Architect
27 March 1886, Fulpmes, Tyrol - 12 June 1983, Hallein, Salzburg
The architect who carved a world-class opera stage into a cliff. Clemens Holzmeister worked on Salzburg Festival venues across multiple building phases from 1926, culminating in the extraordinary 1956-1960 expansion of the Grosses Festspielhaus, a feat of engineering that drove the stage through the Monchsberg rock face itself.
The result is one of the largest stages in the world, built not on flat ground but into and through a mountain. Holzmeister also designed Turkey’s parliamentary buildings in Ankara, but the Festspielhaus remains his most audacious work. He died in Hallein, just south of Salzburg, at the age of 97.
Locations
Completed 1960
The Grosses Festspielhaus (Large Festival Hall) opened in 1960 as a major expansion of Salzburg's Festspielhaus complex, carved in large part from the Moenchsberg cliff face to achieve its 2,179-seat auditorium. Architect Clemens Holzmeister cut the main stage directly into the rock, creating one of the widest stages in the world at 100 meters.
Organizations
One of the world's most prestigious performing arts festivals. Held annually late July to end of August. Founded 1920 by Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Max Reinhardt, Richard Strauss, Franz Schalk, and Alfred Roller. Inaugural event: Jedermann on Domplatz. Herbert von Karajan defined the postwar era. Opera, drama, concerts.
Referenced by
20th century
A staircase that climbs the Mönchsberg cliff directly behind the Salzburg festival houses, named in 1983 for the architect who built them.
