Bayreuth Festival And talks about reopening of the Wagnerian Festival started. Finally it reopened on 29 July 1951 with, as always, a performance by the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra under conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler of Beethoven's 9th Symphony, followed by the first post-war premiere of Wagner's opera, "Parsifal". Under the direction of Wieland Wagner, the "New Bayreuth" ushered in an era that was no less than revolutionary. Gone were the elaborate naturalistic sets, replaced with minimalist modern productions. In comparison, the pre-war changes seemed tame. For the first time in its history, the Bayreuth audience booed at the end of productions. Wieland was particularly
Gau Bayreuth the "Gau" was also home to the Flossenbürg concentration camp and its many subcamps. Because the "Gau Bayerische Ostmark" was not a border region any more, it was renamed into "Gau Bayreuth" in 1942. Wächtler was shot on orders of Hitler, having left his capital Bayreuth in April 1945. He was replaced by Ludwig Ruckdeschel, whose reign until the surrender of Nazi Germany was very brief. The Gauleiter of Gau Bayreuth: Ludwig Ruckdeschel was also the deputy "Gauleiter" from 1 February 1933 to June 1941. In this position, he led the "Gau" from Hans Schemm's death to the appointment of