Major fire in Dresden: Former Dresden State Operetta burnt down

A major fire caused extensive damage in a vacant building of the former Dresden State Operetta. The fire has now been extinguished, emergency services announced Saturday morning. Both the main building and the former auditorium are no longer accessible due to the danger of collapse. The warning to the public has also been lifted, they added.

The fire department fought the blaze with around 150 personnel at times. The Federal Agency for Technical Relief was also on site to provide support. Embers were still present in parts of the roof structure and the rear of the building, which are now being extinguished, it was reported. The fire broke out on Friday evening. An end to the fire was initially unclear. A police spokesperson was initially unable to comment on the cause of the fire or the extent of the damage.

"The building is fully ablaze," fire department spokesman Michael Klahre said in a video posted on the internet platform Threads. A cloud of smoke was visible from far away. Residents within a 1,000-meter radius were asked to keep windows and doors closed and to turn off ventilation and air conditioning systems.

No one has been found in the building so far, according to the fire department. The former operetta house in the east of the city has been vacant for several years. A firefighter had to be treated by the emergency services as an outpatient due to circulatory problems.

The Dresden State Operetta, along with its predecessors, looks back on over 240 years of tradition as a musical folk theater in Dresden. Since October 1947, it has been based in a former inn in Leuben, in the east of the city. In 2002, due to the city's precarious budget situation, the closure of the cultural center was discussed – but this met with massive protests. Since December 2016, the ensemble has performed on the site of the former Kraftwerk Mitte power plant in the city center.