Just around 75,000 inhabitants – and two world-renowned opera houses: Richard Wagner was not the only one who had his festival theater built in Bayreuth. The Margravial Opera House, built in the 18th century, has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site for ten years.
Bayreuth (dpa/lby) – According to the city and the palace administration, the baroque margravial opera house in Bayreuth has established itself as an important historical site. “The response to the World Heritage Margravial Opera House is enormous,” said Lord Mayor Thomas Ebersberger. Ten years ago, Unesco decided to designate the opera house as a world heritage site.
“It is important to the Bavarian Palace Administration to fill the Margravial Opera House with life – as a museum, but also with adapted concerts and theater events,” said a spokeswoman for the Palace Department. In the years 2018 and 2019 – i.e. before the corona pandemic – more than 100,000 people would have visited the opera house.
The Margravial Opera House was built from 1744 in four years. It is one of the few theater buildings from the 18th century that has survived in Europe and fascinates visitors with its richly decorated interior and historical stage technology. Unlike many historic performance venues, the Bayreuth House was not destroyed by fire or war and was not significantly redesigned.
On June 30, 2012, it was declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco – as a unique monument to the festival and music culture of the 18th century. “The city and the Free State of Bavaria as well as many other partners have been working towards this goal for a long time,” said Ebersberger.
But shortly after the UNESCO award, the opera house had to close – and was renovated for six years. It finally opened in 2018. For conservation reasons, it is only used for around 30 theater performances and concerts from May to October: “This summer performance also corresponds to historical practice,” said the spokeswoman for the palace administration. The use of the house as a museum – i.e. visits – would have priority.
A World Heritage museum is currently being built next to the house and is expected to open in spring 2023.
The art-loving Margravine Wilhelmine (1709-1758) had the opera house built, and the sister of Frederick the Great turned the provincial town of Bayreuth into a center for art and culture.
The Margravial Opera House was also the reason why the composer Richard Wagner came to Bayreuth in the 19th century. Although the baroque building proved useless for his stage ideas, he stayed in the city anyway – and built his festival theater here.
“Bayreuth is in the fortunate position of being home to two of the world’s most important opera houses, the Festspielhaus and the Margravial Opera House,” said Ebersberger, head of the town hall. “Both houses stand for different epochs of architecture and music history and are unique in their own way.” He doesn’t see any competition between the two houses, but rather “an exciting diversity that is extremely attractive for visitors to our city”.
Ten years of World Heritage will be celebrated on July 6th. Admission is free for visitors on this day, and there are also special tours and a specially designed supporting program, as announced by the Ministry of Finance in Munich.
