Cologne is celebrating rebirth: the opera house opening is planned for September 2026!

Cologne is celebrating rebirth: the opera house opening is planned for September 2026!

After a long period of waiting and numerous delays, the Cologne Opera will finally receive a fixed opening date. According to current information Cologne City Gazette The grand opening is scheduled for September 19th and 20th, 2026, followed by a celebratory ceremony on September 24th, 2026. This represents a cultural milestone, which Mayor Henriette Reker underscored with her words.

The renovation work on the opera, the theater, the children's opera and the Little House, which has been ongoing since 2012, was originally supposed to be completed in 2015. A fixed date for the opening was announced for the first time after many postponements, which most recently set the dates for March 22, 2024 and June 28, 2024. However, the construction work now appears to be on the right track, with a structural completion of 96 percent for the opera and 92 percent for the other stages, according to those responsible for WDR report.

A look behind the scenes

Now, almost a decade later, the construction site appears to be in a tidier condition than before. City officials as well as project management and directors emphasize that the structural work should be completed by the end of the year. Once the construction work has been completed, construction acceptance will follow, followed by the commissioning of the technical systems, which is scheduled to begin in December 2023. Around 850 employees have to return to Offenbachplatz in order to gradually put the new premises into operation.

However, the structural completion is not yet synonymous with the ready opening of the stages at the end of the year, as reported by Cologne City Gazette emerges. In the coming months, the technical systems will be put through their paces to ensure that everything works smoothly before the gates are finally opened.

Cost overview

A notable aspect of the entire renovation work is the enormous costs, which have risen from the original 540.9 million euros to an estimated 1.5 billion euros. The pure construction and planning costs increased from 253 million euros to around 798.6 million euros, due to financing problems and unexpected dismantling. These developments cast a shadow over the original plans and highlight the challenges that arose during the project.

With the opening dates now set and the ongoing preparation for the completion of the work, the Cologne theaters are well on the way to finally emerging from their provisional existence. The anticipation of what is to come is already great among the city's opera fans. A lot could soon happen again in Cologne's cultural landscape, and after 14 years of waiting, the city will finally be able to welcome a fully functioning opera house.