Decision: The future of the opera of the future is at Heinrich-Heine-Allee

Düsseldorf, 15 June 2023

Decision in livestream: The future of the opera of the future is at Heinrich-Heine-Allee. Düsseldorf wants "quality, not luxury", an "innovative concert hall with modern architecture". And: Spent public money always ends up in society.

Perfect location: On the right is the Opera house of Düsseldorf ©Unsplash

Düsseldorf, 15 June 2023: Our editorial team was there in the city hall live stream. The council of the state capital Düsseldorf decided on Heinrich-Heine-Allee as the location for the implementation of a new building for the opera house of the future. Specifically, an architectural and engineering competition is now being launched. Furthermore, a feasibility study for the implementation of an interim venue until the first curtain rises in the new opera house, presumably in 2033. Builder Company is the municipal subsidiary Immobilien Projekt Management Düsseldorf GmbH (IPM).

What happened in the last few days

It had already leaked out yesterday that a compromise had been reached between the parties. The CDU and Die Grüne hold the majority in the city hall, but the latter spectacularly dropped out of the new building target. Previously, Die Grüne had stood by the mayor for years. The reason they gave was the unforeseeable costs related to the Ukraine war and the consequences of the Corona period. The Grünen mayor Clara Gerlach had even called Keller's plans populist: "You can't just give the impression that the city can afford everything without making sensitive savings elsewhere." When there was talk of renovating the existing opera house, people looked with horror at Cologne's opera house, which bears the title of Germany's most expensive building. Whereby one certainly could not transfer one case to another.

Then the SPD came to the aid of Mayor Dr Keller, but put conditions on their yes to the city leadership. They wrung from the Lord Mayor a commitment to launch a building programme for 8,000 publicly subsidised flats by 2030 and to invest more in cultural centres in the city districts.

Could the opera house look like this? Draft with a high artistic appeal by Düsseldorf based HPP architects ©HPP

How important is the new opera for Düsseldorf?

Düsseldorf would be rich in culture and art institutions even without the new opera. The art academy has a worldwide appeal, museums and renowned galleries. The Behrensbau is Düsseldorf's newest museum, the only building in the world where the architects Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier and Hans Walter Gropius worked with their boss Peter Behrens.

The reopening of the Kunstpalast in autumn will also be spectacular. The Schumann House, the last residence of Robert and Clara Schumann, will open in the summer. Most recently, Düsseldorf snatched up the headquarters of the German Photo Institute.

And yet...

More than museums, operas and performance venues convey ideas about the self, the family, society and politics - they are the centre for the circulation of cultural value.

The new opera house will have a radiance for the city simply because of its location, dimensions and architecture. In addition, it will have a mixed function between event and lifestyle venue to offer a place for non-opera-goers as well.

Spent public money always ends up in society

The Klima Partei submitted its own request today to set a cost limit of 350 million. A good idea, but worldwide opera houses, however, end up in completely different cost dimensions. Lord Mayor said today that he wanted "quality, not luxury", an "innovative concert hall with modern architecture".

In February, Düsseldorf and international architectural firms presented their designs for the "opera of the future". Spectacular designs and places to dream about.

These architects speak of 600 to 700 million being spent, from the demolition of the existing opera house, the interim building to the new building. Let's hope that these funds will at least stay with NRW-based companies.

We will continue to report.

15. June 2023