The contribution of preservationists to the reconstruction of the Semper Opera House

摘要

The destruction of the opera house, built from 1871 to 1878 according to the plans of Gottfried Semper, on February 13th 1945 was felt by the inhabitants of Dresden as an especially painful loss, since numerous memories of grand musical performances were connected with the house. Although initial securing measures were taken in the years from 1952 to 1956, the economic situation did not allow the reconstruction of the house at that time. In the sixties, however, the architects and preservationists favoured striking a balance between the reconstruction of the opera house in its original form with the requirements of a modern-day opera house. It was around 1970 when the architecture of the historicism was discovered and also the architecture of Gottfried Semper was fully recognised by all those working in the field. The consequence of this development was that the planning office, the VEB Gesellschaftsbau Dresden, under the guidance of Wolfgang Haensch decided to build modern side stages only within the dimensions of the old building. The functional buildings erected separately at the rear of the house were in a modern design and connected with the Semper building by bridges. The auditorium regained the main features of the old auditorium during reconstruction between 1977 and 1985. The internal architecture, which in the vestibules and foyers had partly survived, was restored and partly reconstructed in accordance with the concepts for the preservation of monuments. This paper illustrates the approach of preservationists to reconstruction and the contribution made by them.