarium theater. In 1963, Baltes bought the Imperial Filmtheater (formerly Non-Stop-Aktualitätenkino) at Reeperbahn 3 in Hamburg, Germany. He rebuilt it and opened his 360-degree cinema on June 27, 1963, under the Cinetarium name. The film Fata Morgana (1963) was to be presented to the audience at the opening, but it appears that production on the film was never completed. The only film known to have been screened at the theater was called Die Nacht ohne Ende (Cinema Treasures, n.d.). Baltes eventually sold the theater in 1966 (Roe, 2020).