History of the Vienna Opera Ball

Rather than the k. k. Hofoper by the Kärntnertor, the first ball was organized by the artists appearing there, following on the legendary festivities of the Congress of Vienna (1814–1815).

There were various balls held in the 1820s and 1830s at the numerous Viennese palaces. However, the artists wanted a more intimate setting for their festivities, and soon found an ideal solution in the Redouté Rooms in the Hofburg. After the bloody and infamous outcome of the revolutionary year 1848 years had to pass before the joie de vivre reached that intensity that made »Viennese Style« ball festivities possible once again. In 1862 the Theater an der Wien received imperial permission to organize balls again. These were modelled on the spectacular Paris Opéra balls.

However, when the staff of the k. k. Hofoper were finally able to occupy the splendid new house in 1869, Emperor Franz Joseph I refused permission to orga- nize balls in his theatre. As a result, the first ball called »Ball at the Hofoper« was held at the equally new and splendid building of the »Gesellschaft der Musik- freunde«, rather than at the Court Opera. In 1877 the Emperor finally gave his approval for a »Soirée« in his opera house. Although dancing was not officially allowed at this celebration on the night of 11 December, the Wiener Fremdenblatt reported on the following day: »after midnight there was the first real dance in the Festsaal of our opera house.«

After the downfall of the empire in 1918, the young Republic was astoundingly quick to remember the imperial festivities at the Opera. The first Opera Ball of the Republic of Austria was held on 21 January 1921, and the first »Vienna Opera Ball«, now known as such, took place in January 1935.

After the return of the Republic of Austria in 1945 and survival of the years of starvation the Opera House celebrated its reopening in November 1955. On 9 February 1956 the magnificent building was transformed into the glittering Opera Ball setting for the first time in the Second Republic.

Since then, the ball has been cancelled only three times to date – in 1991, during the Gulf War, and in 2021 and 2022 because of the coronavirus pandemic. All the greater was the joy that in 2023 it was finally »Alles Walzer!« again.