The building of Dresden State Opera is also called Semper Opera – in honour of architect Gottfried Semper, the author of the project for the pompous building. Construction was finished in 1841.
It was stated that at that time it was the best opera house in the world. However it was not only the unique architecture design mixing “early Renaissance” and baroque that brought fame to Semper Opera. The first conductor of the Dresden opera was none other than Richard Wagner. The majority of his works had their first nights played on this stage.
Opera building was almost completely destroyed twice – as a result of a fire in 1869 and in 1945. And yet, the city reconstructed the theater each time. It is considered to be one of the symbols of Dresden. Even the main brand of Dresden beer, Radeberger, has the Semper Opera building on its logo.