account 
The region of Upper Franconia is best known for its musical heritage. There are museums in the city devoted to both Richard Wagner and Franz Liszt. The Margravial Opera House was restored in 2018, and has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage site. There are a host of baroque buildings and castles, with surrounding gardens. The fascinating Devil’s Cave, filled with stalactites, is a short distance away. With its rich cultural offerings, the region offers attractions, adventures and delights for young and old.
The castle, which was built between 1761 and 1763, houses Germany’s first garden-art museum. Exhibition pieces, productions and short films vividly present the history of garden art. Also worth seeing is the faithful replica of the famous inlaid cabinet by the Spindler Brothers.
The hermitage, an historic park just outside the city, was a refuge from court life. Among other things, it houses the Old Castle with its Inner Grotto, which was built in 1715 as the centre of a hermitage, by Margrave Georg Wilhelm. From 1735 onwards, Margravine Wilhelmine expanded the building into a summer palace with a magnificent interior. The Japanese Cabinet, the Music Room and the Chinese Mirror Shard Cabinet, in which Wilhelmine wrote her memoirs, deserve a special mention. The Hermitage also includes its picturesque fountains and a fairytale-like orangery with the central sun temple, crowned by Apollo, the god of the Muses. Every summer, the Hermitage acts as the setting for the Bayreuth Summer Night Festival, one of the most beautiful and romantic festivals in Franconia.
In 1871 Richard Wagner chose Bayreuth as the future location of his festival. The Margravial Opera House was the reason that Richard Wagner led the way to Bayreuth. His wife Cosima had been adorning the Baedecker and discovered the Margravial Opera House. At that time it still had the largest stage in Germany – and so Richard Wagner's interest was piqued. Added to this was the location of the city, almost halfway between Munich and the new capital of Berlin, but still in the territory of his patron, Ludwig II. Richard Wagner was in no way deterred by the fact that the Margravial Opera House was too small, too opulent and with too much pomp for Wagnerian music theatre. A festival theatre was needed in Bayreuth! This was decided, even though there should have been an attractive offer from Chicago, and that King Ludwig would have preferred to see the Festspielhaus in Munich.
The Hofgarten adjacent to the New Palace, is the "green lung" of the city centre and is now a recreational area for everyone.
