Prague State Opera

Prague, Czech Republic

During most of the 19th century, the bilingual city of Prague hosted both a German‐ and a Czech‐speaking company in its single opera house; as success popularized the art of opera, negotiations began in 1883 for the establishment of a theater that the opera lovers of Prague’s active German minority could call home.

The construction of the cheerful, attractive house now called the Prague State Opera opened in 1888 as the Neues Deutsches Theater. Though the New German Theater was closed in 1938, the operatic and drama company known as the May 5th Theatre was established soon after the war’s end; over time, this company evolved into the Prague State Opera.
The Prague State Opera still celebrates the tradition of the New German Theatre, not only through the richly colorful space in which it plays, but above all through its choice of international repertoire and the establishment of its own documentation center. Step back into a bygone era in Prague history with an inspiring evening at the Prague State Opera.