NATIONAL THEATER (BURGTHEATER)

Stumpy, opposite the City Hall, across the Ring, towards the inner city, it is another symbol of Viennese public and artistic life. It too was badly damaged during the war and its reconstruction attempts to be as faithful as possible to its original appearance, in the neo-Renaissance style. It was completed in 1888 by Semper (author of the unfinished wing of Neue Burg in Hofburg) and Von Hasenauer, both of whom had already been involved in the construction of the two national museums on the Ring opposite Hofburg. The National Theatre is one of the most representative stages of German-language dramaturgy and has acquired a reputation in this field at least equal to that of the Opera in the world of music. On its exterior facades, the names of the great representatives of German literature are inscribed in gold letters: Schiller, Goethe, Grillparzer... Inside, there are a few paintings by Gustav Klimt.