Bayreuth Travel Guide

The Markgräfliches Opernhaus (Margrave's Opera House, or Margravial Opera House) is a Baroque opera house in the town of Bayreuth in Germany. It is one of Europe's few surviving theatres of the period and has been extensively restored. It was built between 1744 and 1748 by Joseph Saint-Pierre; the interior was designed by Giuseppe Galli Bibiena and his son Carlo of Bologna in the late Baroque style. Princess Wilhelmine of Prussia, wife of the Margrave Frederick, participated here as writer, player, composer, actor and director. Today she features in a sound-and-light presentation for tourists. The stage's great depth (27 metres) attracted Richard Wagner, who later had his Bayreuth Festspielhaus built north of the town.

Each September since the year 2000, the theatre has hosted the Bayreuther Baroque festival, with performances of early operatic rarities.

Hours: open daily April - September 9am - 6pm. October - March 10am - 4pm. Closed during the day of evening performances.

Admission: Adults 5 €, Groups and Students 4 €, under 18 years free.

After the Old Palace burned down, the new town residence for Margrave Friedrich von Brandenburg-Bayreuth was begun by Joseph Saint-Pierre in 1753. Margravine Wilhelmine had considerable influence on its final form, designing some of the rooms herself, including the Cabinet of Fragmented Mirrors and the Old Music Room with its pastel portraits of singers, actors and dancers.

The Palm Room with its outstanding walnut panelling is a typical example of the Rococo style in Bayreuth. On the ground floor of the New Palace is a comprehensive collection of Bayreuth faience from the manufactory founded in 1716 (Rummel Collection).

Hours: April - September daily from 9am to 6pm. October - March from 10am to 4pm (closed on Mondays).

Admission: adults: 5 €, Groups and Students: 4 €, under 18 years free.

In 1715 Margrave Georg Wilhelm built the Old Palace near the residential town of Bayreuth as the central feature of a court hermitage. In 1753, when Margrave Friedrich took over the government of the margraviate, he presented the Hermitage to his wife Wilhelmine. Fascinated by this unique complex, the margravine immediately began enlarging it, first adding new rooms to the Old Palace including a Music Room, a Japanese Cabinet and the Chinese Mirror Cabinet, in which she wrote her celebrated memoirs. Between 1743 and 1745 various buildings and fountains such as the Ruined Theatre and the Lower Grotto with the hermitage of Margrave Friedrich were produced from designs by Joseph St Pierre. The New Palace and the Upper Grotto were built from 1749 to 1753.

In the sections added by Wilhelmine to the existing gardens she introduced traditional baroque elements such as hedge gardens, pergolas and waterworks. Created in an era when there were no gardens of this type at all in Germany, the Hermitage is thus unique amongst the gardens of the 18th century.

Hours: open daily April - September 9am - 6pm. October 1 - 15 10am - 4pm. October 16 - March 31 closed. Guided tours every 30 minutes.

Admission: adults: 4 €, groups and students: 3 €, under 18 years admission free.

The Festival Theatre - unique in architecture and acoustics - ranks among the world's greatest opera houses. It is dedicated principally to the performance of operas by 19th-century German composer Richard Wagner. It is the exclusive venue for the annual Bayreuth Festival, for which it was specifically conceived and built.

Tours: December - April: 10am and 2pm. September, October: 10 am., 11 am, 2 pm and 3 pm. Closed on Mondays, during rehearsals and in November. During the Festival (end July and August) only if festival activities permit..

Admission: adults: 5 €

In 1976, to mark the centenary of the Bayreuth Festival, Villa Wahnfried was restored and opened as the Richard Wagner Museum and national archive. Wahnfried – former home of Richard Wagner – is now home to a permanent exhibition on the life and works of this great music dramatist and on the history of the Bayreuth Festival.

Hours: April - October: 9am - 5pm., Tue. and Thur.: 9am - 8pm. November - March: 10 am - 5pm.

The most extensive brewery museum in the world, listed in the Guinness Book of Records, Maisel’s Brewery and Cooperage Museum showcases the exciting world of beer and beer-making in the original brewery building. Visitors can see a collection of more than 3,300 beer glasses and jugs and 400 rare enamel signs from various breweries and beer brands, as well as a delightfully presented collection of beer mats. With a complete brewing room dating from 1887 with steam engines and brewing equipment, a hop chamber, a barrel cellar and a bottling room, visitors can explore the various stages of the brewing process in this fully preserved brewery. Learn the secrets of a perfect pint in the cavernous Lagerkeller (storage cellars), then after the tour, enjoy a free Maisel’s Weisse wheat beer in the Alte Abfüllerei bar. Guided tours are the only way to see the museum. Group and multilingual tours on request.

Jean Paul (Johann Paul Friedrich Richter), born 1763 in Wunsiedel, lived and worked in Bayreuth from 1804 until his death in 1825. The museum houses a remarkable collection of manuscripts, first editions, portraits, literature and pictures of and relating to Jean Paul, one of Germany's foremost writers.

Hours: September - June: daily 10 - 12pm and 2 - 5 pm. July and August: daily 10 am - 5pm.

The park surrounding Schloss Fantaisie was created in the 1760s by Duchess Elisabeth Friederike Sophie von Württemberg, the daughter of Margravine Wilhelmine who had become famous for creating several gardens in the Bayreuth area, including the Eremitage Hofgarten and Sanspareil. The park was further developed by a succession of owners and therefore combines design elements from various style periods: the rococo, the sentimental landscape and the mixed style period of the 19th century. The castle houses Germany's first Garden Art Museum which is exclusively devoted to the history of German garden design of the 18th and 19th centuries, with a regional focus on southern Germany. Among the highlights is the copy of the famous inlaid cabinet by the Spindler brothers.

Hours: April - September: 9 am - 6 pm, closed on Mondays. Oct. 1st - Oct. 15th: 10am - 4pm. Closed from Oct. 16th to March.

Admission: Adults: 3 €.