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140 Years of the House on the Ring: A New House on the Ring

1869 - 1955

1955-1992

The era of Ioan Holender

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The General Directors

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Premières since 1955

140 Years of the House on the Ring

The tradition of Viennese opera goes back over three and a half centuries to the time of the early Baroque. Emperor Franz Joseph I decreed in December 1857 that the old city walls and fortifications around the Viennese inner city should be torn down and the Ringstrasse, a wide boulevard with new purpose built buildings for culture and politics, should take its place. Also the two Court theatres (one drama and one music theatre) were to find a new home on the Ring. For the Court opera theatre a prominent place was chosen in the immediate area of the former Kärtnertortheater. This popular opera theatre built in 1709 was torn down due to its being too cramped.

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In its place a new opera house was built designed by the Viennese architect August von Sicardsburg with interior decoration conceived by Eduard van der Nüll. But other well known artists also made contributions: one has only to think of Moritz von Schwind who painted the frescos in the foyer and the well-known Magic Flute cycle in the loggia. The two architects would not live to see the opening of ‘their’ opera house: the sensitive van der Nüll committed suicide after the Viennese characterized his house as tasteless and his friend Sicardsburg died shortly afterwards from a stroke.