Eventually the decision was made to rebuild the opera house as it had been. Lengthy discussions took place about whether the opera house should be restored to its original state on its original site, or whether it should be completely demolished and rebuilt, either on the same location or on a different site. The State Opera was temporarily housed at the Theater an der Wien and at the Vienna Volksoper. The auditorium and stage were, however, destroyed by flames as well as almost the entire décor and props for more than 120 operas with around 150,000 costumes. The front section, which had been walled off as a precaution, remained intact including the foyer, with frescoes by Moritz von Schwind, the main stairways, the vestibule and the tea room. Towards the end of World War II, on March 12, 1945, the opera was set alight by an American bombardment, which was intended for the Raffinerie in Floridsdorf. The opening premiere was “Don Giovanni” by Mozart, on May 25, 1869. Van der Nüll committed suicide, and barely ten weeks later Sicardsburg suffered a fatal heart attack so neither architect saw the completion of the building. Moreover because the level of Ringstraße was raised by a metre in front of the opera house after its construction had begun, the latter was likened to 'a sunken box' and, in analogy to the military disaster of 1866 (the Battle of Königgrätz), was deprecatingly referred to as “the Königgrätz of architecture”. On the one hand, it did not seem as grand as the Heinrichshof, a private residence which was destroyed in World War II (and replaced in 1955 by the Opernringhof). The building was, however, not very popular with the public. This was the first opera built in Vienna. It was built in the Neo-Renaissance style. Work commenced on the building in 1861 and was completed in 1869, following plans drawn up by architects August Sicard von Sicardsburg and Eduard van der Nüll, who lived together in the 6th district. The building was the first major building on the Wiener Ringstraße commissioned by the controversial Viennese “city expansion fund”. The members of the Vienna Philharmonic are recruited from its orchestra. It was originally called the Vienna Court Opera (Wiener Hofoper) in 1920, it was renamed the Vienna State Opera. It is located in the centre of Vienna, Austria. The Vienna State Opera (Wiener Staatsoper) is an opera house – and opera company – with a history dating back to the mid-19th century.

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