Königliches Hoftheater Dresden

From 1838 to 1841, the architect Gottfried Semper built a representative opera house, which replaced the previous Morettisches Opernhaus.

In the following years, Richard Wagner was Kapellmeister there, and gave the world premieres of several of his music dramas: Rienzi, Der fliegende Holländer and Tannhäuser, with singers including Wilhelmine Schröder-Devrient and Joseph Tichatschek.

In 1838, the respected Dresden clockmaker Friedrich Gutkaes was commissioned to construct a clock that could be easily read from all seats.

The Dresden court councillor Wilhelm Lesky built his Villa estate in Kötzschenbroda on the remains of the burnt-down first Semper's Opera House as a picturesque arrangement of ruins.

This group of figures created by Ernst Rietschel with the title "Allegory of Tragedy" was originally installed on the north wall of the Dresden Court Theatre, but had no longer found a use when the opera house was rebuilt.