In 1904. Abraham Icek Tuszynski, a Polish emigrant from a Polish-Jewish family, settled in Amsterdam. Fascinated by cinema, he opened the first cinema hall in the city in 1911, followed by others in the following years. His ambition was to create a world-renowned cinema. In 1919, together with his half-brothers Hermann Gerschtanowitz and Hermann Ehrlich, he began construction of the building. The building, in the style of art déco, jugendstil and the Amsterdam school, was designed by Hijman Louis de Jong. The investment cost almost 4 million Dutch guilders.

The Tuschinski cinema, which opened in 1921, was impressive not only for its beauty, but also for its modernity. It was equipped with innovative electrical engineering and a unique heating and ventilation system that ensured an even temperature throughout the building. Just one day after opening, the cinema was recognised by the national press as an extraordinary gift to the city of Amsterdam.

In 1940, during the German occupation, Tuszynski and his brothers were deprived of ownership of the cinema and arrested by the Nazis shortly afterwards. Tuszyński and Gerschtanowitz were sent to Auschwitz and Ehrlich to the Sobibor camp. All three died in 1943.

In 1967, the cinema building was listed as a Dutch national monument. In 2021, King Wilhelm-Alexander gave the cinema its royal nickname, renaming the complex the Koninklijk Theater Tuschinski.