Vienna State Opera

The Opera was the first great public building on the Ringstrasse, the boulevard that replaced the city walls torn down from 1857. It was designed by August Sicard von Sicardsburg and Eduard van der Nüll, built between 1861 and 1869 and opened on 25 May 1869 with Mozart's "Don Giovanni".

1An architects' tragedy

The critics showed no mercy. The street level was raised after work began, and the building looked sunken; the Viennese called it "the Königgrätz of architecture", after Austria's crushing defeat of 1866. In 1868 van der Nüll took his own life and, a few weeks later, Sicardsburg died of a heart attack. Neither saw the Opera open.

It is said that from then on Franz Joseph limited himself to saying the same thing about everything he was shown: "It was very nice, it pleased me very much."

It is a much-repeated anecdote, but there is no way to verify it.

2Destroyed and reborn

Gustav Mahler ran the house from 1897 to 1907, a golden age. On 12 March 1945 an air raid started a fire that destroyed the auditorium and stage; the façade, the staircase and the foyer survived. Rebuilding ended on 5 November 1955 with Beethoven's "Fidelio", a few months after the State Treaty restored Austria's full sovereignty.

3What to look for

• The loggia on the façade, with frescoes by Moritz von Schwind on "The Magic Flute".
• The winged riders on the roof.
• The difference in level between the Opera and the street, the root of the criticism.