Bregenz Festival House
Opera and congress house on Lake Constance, paired with the floating Seebühne lake stage.
The Festspielhaus stands on the Bregenz lakefront and opened in July 1980 as the indoor home of the Bregenz Festival, which had staged opera on the water since 1946. It was rebuilt in 2006 and modernised and extended again in 2023 and 2024 to plans by the Vorarlberg practice Dietrich Untertrifaller. The house now holds a main auditorium of around 1,700 seats, the smaller Werkstattbühne studio theatre and some two dozen further rooms used for congresses.
Immediately in front of the building lies the Seebühne, a stage built out into Lake Constance and faced by a raked grandstand for about 7,000 people. A new set is constructed for each biennial lake production, and the surrounding water, sky and mountains form part of the staging. The Festspielhaus carries the festival's second opera, orchestral concerts by the Vienna Symphony and contemporary work in the Werkstattbühne.
Highlights
- Main auditorium of roughly 1,700 seats beside Lake Constance
- Seebühne lake stage with a grandstand for about 7,000
- Werkstattbühne studio theatre for contemporary opera
- Extended in 2023-24 by Dietrich Untertrifaller
