Editing Berlin State Opera (section)

===20th century===
[[File:Staatsoper unter den Linden - Detail (Berlin).jpg|thumb|Auditorium, 2024]]
At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, the Royal Court Opera, Berlin, attracted many illustrious conductors. They included [[Felix von Weingartner]], [[Karl Muck]], [[Richard Strauss]], [[Leo Blech]] and [[George Szell]]. After the collapse of the [[German Empire]] in 1918, the Opera was renamed ''Staatsoper Unter den Linden'' and the ''Königliche Kapelle'' became ''Kapelle der Staatsoper''.

In the 1920s, [[Kurt Adler]], [[Wilhelm Furtwängler]], [[Erich Kleiber]], [[Otto Klemperer]], [[Alexander von Zemlinsky]], [[Bruno Walter]] occupied the conductor's post. In 1925, [[Alban Berg]]'s ''[[Wozzeck]]'', was given its premiere in a production conducted by [[Erich Kleiber]] in the composer's presence.

After having undergone an extensive renovation, the Linden Opera reopened on 28 April 1928 with a new production of Mozart's ''[[Die Zauberflöte]]''. The cast included [[Delia Reinhardt (soprano)|Delia Reinhardt]], [[Richard Tauber]], [[Friedrich Schorr]] and [[Leo Schützendorf]], conducted by Erich Kleiber. The same year, the famous Russian bass [[Feodor Chaliapin]] and [[Serge Diaghilev]]'s ''[[Ballets Russes]]'' with conductor [[Ernest Ansermet]] were guest performers. In 1930 Erich Kleiber conducted the premiere of Darius Milhaud's ''[[Christophe Colomb]]''. However, in 1934, when symphonic pieces from Alban Berg's ''[[Lulu (opera)|Lulu]]'' were performed by Kleiber, the [[National Socialists]] provoked a scandal and the conductor was forced into exile.

After the ''[[Machtergreifung]]'' by the [[Nazi]]s, members of Jewish origin were dismissed from the ensemble. Many German musicians associated with the opera went into exile, including the conductors [[Kurt Adler]], [[Otto Klemperer]] and [[Fritz Busch]]. [[Clemens Krauss]] became a prominent German conductor first at the Berlin State Opera in 1933 and was then appointed as its director in 1935 due to Fritz Busch and Erich Kleiber resigning, respectively, their positions in protest over Nazi rule. In [[Nazi Germany]], [[Robert Heger]], [[Herbert von Karajan]] (1939–1945) and [[Johannes Schüler]] were the "''Staatskapellmeister''".

The opera house was destroyed on the night of 9/10 April 1941, during an air raid by the RAF. Hitler ordered its immediate reconstruction, despite wartime shortages, to increase morale. It reopened on 12 December 1942 with a performance of ''[[Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg]]'', conducted by [[Wilhelm Furtwängler]], in celebration of the building's 200th anniversary.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://artsandculture.google.com/story/staatsoper-unter-den-linden-%E2%80%93-architectural-history-deutsche-staatsoper-berlin/fAWxN9SR7aTlLg?hl=en | title=Staatsoper Unter den Linden – Architectural History }}</ref>

The opera house was ruined again in an air raid on 3 February 1945, when it was hit by three bombs that destroyed most of the structure, except the main facade on Unter den Linden.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://artsandculture.google.com/story/staatsoper-unter-den-linden-%E2%80%93-architectural-history-deutsche-staatsoper-berlin/fAWxN9SR7aTlLg?hl=en | title=Staatsoper Unter den Linden – Architectural History }}</ref>