Festival Halls (Festspielhaus)
Festival Halls (Festspielhaus) features on the Gingerguide audio walk through Salzburg. Give it roughly ~45 min: enough to look, hear a two to three minute story on the spot, and ask the AI guide whatever the story leaves open.
- Type theater
- Suggested visit ~45 min
- Salzburg Salzburg guide
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About Festival Halls (Festspielhaus)
Salzburg's festival halls on Hofstallgasse, built into the former court stables and the Moenchsberg rock; home of the Salzburg Festival and the quarried Felsenreitschule stage of Sound of Music fame.
The Salzburg Festival was founded in 1920 by Max Reinhardt, Hugo von Hofmannsthal and Richard Strauss, and opened on 22 August 1920 with Hofmannsthal's play Jedermann, staged in the open air on Cathedral Square rather than in any concert hall. Its permanent venues line Hofstallgasse below the Moenchsberg, in the former Court Stables of the prince-archbishops. The Grosses Festspielhaus, cut into the Moenchsberg rock behind Fischer von Erlach's Baroque stable facade, was built between 1956 and 1960 and opened with Der Rosenkavalier under Herbert von Karajan.
Beside it, the Felsenreitschule was hewn in 1693 from a disused quarry in the Moenchsberg, its stage backed by ninety-six arcades in three tiers; first a summer riding school, it became a festival stage in 1926. Its arcades appear as the von Trapps' concert setting in The Sound of Music, though the graveyard escape that follows was filmed on a Hollywood set, not on location.
Did you know? The Salzburg Festival opened in 1920 not in a concert hall but in the open air on Cathedral Square, with Hofmannsthal's morality play 'Jedermann'. The same play is still performed on that square today.
How long is a visit to Festival Halls (Festspielhaus)?
Set aside roughly ~45 min for Festival Halls (Festspielhaus). That covers a good look and the narrated story, and because you set the pace you can always stay on.
Is Festival Halls (Festspielhaus) worth your time?
Festival Halls (Festspielhaus) is among the 15 narrated highlights the Gingerguide team chose for Salzburg, so it is worth a look. Hear the story for the context, then ask the AI guide for anything more.
Nearby stops in Salzburg
Day 1 of the Salzburg in 2 days itinerary →
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Hear the story of Festival Halls (Festspielhaus)
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