Margravial Opera House Bayreuth
The Opera House is a masterpiece of Baroque theatre architecture, built between 1745 and 1750. It is the only building of its kind to have survived intact and offers an authentic experience of Baroque court opera culture and acoustics for 500 spectators, as the auditorium retains its original materials, wood and canvas. The Opera House was commissioned by Margrave Wilhelmina, wife of Margrave Frederick of Brandenburg-Bayreuth, and designed by the famous theatre architect Giuseppe Galli Bibiena. As a court opera house in a public place, it foreshadowed the great public theatres of the 19th century. The beautifully decorated, layered wooden box structure with hallucinatory painted canvases represents a short-lived tradition of ceremonial architecture, used for pageants and celebrations of princely self-display.