28 July 28 – 31 August

Hitler’s accession to power in Germany harboured further dangers for the Festival. The so-called "Thousand Mark Tariff" forced every German entering Austria to pay 1,000 marks, effectively sealing the borders. There were only 796 visitors from Germany in 1933 as compared to 12,983 in 1932, and many artists were forced to cancel their engagements. The Festival struck out on new paths and presented its first Wagner opera: Tristan and Isolde, in a new production marking the 50th anniversary of the composer’s death. There was also a veritable operatic world première as Richard Strauss’s Die ägyptische Helena was mounted for the first time in its new Vienna version. The spectacular "Faust City" in the Summer Riding School, designed by Clemens Holzmeister for Goethe’s masterpiece, caused a sensation. The production team contained a name that would bulk large in the city’s history: Herbert von Karajan, in his debut appearance, conducted the incidental music.

1933: The legendary Faust city built by Clemens Holzmeister in the Summer Riding School.

New production
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Faust. Part 1
D: Max Reinhardt
Ds: Clemens Holzmeister
Cs: Herbert Ploberger
Summer Riding School / Festspielhaus

New production
Richard Wagner
Tristan und Isolde
C: Bruno Walter
D: Otto Erhardt
Ds: Oskar Strnad
Festival Theatre

New production
World première of the revised version
Richard Strauss
Die ägyptische Helena
C: Clemens Krauss
D: Lothar Wallerstein
Ds: Alfred Roller and Robert Kautsky
Festival Theatre

Revivals: Jedermann, Der Rosenkavalier, Die Frau ohne Schatten, Così fan tutte, Le nozze di Figaro, Die Zauberflöte, Fidelio, Orfeo ed Euridice, Oberon

9 orchestral concerts, 7 serenades, 1 lied recital, 6 concerts of sacred music

Details of the several years: 

1920, 1921, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937