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BRUCKNERHAUS LINZ

Why is the Brucknerhaus Named Brucknerhaus?

Long before ground was even broken for the concert hall that had been on the wish list of so many people in Linz, the matter of whom it would be named for had already been settled: of course, it would be Anton Bruckner, Upper Austria’s most important composer ...

The idea of a concert hall for Linz was already on the table during the interwar period, and, naturally, Upper Austria’s musical genius was under discussion as eponym right from the start. After World War II, a group of prominent Linzers (Fritz Rauch, Gerhard Schröder, Horst Stadlmayr and Hermann Kronsteiner) revived efforts to establish a Brucknerhaus, but it took until 1974 for them to come to fruition. In this entire realization process, the only thing that had been finalized at the very outset was the name Bruckner. The great composer’s work also basically determined the programming of the International Brucknerfest beginning in 1974.

History of the Brucknerhaus

On March 23, 1974, the Brucknerhaus was inaugurated with a ceremony attended by the crème de la crème of cultural life in Austria. Arriving at this occasion had taken decades: the protracted path proceeding from the idea’s proposal by private citizens included several attempts to produce an actual concept.
Devotees of classical music had been voicing their desire for a new performance venue in Linz—a real concert facility—ever since the ‘30s. In those days, musical life in the city centered around the Kaufmännisches Vereinshaus, an auditorium that was much too small even then.
The war began at that end of the decade, yet the big plans continued. Hitler’s gigantomaniacal concept for a new Linz included a “Brucknerhalle.” The downfall of the Third Reich spared Linz from Albert Speer’s plans.
What remained unchanged was the widespread wish to be able to hear fine music in a suitable setting. The city had a symphony orchestra and several very active choruses (Frohsinn, David-Chor and Domchor). Then, admirers of the work of Anton Bruckner took the initiative and founded a Brucknerhaus Association. Donation drives and benefit concerts were organized—prominent conductors who lent their talents to this good cause included Herbert von Karajan and Wilhelm Furtwängler. Editorial writers in the local press issued vehement calls for a new concert hall.
In the late ‘50s, the City of Linz gave the go-ahead and issued a call for entries to a competition for the design of a concert hall and multipurpose facility. In 1961, Finnish architect Heikki Siren was granted the commission. The downtown location would be an expansive park that had been created to shore up the banks of the Danube in the wake of severe flooding in 1954.
Quite a bit of water flowed past that parcel before the groundbreaking and cornerstone ceremony took place. The big day finally arrived on May 16, 1969: Austrian President Franz Jonas and Linz Mayor Theodor Grill laid the cornerstone for our concert hall, today one of the most important in Europe.
Construction proceeded from 1969 to 1973. In Fall 1973, trial operations commenced, and the executives and staff of the LIVA (Linzer Veranstaltungsgesellschaft m.B.H.) management organization that had been set up in 1971 occupied the premises. As mentioned above, the Brucknerhaus’ official opening ceremony took place on March 23, 1974. The festivities reached their crescendo a few hour later when Herbert von Karajan conducted the Wiener Philharmoniker in a performance of Bruckner’s 7th Symphony. The wish had finally come true.

Facts & Figures about the Facility