THE VIENNA STATE OPERA OPENS ITS DOORS

→ Due to the lockdown the Art- and Architecture-Tour can unfortunately not be open until further notice.

The Vienna State Opera welcomes up to 280,000 guests interested in art and culture on Guided Tours through the house in the course of a season. As these guided tours are currently not possible due to the current decree of the federal government, an art and architecture exhibition was designed in the form of a tour. Here, our visitors are guided through the historic rooms of the building along a clearly recognizable path as well as by means of information panels. QR codes with further information, photos, videos as well as audio files complete the offer.

Visitors can tour the vestibule, the entrance area of the opera house, the Grand Staircase, the the Tea Salon, Gustav Mahler Hall, Marble Hall, Schwindfoyer and Loggia as well as the imperial Middle Box with a view into the auditorium and onto the stage. The tour ends in the newly opened opera foyer, which is also architecturally very interesting and houses a store as well as the ticket office.

Visitors learn details about the history of the building, its construction in the spirit of Ringstrasse-era historicism, its destruction during World War II, and its reconstruction and reopening in the 1950s. Details such as the ceiling frescoes in the gallery, the statues of the seven liberal arts that frame the ceremonial staircase, the 1950s wall mosaics in the Marble Hall, or the magnificent furnishings and picturesque design of the Schwindfoyer are explained. Also the central box can be entered with a particularly selfie-worthy view of the auditorium. This includes the Iron Curtain, designed this year by Carrie Mae Weems, with its baroque-looking, opulent image of soul diva Mary J. Blige. The Gustav Mahler Room, named after perhaps the building's most famous artistic director and originally planned as the director's apartment, also features the tapestries created in six years of work after the war.

Each of the total of 17 stations is equipped with information panels (German and English). A QR code links to the website of the Vienna State Opera, where comprehensive and in-depth information as well as multimedia material can be accessed.

The QR code's information can also be found here. 
 

The entire tour is free admission, voluntary donations for the youth work of the Vienna State Opera are possible. In the house, a FFP2 mask obligation, the 2m distance rule and all other currently current safety regulations apply. No pre-registration is necessary for the architectural tour. No time slots will be offered. Due to a limited number of visitors in the building, there may be waiting times. We ask for your understanding.

Entrance: corner of Herbert-von-Karajan-Platz/Opernring.
Opening hours: Friday-Sunday from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. - last admission 3:30 p.m., free admission.
Opening hours store and ticket office: Friday-Sunday from 11 a.m.-5 p.m.