Hamburgische Staatsoper

In 1678, art-loving citizens of Hamburg succeeded in persuading the Senate to establish a public opera house – Germany’s first privately run opera house. This initiative by the citizens of Hamburg reflected a desire to see the city’s changing social and economic realities reflected in its cultural institutions. The first opera house. The establishment of the opera house was not without controversy among Hamburg’s Protestants; it was built as a long, narrow wooden structure between Jungfernstieg (on the corner of Gänsemarkt) and the Colonnades: the Lutherans were in favour, whilst the Pietists considered the theatre too worldly and sensual. Yet Hamburg’s ‘Operntheatrum’ developed into one of the leading musical centres in Europe. Georg Philip Telemann served as Hamburg’s city music director from 1721 and composed numerous operas, whilst Georg Friedrich Händel was employed at the theatre as a violinist and harpsichordist. His first opera, Almira, premiered here in 1705.