Vienna State Opera

10-minute walk from the Hotel Papageno.

The Vienna State Opera, the "First House on the Ring", is Vienna's most important opera house and one of the world's most famous. The Vienna Philharmonic recruits its members from the ranks of the State Opera orchestra.

In 1860, it was the first monumental building to be commissioned for the Ringstrasse as part of Vienna's expansion efforts. Construction began in 1861 and was to be completed by 1869, true to plans drawn up by architects August Sicard von Sicardsburg und Eduard van der Nüll, in the style of the neorenaissance. The two also had private ties with one another, even living together in the same house in Vienna's 6th district.

The Vienna State Opera employs a repertoire system: over 50 productions are included in their annual schedule. Which explains why the opera house is able to produce operas on virtually a daily basis for ten months out of the year.