5 euro - New Year coin 2019

Celebrating the 150th anniversary of the State Opera in Vienna, our New Year Coin 2019 takes its inspiration from the concept of Lebensfreude, a heady cocktail of contentment, exuberance and lust for life. Best translated using the French term joie de vivre, this concept is symbolised on the coin in the form of a dancer from a painting by Franz Dobiaschofsky (1818−67), found on the main staircase of the world-famous opera house. May your very own joie de vivre carry you into 2019 and beyond! Based on the plans of architects August Sicard von Sicardsburg and Eduard van der Nüll, work on the construction of the monumental Vienna State Opera, situated on the Ringstrasse, began at the end of 1861. The Neo-renaissance building was inaugurated on 25 May 1869 with a performance of Mozart’s Don Giovanni. Emperor Fanz Joseph I and Empress Elisabeth were the guests of honour. Few edifices are capable of filling those within them with as much joy as an opera house. A case in point is the dancer, who seems to be flying with joy as she is transported on her butterfly wings by the incomparable power of music towards the future