Germany Guide
Hesse
Hessisches Staatstheater
Address: Wilhelmstr.
Telephone: 0611/13 23 25
Website: www.staatstheater-wiesbaden.de
On the eastern side of Wilhelmstrasse, the gardens and the central pond Warmer Damm provide a verdant setting for the Hessisches Staatstheater, a turn-of-the-twentieth-century pile built at the behest of Kaiser Wilhelm II by the renowned Viennese theatre architects Fellner and Helmer, and a rarity in a large German city for preserving its graceful auditorium in its original neo-Baroque style. The extravagant neo-Rococo foyer, built in 1902, now functions as a breathtakingly opulent bar. Even if you don't go to a performance, it's worth asking whether any of the tourist office's themed guided tours is due to visit.
As Wiesbaden's main venue for high culture – including opera, ballet and drama – it's a good place to catch reasonably priced opera in suitably grand surroundings.