From Alexanderplatz to Pariser Platz
Staatsoper Unter den Linden
Designed by Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff in the Prussian classical style and erected between 1741 and 1743 as a Court Opera House for Frederick the Great, it was the first building to be constructed on the square that came to be known as the Forum Fridericianum. The opera house was reserved exclusively for the court and its guests until 1801. It was also one of the first theatres in Germany to be built outside royal palace grounds.
Little remained of the original structure in the wake of later conversion work. Only the striking façade with its Corinthian porticus survived. Turned into a theatre with dress and upper circles in 1788 to plans by Carl Gotthard Langhans and Georg Friedrich Boumann, it was rebuilt by Carl Ferdinand Langhans in 1843/44 after it had been destroyed by fire. Eduart Fürstenau extended the stage and backstage area between 1926 and 1928.
Richard Paulick was the architect in charge of post-war reconstruction of the building from 1952 to 1955. He too adhered closely to the original exterior design and completely modernized the interior of the building in the style of its nineteenth-century predecessor. The Apollo room, with the character of an illustrious foyer, has served as a concert hall since the 1950s.
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Images:
Bildarchiv Preußischer Kulturbesitz (2)
PhotoWareHouse
Land Berlin / Thie
Monika Ritterhaus / Staatsoper Unter den Linden
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