Wagner brings these two together by constructing a plot involving the 14th-century Minnesänger and the myth of Venus and her subterranean realm of Venusberg.

Tieck's tale, which names the hero "Tannenhäuser", tells of the minnesinger-knight's amorous adventures in the Venusberg, his travels to Rome as a Pilgrim, and his repudiation by the pope.

In Heine's sardonic essay "Elementargeister" (Elemental spirits), there appears a poem about Tannhäuser and the lure of the grotto of Venus, published in 1837 in the third volume of Der Salon.

[5][3] Wagner also knew of the work of another contemporary, Christian Theodor Ludwig Lucas, whose Über den Krieg von Wartburg of 1838 also conflated the two legends.

[8] During Wagner's first stay in Paris (1839–1842) he read a paper by Ludwig Lucas on the Sängerkrieg which sparked his imagination, and encouraged him to return to Germany, which he reached on 7 April 1842.

[8] Wagner began composing the music during a vacation in Teplitz in the summer of 1843 and completed the full score on 13 April 1845; the opera's famous overture, often played separately as a concert piece, was written last.

I imagined I was ill and lay for whole days in bed...."[11] The instrumentation also shows signs of borrowing from French operatic style.

After Franz Liszt produced the opera at Weimar Court Theatre in 1849, there were further performances between 1852 and 1856 in (amongst other locations) Schwerin, Kassel, Poznań, Wiesbaden, Hanover, Munich, and Berlin.

[15] The Dresden version was used for initial productions outside Germany, notably at Riga on 18 January 1853; at Tallinn on 10 January 1854; at Prague on 25 November 1854 at Theatre of the Estates; at New York City on 4 April 1859 at the Stadt Theatre; and in London on 6 May 1876 at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden (when it was sung in Italian).

This had been requested by Emperor Napoleon III at the suggestion of Princess Pauline von Metternich, wife of the Austrian ambassador to France.

Wagner agreed to this condition since he believed that a success at the Opéra represented his most significant opportunity to re-establish himself following his exile from Germany.

This was partly due to members of the wealthy and aristocratic Jockey Club, who objected to the ballet coming in act 1, since this meant they would have to be present from the beginning of the performance (disrupting their dining schedule).

The minnesinger-knight Heinrich von Ofterdingen, known as Tannhäuser, left the court of the landgrave of Thuringia a year ago after a disagreement with his fellow knights.

Scene 2 Following the orgy of the ballet, Tannhäuser's desires are finally satiated, and he longs for freedom, spring and the sound of church bells.

(Let your praises be heard), which he ends with an earnest plea to be allowed to depart, "Aus deinem Reiche, muss ich fliehn!

Surprised, Venus offers him further charms, but eventually his repeated pleas arouse her fury and she curses his desire for salvation.

To the right...a mountain path from the direction of the Wartburg ...; in the foreground, led to by a low promontory, an image of the Virgin Mary – From above left one hears the ringing of herder’s bells; on a high projection sits a young shepherd with pipes facing the valley".

The minnesingers explain to Tannhäuser how he had enchanted Elisabeth, but when he had left she withdrew from their company and lost interest in music, expressing the hope that his return will also bring her back, "Auf's Neue leuchte uns ihr Stern!"

Wolfram muses on Elisabeth's sorrow during Tannhäuser's second absence, "Wohl wusst' ich hier sie im Gebet zu finden" (I knew well I might find her here in prayer) and her longing for the return of the pilgrims, and expresses concerns that he may not have been absolved.

As he does so he hears a pilgrims' prayer in the distance, "Beglückt darf nun dich, O Heimat, ich schauen" (Joyfully may I now you, O homeland, behold).

Finally, he approaches "ihn, durch den sich Gott verkündigt" (he, through whom God speaks)[a] and tells his story.

and is told by the pope that "Wie dieser Stab in meiner Hand, nie mehr sich schmückt mit frischem Grün, kann aus der Hölle heissem Brand, Erlösung nimmer dir erblühn!"

As he does so, torches are seen, and a funeral hymn is heard approaching, "Der Seele Heil, die nun entflohn" (Hail, the soul that now is flown).

Wolfram realises it must be Elisabeth's body that is being borne, and that in her death lies Tannhäuser's redemption, "Heinrich, du bist erlöst!"

Wolfram beckons to them to set it down, and as Tannhäuser bends over the body uttering, "Heilige Elisabeth, bete für mich!"

As the growing light bathes the scene the younger pilgrims arrive bearing the pope's staff sprouting new leaves, and proclaiming a miracle, "Heil!

[33] In the words of the Wagner scholar Thomas S. Grey, "The Bacchanal remained a defining focus of many ...productions, as a proving ground for changing conceptions of the psychosexual symbolism of the Venusberg."

[31] A Munich production (1994) included as part of Tannhäuser's fantasies "creatures out of Hieronymus Bosch crawl[ing] around the oblivious protagonist".

[34] A production mounted in 2013 at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Düsseldorf, was withdrawn after angry protests and reports of distressed audience members seeking medical help.

Directed by Burkhard C. Kosminski [de], the production incorporated characters dressed as Nazis; a realistic depiction of a death by shooting; and a setting within a Holocaust-era concentration camp.