Attraction · Bayreuth · Updated on 1 November 2026.
Festspielhaus is an attraction in Bayreuth, Bavaria. This place has an audio tour of about 2 minutes, in English or Dutch. 1 of the 50 well-known points of interest nearby is within 1 km. Within 60 m you'll find a bench and a public toilet.
Audio tour · Festspielhaus
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You're standing at the Festspielhaus in Bayreuth, the opera house Richard Wagner built for one purpose only: performing his own works. Every year it hosts the Bayreuth Festival.
Read and hear the whole story in the Outdoor Pitstop app: check in at this place and it is yours (with Pro; new users are Pro for the first 4 weeks).
Source: OpenStreetMap and Wikidata.
10 photos from Wikimedia Commons. In the app you add your own photo when you are there.
The Festspielhaus in Bayreuth is an opera house that Richard Wagner had built to stage his own works. The building is known for the annual Bayreuther Festspiele, where only operas by Wagner are performed. The king paid for most of the construction. The first complete performance of Der Ring des Nibelungen took place here in 1876. You will find the Festspielhaus in Bayreuth at Festspielhügel 1-2.
The outside of the building is plain, with a lot of bare brick. Only the front façade has decoration from the late nineteenth century. Inside, you will find a hall that is largely made of wood. It is one of the largest freestanding wooden structures ever built. The hall holds 1,925 seats arranged in a wide wedge, so everyone has a good view of the stage. The orchestra pit lies deep below the stage and is covered, so you cannot see the musicians or the conductor during a performance. Wagner called the space between the auditorium and the stage the mystic abyss.
Richard Wagner had this building constructed in 1875. He used a design by Gottfried Semper without permission, and he supervised the construction together with architect Otto Brückwald. Funds were often short, so Wagner gave concerts across Europe to pay for the project. At the opening in 1876, distinguished guests attended, including composers such as Liszt, Saint-Saëns and Tsjajkovski. A major restoration was completed in 2015, after the roof had begun to leak and the red brick facade had started to crumble.
The nearest public toilet to the Festspielhaus in Bayreuth is 63 metres away, at the Festspielhügel. This toilet is wheelchair accessible. There is one public toilet in total within 500 metres. Benches are plentiful around the Festspielhaus in Bayreuth, with 42 of them within a 500-metre radius. The closest bench is 67 metres away, at the Wolfgang-Wagner-Platz. There is no drinking water to be found at the Festspielhaus in Bayreuth, as there is no water tap within 1 km.
The Festspielhaus is a good starting point for a walk with several places to visit. Ordensschloss St. Georgen, a castle, is 992 metres away. A little further on, at 1,043 metres, you will find the Siegesturm lookout point. On the spot, you can listen to an audio story about the Festspielhaus in the Outdoor Pitstop app. The story lasts 2 minutes and you can hear it directly at the building. The walk to the castle and the lookout point takes you through the surroundings of Bayreuth.
The nearest pitstop of each kind within 1 km, as the crow flies. No water point, bike pump or honesty box within 1 km.
50 well-known points of interest nearby, those with an audio tour first. 1 of the 50 well-known points of interest nearby is within 1 km.
Hear the story of Margravial Opera House on the spot with the app
There is a wheelchair-accessible toilet inside the building and a public toilet 63 metres away at the Festspielhügel.
Yes, there is a bench 67 metres away at Wolfgang-Wagner-Platz, and there are 42 benches within a 500 metre radius.
No, there is no water tap within a 1 km radius.
Only operas by Richard Wagner are performed in this opera house.
The auditorium is one of the largest freestanding wooden structures ever built and has an invisible orchestra that sits deep below the stage.
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