Bayreuth composer Richard Wagner, who lived in Bayreuth from 1872 until his death in 1883. Wagner's villa, "Wahnfried", was constructed in Bayreuth under the sponsorship of King Ludwig II of Bavaria, and was converted after World War II into a Wagner Museum. In the northern part of Bayreuth is the Festival Hall, an opera house specially constructed for and exclusively devoted to the performance of Wagner's operas. The premieres of the final two works of Wagner's "Ring Cycle" ("Siegfried" and "Götterdämmerung"); the cycle as a whole; and of "Parsifal" took place here. Every summer, Wagner's operas are performed at the Festspielhaus
Bayreuth World War. In 1979, US Army serviceman Roy Chung disappeared from the area and allegedly defected to North Korea via East Germany. In 1999 the world gliding championship took place at Bayreuth municipal airport. In 2006, Bayreuth chose its first CSU member and mayor, the lawyer, Michael Hohl, and, in 2007, a Youth Parliament, consisting of 12 young people, aged 14–17 years, was elected for the first time. The end of October saw the opening of the long-planned bus station and its associated office building on the newly created "Hohenzollernplatz". The town is best known for its association with the