10 FUN FACTS ABOUT IM WEISSEN RÖSSL (THE WHITE HORSE INN)!

A rousing revue operetta that takes you to the heart of the Salzkammergut will premiere at the Volksoper in December 2024! To get you in the mood now, we have put together 10 fun facts about the play!

1.

If it were based on the literary original by Oskar Blumenthal and Gustav Kadelburg from 1896, the hotel Weißes Rössl would not be in St. Wolfgang, but in the small village of Lauffen near Bad Ischl. But the pining head waiter and the rascally Rössl landlady would also be there!

2.

A lot of people in Austria immediately think of the actor Peter Alexander when they think of Im Weißen Rössl! Did you know that he was born just a few steps away from the Volksoper, at Sechsschimmelgasse 4?

3.

As far as the genre is concerned, there is particular disagreement about Im Weißen Rössl: it has been described as a Singspiel, operetta, revue and even as an early form of musical. A real mishmash! That alone makes it such a good fit for us at the Volksoper.

4.

We are “Kaiser”! Not only in Vienna, but also in the operetta metropolis of Bad Ischl, “the Emperor” is still omnipresent. And so he is not to be missed in THE Salzkammergut operetta Im weißen Rössl ...

5.

In March 2009, the orchestral version of Im weißen Rössl, which premiered in Berlin in 1930 and was thought to have been lost after the Second World War, was rediscovered at the opera house in Zagreb. The jazzy, dancey score can now also be heard at the Volksoper!

6.

Hans Magnus Enzensberger wrote in his Theory of Tourism, 1958: “Tourism is the industry whose production is identical to its advertising: Its consumers are at the same time its employees.”

7.

Im weißen Rössl is a work by four composers: although the music is largely by Ralph Benatzky, it also includes interludes by the two Austrian musicians Robert Stolz and Bruno Granichstaedten as well as Robert Gilbert, who was actually responsible for the lyrics.

8.

“My love song must be a waltz?” - Long before director Jan Philipp Gloger staged Die Dubarry and Im weißen Rössl at the Volksoper, he worked as a keyboard solo entertainer.

9.

“About Tourism” is the title of an exhibition at the Architekturzentrum Wien, which will also be on display at Seestadt in Aspern from February 6, 2025. A real sight to see!

10.

Kurt Tucholsky wrote in The art of traveling the wrong way, 1929: “Never forget the main rule of every healthy journey: get angry!"