Cuvilliés-Theater – famous Rococo theatre

Year 2022
24 March – 31 July:
Mon – Sat: 2 pm – 6 pm
Sundays and public holidays: 9 am – 6 pm 

1 August – 12 September:
Daily: 9 am – 6 pm 

13 September – 15 October:
Mon – Sat: 2 pm – 6 pm
Sunday and public holidays: 9 am – 6 pm 

16 October – 23 March 2023:
Mon – Sat: 2 pm – 5 pm
Sundays and public holidays: 10 am – 5 pm 

Last access: 1 hour before closing 

Closed: 1 January, Shrove Tuesday, 24/25/31 December 

Regular admission is 5 €

U3, U4, U5, U6 to Odeonsplatz

The free admission ticket for the Munich City Pass is only available at the ticket office of the Residenzmuseum. Please show your Munich City Pass to the employees at the cash desk.

As a Munich Card holder, you will receive an 1 € discount on the regular ticket. Please show your Munich Card to the cashier before paying.

In 1806, the French emperor arrived in Munich when Bavaria was named a kingdom. This occasion was performed in two operas of the Cuvilliés Theater: the interrupted sacrificial feast of Peter von Winter and Mozart's Don Giovanni.The theater was already over half a century old at this time. When a fire in the residence burned down the entire Hoftheater in 1750, Elector Max III Joseph commissioned the construction of a "New Opera House." The theater, now named François Cuvilliés, was celebrated by contemporaries as the "jewel of the rococo" after the construction of the theater was completed.This magnificent venue is home to numerous elaborate productions of famous operas-- even Mozart had performed his Idomeneo for the first time here in 1781. However at the beginning of the 19th century, a period of decline began in which the theater (which was no longer accessible only to court society, but also to the citizens of Munich) was perceived as a relic of another era due to its rococo décor. Because of this thinking, King Ludwig I ended the theater’s activities and the entire interior was removed. At times, the room only served as storage space for the neighboring National Theater.However, King Maximilian II later restored the theater building back into an institution of Munich cultural life. The monarch had the theater renovated and had classical operas performed here. His son, the shy, fairytale-like king, Ludwig II, was especially fond of the old court theatre style. His fondness for this style can be seen by two separate performances (performed from 1872-1885) that was lavishly staged in terms of decoration and stage technology.During the Second World War, the theater building was destroyed in bombing raids. In its place, the Residenztheatre was built between the royal building of the residence and the National Theater on Max-Joseph-Platz from 1948 to 1951.Only the ornately carved lodge cladding of the auditorium has been preserved from the original Cuvilliés' Theater because they were taken to a safe place before bombing had begun. In 1956, it was decided that the Alte Residenztheater would be rebuilt, in which arts of the interior were outsourced and painstakingly renovated, put together and installed in the so-called “pharmacy stock” of the Munich residence. On the town's 800th anniversary on June 14, 1958, the theater was reopened with a performance of the Mozart opera, “The Marriage of Figaro”.The Alte Residenztheater, which is the renovated and reconstruction of the Cuvilliés Theater, is now accessible from the Brunnenhof residence. With its ornate white-red-gold furnishings from the 18th century, it is once again a jewel among Munich's theatre stages. 

Visit the most beautiful Rococo theater in Germany- even Napoleon was already here to visit: Save money with your Munich City Pass/ Munich Card!