Berlin's Staatsoper opens its doors on Wednesday with a production of Schumann's 'Scenes from Goethe's Faust.
The building on Unter der Linden was originally completed in 1742 by architect Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff.
The opera house was modelled on the style of an ancient temple and was at that time the largest opera house in Europe.
It burned almost to the ground in 1843 and was subsequently rebuilt in the original style.
During the Second World War, it was severely damaged on two occasions.
After the 1945 bombing, architect Richard Paulink was tasked with restoring it to match the original 1742 version. The result was an unusually opulent building for the then capital city of the German Democratic Republic.
For both the 1942 and 1955 premieres, the Staatsoper selected Wagner's "Die Meistersinger von Nuremberg" – a fitting musical ode to the venue.
The renovation this time, which took four years longer than planned, cost €400 million.
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