The project went over richard wagner’s head. Between the laying of the foundation stone and the opening of his festival theater in bayreuth, the composer suffered through four agonizing years. Money ran out, gonners jumped ship. In 1878 he was finally able to inaugurate it. "I did not believe that they would succeed – the emperor told me."Wagner (1813-1883) later recalled.
Cost explosions, misplanning, missed deadlines – cultural buildings in germany, as the wagner case shows, have rarely had it easy. There is also no shortage of younger examples. From the elbphilharmonie to the berlin city palace, projects financed with taxpayers’ money need to be readjusted at best; at worst, years of delays and scandals are involved.