# Semperoper

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Canonical page: https://mytuur.com/en/city/dresden/spot/semperoper/

Content updated: 2026-06-22

Semperoper stands on Theaterplatz beside the Elbe, in Dresden’s historic centre, as home to the Saxon State Opera. The building serves as a concert hall for the Saxon State Orchestra and a base for Semperoper Ballett. Wheelchair access is available for visitors.

Originally designed by Gottfried Semper, the opera house opened in 1841 with an opera by Carl Maria von Weber. A fire reshaped its history in 1869. Manfred Semper then supervised reconstruction from his father’s plans, completing the Neo-Renaissance building in 1878. Its portal carries a Panther quadriga and Dionysos above a façade blending Renaissance, Baroque, and Corinthian forms. Interior sculptures by Johannes Schilling, Ernst Rietschel, and Ernst Julius Hähnel accompany monuments to Goethe, Schiller, and Shakespeare.

Bombing in 1945 destroyed much of the building, which reopened in 1985 with Der Freischütz. The Elbe flood damaged it in 2002. Today, the Saxon State Orchestra performs most operas, while the house remains associated with premieres by composers including Richard Strauss.

- City: [Dresden](https://mytuur.com/en/city/dresden/)

## Photos

- ![](https://mytuur-bucket.s3.amazonaws.com/image_Semperoper_67eb94ad5015e576396961e4_0.jpg) — [Image: wikimedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Dresden_-_Semperoper_-_2013.jpg)
- ![](https://mytuur-bucket.s3.amazonaws.com/image_Semperoper_67eb94ad5015e576396961e4_1_1747146396695.jpg) — [Image: TomasSereda](https://www.istockphoto.com/de/portfolio/TomasSereda?mediatype=photography)

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