At King Ludwig II.'s request the architect Max Littmann built the Prinzregententheater in 1900/01 as a festival theatre for Richard Wagner. In 1901 the opera was inaugaurated with Wagner's "Mastersingers" which finally led to the founding of the Munich Opera Festival. Schillers "Wallensteins Lager" and "Piccolomini" were the first theatre plays in 1902. The slightly waved Neoclassical facade with a three-arched vestibule and the driveways on either side is crowned on both sides of the pediment with four figures symbolizing music, singing, tragedy and comedy. The core of the theatre is formed by the auditorium in shape of an amphitheatre with about 1.000 seats. It offers excellent visibility and is modelled on the opera house in Bayreuth. On the rear wall there are 9 boxes, in the middle the former King's box with the Bavarian coat of arms held by two lions. The sidewalls are
divided by high coloumns. Gold-plated stucco vases are placed in the half round niches. Ludwig Mössel painted the flat ceiling and used grotesque ornaments.
Due to the decay of the building the theatre had to be closed in 1964. After extensive and expensive renovation it could be reopened in 1999 with Wagner's "Tristan and Isolde".
A marble monument of the composer Richard Wagner was erected in the park next to the theatre by Waderé in 1913.
U-Bahn: U4 to Prinzregentenplatz
Bus 53, 54 to Prinzregentenplatz