Burgtheater
Austria's national theatre on the Ringstrasse, with Klimt staircase paintings and a nightly drama repertoire.
The Burgtheater traces its origins to 1741, when Empress Maria Theresa converted a ballroom beside the Hofburg into a court theatre. The company moved in 1888 into a new Italian Renaissance revival building on the Ringstrasse designed by Gottfried Semper and Karl von Hasenauer, with a curved main front facing the city hall. The original auditorium was reshaped soon after opening because sightlines were poor, and the house was gutted by fire in 1945 before reopening in 1955.
It is the national theatre of Austria and one of the largest spoken-drama companies in Europe, performing in German. Alongside the main house it runs the Akademietheater, the Kasino am Schwarzenbergplatz and the small Vestibül, and it mounts more than twenty new productions a season. The ceremonial staircases carry painted panels by Gustav Klimt, his brother Ernst and Franz Matsch, including Klimt's view of the auditorium of the theatre's predecessor building.
Highlights
- National theatre of Austria, founded as a court theatre in 1741
- Ringstrasse building of 1888 by Semper and Hasenauer
- Ceiling and staircase paintings by Gustav and Ernst Klimt
- Four stages: Burgtheater, Akademietheater, Kasino and Vestibül
