After World War II, the city was divided; East Berlin became the capital of the GDR (East Germany), while West Berlin remained a West German enclave surrounded by the Berlin Wall from 1961-1989. Following the reunification of Germany in 1990, the city regained its status as the capital of all Germany.

Since reunification in 1990, Berlin has undergone phenomenal change, both in terms of changes to its physical landscape and to its cultural landscape. Its restored identity as the nation’s capital has been a driving force in both urban design and cultural diversity. It is now, more than ever before, a dynamic, cosmopolitan and creative city and, without doubt, one of Europe’s most exciting and energetic cities.

Berlin State Opera

The Staatsoper on the world-famous boulevard Unter-den-Linden is home to the German opera company of the same name. The first building on the site was commissioned by Frederick II and construction began in July 1741 of the Court Opera. Subsequently renamed the Linden Opera, disaster struck on 18th August 1843 when the building was destroyed by fire.

However, by the following autumn a new building, designed by Carl Ferdinand Langhans, was inaugurated by a performance of Meyerbeer's “Ein Feldlager in Schlesien” and by the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, the Berlin opera attracted many illustrious conductors including Felix von Weingartner, Karl Muck, Richard Strauss, and Leo Blech. In the 1920s, Wilhelm Furtwängler, Erich Kleiber, Otto Klemperer, Alexander von Zemlinsky and, Mahler’s protégé, Bruno Walter all occupied the conductor's post and during the darker days of Germany’s history under the Third Reich, Robert Heger, Johannes Schüler and Herbert von Karajan were all "Staatskapellmeister".

During World War II, the opera house was twice completely destroyed by bombing. The first reconstruction was completed quickly, and the theatre was soon reopened with a performance of Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. The second rebuilding took a long time and, from 1945, the opera company played in the former Admiralspalast (today's Metropoltheater). From 1949, the company served as state opera of the GDR and moved back to its original home after the rebuilding in freely adapted baroque forms was eventually completed in 1955. The newly rebuilt opera house was opened, again, with Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.

In 1992, the Argentine-Israeli conductor Daniel Barenboim was appointed Music Director and he continues the fine traditions laid down by his predecessors.