Bayreuth-- opera festivals and lavish architecture, courtesy of Wagner and Wilhelmina.
There cannot be many places in the world where, to go to the opera, you have to wait for up to seven years before your tickets come through. Or where, if attempting to obtain tickets on the day of the performance, you must start lining up in the middle of the night before. Venice yes, Salzburg maybe and possibly even Barcelona or New York. But Bayreuth?A small university and conference town with a population of 73,000 would indeed seem an unlikely place for one of the world’s most popular opera festivals. For 11 months a year, this sleepy little town in an area of northern Bavaria known as Franconia seems more like a provincial backwater. But in summer, thousands of visitors descend on Bayreuth for the world-famous Festspiele, a celebration of Wagner’s operas.
First mentioned as Baierrute (Old German for “Bavarian forest clearing”), Bayreuth began as a fortified settlement on a rock above the Roter Main River. A town by the 16th century and seat of the Margraves from 1603 when the nobility switched residence from nearby Kulmbach, Bayreuth was not to gain prominence until Wilhelmina, sister of Frederick the Great of Prussia, was forced into marrying Margrave Frederick. Initially, the move from Berlin to Bayreuth must have been a great shock for the prima donna. At the time there were some 90,000 inhabitants in Berlin, with its high society, numerous festivals and lavish architecture. Bayreuth, by contrast, had a population of only 7,000 and neither court life nor festivals, since her father-in-law abhorred these. Wilhelmina, who would have loved to have changed everything about this provincial backwater at one fell swoop, was thrown into a life of sacrifice and submission until 1735, when the old Margrave died and Frederick came to power. Now able to live and style the town as she pleased, the Margravine promptly invited the cream of Italian and French artists, poets, composers and architects to grace her court at Bayreuth and in so doing turned the town into a miniature Versailles. This resulted in some of the most spectacular examples of Rococo and Baroque architecture in Europe.
Perhaps the most beautiful of all the buildings commissioned by Wilhelmina is the Markgräfliches Opernhaus (Margravial Opera House). Designed by Giuseppe Galli Bibiena, a celebrated 18th-century architect from Bologna, the stage of this stunning Baroque masterpiece was the largest in Germany until 1871. The building remains the best-kept Baroque theater in the whole of Europe and has been declared a World Cultural Heritage Site by UNESCO. Visitors should not miss the 45-minute Sound and Light multimedia show (in German only).
The Opernhaus proved so popular that it was not long before Richard Wagner also heard about it. The Leipzig-born composer was looking for a suitable theater in which to stage his works after his plans to build one in Munich had failed. Attracted to the large stage in Bayreuth, Wagner traveled to the town in 1871. However, it soon transpired that the stage was completely unsuited to his works. With so small an orchestra pit, where would his 120 musicians be seated? Although he conducted here only once, Wagner took a liking to Bayreuth. When the Mayor of Bayreuth offered him a hilltop plot of land on the “Grüner Hügel” and King Ludwig II pledged generous financial support, Wagner decided to build his own opera house.
The foundation stone of the new building—the Festspielhaus—was laid on Wagner’s 59th birthday, in 1872. Four years later, the Ring of the Nibelungen was the first opera to be performed in the building, which ranks among the world’s most sought-after opera venues. However, the whole project had plunged the composer into great debt and by the time he had made good, six years had passed without a single performance. The next work he composed, Parsifal , was also his last—Wagner died in Venice in 1883. However, the Festspielhaus remains the site of the annual Wagner Festival (staged this year from July 25 to August 28), which has been organized by the composer’s descendents since his death and is currently directed by Wolfgang Wagner, the maestro’s grandson. Each performance of the 30-day event is attended by an audience of 1,900. First-timers may be forgiven for seeing it more as an endurance test, straight out of reality-soap TV: Concert-goers are required to sit for hours on end on hard wooden seats, ventilation is poor and air-conditioning nonexistent. One consolation however—on hot days, water is sprayed on the roof.
It is worth taking a tour of the opera house simply to gain a feel for the sheer dimensions of the vast, classic, albeit somewhat Spartan, building. The acoustic architecture is a true masterpiece, with reflecting boards and surfaces sending the orchestra’s sounds up and onto the stage, bouncing from the wall behind the singers and mixing with their voices before making its way to the house. The Festspielhaus is a short bus ride from the town center or approximately a 30-minute walk.
For an A to Z on the life and times of Wagner, visit the delightful Haus Wahnfried, the composer’s former home and now the Wagner Museum, a short walk through the Hofgarten. The museum, in which members of the Wagner family were still living up to some 30 years ago, tells the story of the life of the composer and his Festival. It also houses the Richard Wagner Trust with the largest Wagner archives in the world. You can hear Wagner’s works performed three times daily. In front of the house stands the bust of King Ludwig II, while to the rear lie the graves of Wagner, his wife Cosima, the daughter of Franz Liszt, their dog Russ and naturally Liszt himself. Rounding off the composers’ golden mile is the house where Liszt died. Naturally there is also a Franz Liszt museum devoted to the work of Wagner’s father-in-law.
