70 years after reopening: new commemorative plaque
The House |
To mark the 70th anniversary of the reopening of the Vienna State Opera, a ceremony was held in the Schwindfoyer of the opera house on the Ring on November 5, 2025. On the one hand, the decade of reconstruction from 1945 to 1955 was brought into focus, while on the other hand the dark prehistory from 1938 to 1945 was addressed. It was also recalled that the reopening was not only characterized by a celebratory mood and a search for identity, but also by highly disastrous continuities - such as in the person of the director and conductor Karl Böhm.
The morning began with Hanns Eisler's "Epilogue" from his "Ernste Gesänge", sung by Georg Nigl and accompanied by a quintet of the State Opera Orchestra. State Opera Director Bogdan Roščić opened the event, with Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen delivering the keynote speech. The film documentary Wiener Staatsoper - Weltbühne für Österreich and the book Im Palast der Selbsterfindung, published to mark the anniversary, were also presented as part of the ceremony.
A memorial plaque was unveiled in the arcade driveway, to the right of the main entrance, commemorating the victims of the Nazi regime who worked at the building. Above the lettering is a work by Käthe Kollwitz - "The Lament" - created in the years 1938-41. The relief shows a mourner whose face is partially covered; her lament refers to the injustice and persecution of the Jews by the Nazi regime. Danielle Spera spoke words of remembrance at the unveiling of the plaque.