Vienna State Opera Lays Foundation Stone for French Hall in Künstlerhaus

STRABAG is revitalizing one of the two wings of the Vienna Künstlerhaus and building a modern opera hall in Austria. The French Hall of the Künstlerhaus Wien will seat up to 251 people and will be dedicated to young audiences and young artists. The planning for the French Hall assumes around 100 events per season. These include operas for children and young people, performances by the ballet academy or the ballet academy’s youth company, concerts by the opera studio and the opera school, events for the official circle of friends, world premieres of opera and ballet works and also educational programs and participatory formats.

At the construction site, the deepest point has now been reached at a depth of eight meters and is therefore ready to lay the foundation stone. Traditionally, when the foundation stone is laid, a time capsule is also installed to inform posterity about the project. Appropriately, at the laying of the foundation stone, employees of the Vienna City Archeology Research Society exhibited what they uncovered in the first construction phase below the French Hall.

In addition to a medieval pit in which the remains of vessels and food waste were found, numerous fragments of stove tiles, some of which were very elaborately designed, and fragments of vessels — but also, for example, part of a tortoise shell, were found in the leveling layers above.

The listed construction group STRABAG is known for sponsorship in the artistic field and contributes €10 million in the form of sponsorship.

The new venue of the Vienna State Opera is being realized as part of a public-private partnership. The project partners of the Vienna State Opera are the Künstlerhausbesitz und -betriebs GmbH, STRABAG SE, the Haselsteiner Familien-Privatstiftung and the public sector, represented by the Federal Ministry for Art, Culture, Public Service and Sport.

According to planning, the total project costs for the construction of the French Hall as a place of work and performance for the Vienna State Opera amount to €20.5 million contributed, the remaining €5.5 million are financed by the Haselsteiner family private foundation. The first performance in the French Hall is planned for the end of 2024.

Photos: © Marko’s Photography