One of the best ways to see the town is to take a guided walking tour starting at the Tourist Information Center. Tours are organized daily from May to October. A highlight of the walk is Wilhelmina’s pet project, the New Palace, which overlooks a grandiose English landscape garden. The Margraves’ residence was erected in only two years’ time by the French architect St. Pierre, replacing the Old Palace, which was destroyed by fire in 1753. Since money was lacking, the court architect devised a trick, simply linking up those buildings already on the site. Look at the roofs from the rear and you’ll see not one but four buildings. The showpiece of the Rococo palace is the long dining hall, the Cedar Chamber. This is the setting of the annual festive opening of the Wagner Festival, attended by the Bavarian State Prime Minister and a host of celebrities. Cross over the Mühlkanal outside and you will come to the palace chapel. Below its organ lie the tombs of Margrave Frederick, Margravine Wilhelmina and their daughter, Friederike.
To enjoy some of the grandest parks of the epoch, take a 20-minute bus ride to the Eremitage. This former retreat from the excesses of court life is home to two stunning 18th-century Baroque palaces; the Old Palace with its mysterious grotto and the New Palace complete with Sun Temple and gushing fountains. Look out for the Wasserspiele (waterworks) on the hour every day from May to October. The Römisches Theater, also part of the park complex, hosts another major attraction, the Sommerspiele (May to July). This year, 1,500 visitors are expected at a premiere in Bayreuth—a three-day Open Air Festival starring Max Raab and his orchestra will be held in the courtyard of the Old Palace. Tickets for all festivals held in Bayreuth go on sale more than a year in advance—those for the Wagner Festival sell out almost immediately.
At the heart of the town is another worthwhile stop—the Kunstmuseum (Museum of Fine Arts). The former Rathaus, a magnificent building from the Renaissance, hosts temporary exhibitions of 20th-century art, including examples of Expressionism, Impressionism and Surrealism. Other museums to look out for are the Deutsches Schreibmaschinenmuseum, documenting the 140-year history of the typewriter, the Schulmuseum, a tribute to the Richard Wagner Grammar School, and the Feuerwehrmuseum, tracing the history of fire-fighting through the ages.
One of the most interesting museums in Bayreuth has absolutely nothing to do with opera music. Maisel’s Brewery Museum, founded in 1887, is the most extensive museum of its type in the world and is listed in the Guinness Book of Records . The exhibition, spread over 17 rooms, includes an extensive beer mat collection and 3,600 different types of beer glass. Take a 90-minute tour of the complex, which concludes with a hearty glass of Weissbier served in the bottling room. English-language tours are available for groups of two or more. Incidentally, for the best brew north of the Danube, try the aromatic “Rauchbier,” served at the Schlenkerla tavern since 1678. The beer’s unique smoky flavor is produced by exposing the malt to burning beech wood logs before hops are added. The name of the brewery and pub is Franconian dialect for Schlenkerer , or staggerer!
Visitors staying longer in Bayreuth may like to explore the surrounding countryside, which is characterized by gently undulating hills, dense forests and bizarre, craggy cliffs. The town is the gateway to a part of northeastern Bavaria known as the “Fränkische Schweiz.” One of the geological highlights of this area is the Teufelshöhle (Devil’s Cave) near Potternstein with its fascinating stone vaults and grottoes containing beautiful stalagmites and stalactites. Alternatively, a short ride out of town takes you to the Gartenkunst-Museum and Park at Eckersdorf. Two years ago, Fantaisie Palace became the location of the first garden museum in Germany, with exhibits, displays and video shows vividly bringing to life the history of garden design. Among the highlights is the copy of the famous inlaid cabinet by the Spindler brothers.
Blessed with so many historic buildings, museums and unique parklands, Bayreuth is a treasure trove of discovery—a place where you can almost breathe history. It is possible to visit the town from Munich within one day but it pays to make an early start, particularly if traveling by regional train—the four to five-hour ride, although significantly cheaper, can take up to twice as long as the direct ICE service. The best time to savor the sites is before the masses roll in for the Festspiele. Visiting outside these dates doesn’t necessarily mean having to forgo the best concerts—a packed cultural program at a variety of historical venues ensures good dramatic and orchestral performances virtually all year round.
An excellent investment for day-trippers is the Bayreuth Card. For just €9, the ticket (available from the Information Center) includes admission to nine museums, travel on all the town’s buses and a guided walk around the town. Finally, to wind down after a day on the go, the nearby Lohengrin Therme, a thermal spa with extensive sauna and fitness facilities, offers welcome respite.
HOW TO GET THERE:
>>>By car: A9 Munich–Bayreuth (allow 3 hours)
>>>By TRAIN: Change in Nuremberg (journey 2 1/2–3 hours)
Tourist Information:
Kongress- und Tourismuszentrale Bayreuth
Tel: (0921) 885 88
Fax: (0921) 885 55
www.bayreuth.de
www.bayreuth-tourismus.de
E-mail: info@bayreuth-tourismus.de
Opera tickets: ticketservice@bayreuth-tourismus.de
