Built 1890-1891 as "Stadttheater" by Ferdinand Fellner & Hermann Helmer. After the old 1834 Stadttheater had been destroyed by a fire on 1 Jan 1890, a join-stock company "Theater-Aktiengesellschaft" founded the building of this new theatre, with a communal subsidize of only 10% of the construction costs. Opened 1 Oct 1891 with Rossini's "Guiglielmo Tell". 1936 renovation and extensions. Renamed "Opernhaus" in 1964. In the 1960s, there were plans to destroy the building and build a modern opera house. After years of political struggle it was decided that the old building exterior and the auditorium would be saved, while foyers and the stage parts were largely rebuilt, including the demolishing of the old Esplanade building and the building of a new home for the Bernhard-Theater. After the renovations of 1981-1984 the theatre re-opened on 2 Dec 1984 with Wagner's "Lohengrin". Formerly 1238 seats, today 1100 seats.

Notable world premieres:

• Ferruccio Busoni: Turandot / Arlecchino (11 May 1917)
• Othmar Schoeck: Venus (10 May 1922)
• Robert Stolz: Venus in Seide (10 Dec 1932)
• Robert Stolz: Zwei Herzen im Dreivierteltakt (30 Sep 1933)
• Alexander Zemlinsky: Der Kreidekreis (14 Oct 1933)
• Eduard Künneke: Herz über Bord (30 Mar 1935)
• Oscar Straus: Drei Walzer (5 Oct 1935)
• Emmerich Kálmán: Kaiserin Josephine (18 Jan 1936)
• Alban Berg: Lulu (2 June 1937)
• Paul Hindemith: Mathis der Maler (28 May 1938)
• Arthur Honegger: Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher (staged, 13 June 1942)
• Paul Burkhard: Casanova in der Schweiz (1943)
• Heinrich Sutermeister: Niobe (22 July 1946)
• Paul Burkhard: Tic-Tac (29 Mar 1947)
• Arnold Schönberg: Moses und Aron (staged premiere, 6 June 1957)
• Bohuslav Martinu: Recké pasije ("The Greek Passion", 2nd version, 9 June 1961)
• Heinrich Sutermeister: Madame Bovary (26 May 1967)
• Rudolf Kelterborn: Ein Engel kommt nach Babylon (5 June 1977)

Link: www.opernhaus.ch