Located on the Theaterplatz, a historic square in the west of the old city, near the River Elbe, the Semperoper is the opera house of the Saxon State Opera, the concert hall of the Saxon State Orchestra and also home to the Semperoper Ballett.

Described as one of the most well-known opera houses in the world and also one of the oldest theatres in Germany, the imposing building of the original Opera House was built by the architect Gottfried Semper in 1841 and was named after him. Like the transepts or the area of a cruciform church lying at right angles to the principal axis of a cathedral, the high roof of the auditorium of the building was extended sideways over the porches, while the auditorium was horseshoe-shaped, which was unlike contemporary usage.

The gorgeous building reflected three different architectural styles, namely early Renaissance and Baroque, together with majestic Corinthian pillars, typical of the Greek Revival Style. The facade of the opera house opens to the semi-cylindrical auditorium, which was a completely new concept during those days and took shape for the first time since antiquity, although at the same time, it had served as an inspiration to several 18th century ideal projects. However, with its semi-circular foyers on two levels and the majestic staircases in transept positions on both sides, the design of the opera house was to prove influential in the next hundred years.

Unfortunately, the building of the Semper Opera House was devoured by a devastating fire in 1869. However, the citizens of Dresden were determined to rebuild their beloved opera house immediately, without any delay and unanimously demanded to engage Gottfried Semper again to complete the project, although during that time, Gottfried was in exile for his involvement in the May 1849 uprising in the city of Dresden.

Accordingly, Gottfried Semper, assisted by his son Manfred Semper, began to construct the second opera house using his original plans and completed it in 1878, built in neo-classical style.

The new edifice of the Semper Opera House, considered to be a prime example of Dresden Baroque architecture, is crowned with a Panther quadriga or a chariot, drawn by four panthers instead of four horses, along with a statue of the Greek God Dionysos, also known as Bacchus, the god of festivity, accompanied by his wife Ariadne.

The top of the portal is decorated with statues of famous artists, composers, dramatists, poets and philosophers like William Shakespeare, Sophocles, Molière, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Schiller and many more. The building also contains several works of art, created by the reputed German sculptors Ernst Friedrich August Rietschel and Ernst Julius Hähnel. The interior of the opera house was aesthetically decorated by several architects of the time, including Johannes Schilling, who later established a museum to display his models and designs.

The design of the Semper Opera House clearly reveals the democratic ideals of the designer for which he was forced to exile from the kingdom after the failed May pro-democracy uprising demanding a parliament, freedom of assembly, written constitutions and freedom of the press. In concurrence with the democratic right of equality, the four tiers of the auditorium rise equally symmetrical, with seats maintaining an equal distance from the stage and without any partition dividing seats. The exterior also encourages the circular plan and pushes the audience towards the stage in a planned way, resulting in a spectacular view of the stage from any seat, unlike the famous Paris Opera.

Unfortunately, the building of the Semper Opera House was severely damaged during the last month of World War II by the bombing of Dresden, a joint British and American aerial bombing attack on the city, between 13 and 15 February 1945, resulting in a terrible firestorm, which destroyed more than 1,600 acres of the city centre and. left only the exterior shell of the opera house standing. Reconstruction of the opera house was completed on 13 February 1985, exactly 40 years after its destruction, which almost resembled the destroyed building, but equipped with better stage machinery and an accompanying modern rear service building and it reopened with the performance of Carl Maria von Weber's Der Freischütz, which was performed just before the building's destruction in 1945. However, the massive building had to suffer damage again, when the River Elbe flooded in 2002, although it reopened in December of that year with substantial help from around the world.