This opera house, now known as
Staatsoper Unter den Linden, was destroyed not once, not twice, but three times, only to emerge each time like a phoenix from the ashes. The original building was inaugurated in 1742 and burned down 100 years later. The reconstructed building was inaugurated in 1844. The opera house was bombed in 1941, but managed to reopen in 1942. A more severe bombing in 1945 resulted in ten-year rebuilding time.
After 1961and the Berlin Wall, the opera house was a bit isolated over on the east side. I went to see an opera here in 1981 when the wall was still up. The street was oddly quiet and there was something eery about the surroundings in general. Since the reunification, this street is once again vibrant and lively.
This card is from about 1898. Here's a picture of the opera house taken by
Josef Lehmkuhl in 2005.
And here's the back of the card, printed on the strange blue card stock.
That is such a stunning postcard ....the light they captured just makes the entire card glow in warm light...very nice find!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful building, I'm glad it has survived.
ReplyDeleteGood To Know It Has Be Restored To I's Rightful Glory.
ReplyDeleteThis is sort of off-topic, but there are always a number of buildings of historical and cultural significance represented in snow and ice at the annual Sapporo Snow Festival (which starts this week!). I feel like I've seen this building before, and it may have been at the Snow Festival. Is that possible?The reproductions are HUGE and feature world heritage buildings from all over the world.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad they didn't give up on the building. It looks so fine.
ReplyDeleteSo glad you are sharing images of Berlin. I love them. I was over to the East side a couple of times (with the wall up) during my visits to West Berlin. Eerie was an excellent description. Also dingy. I have not been back over since the wall was down, but I'm dying to. When last I was there all the buildings were so dirty and sad looking.
ReplyDeleteI'm also interested in this because my grandfather used to play there! He played violin for the Berlin Philharmonic and (I may be wrong) but I believe this is where they would perform. I wish I had a photo of him during that time, but my family lost all that during the war. They were bombed out several times and no family history pieces survived!