Nomination

November 5, 2025 marked the 70th anniversary of the reopening of the Vienna State Opera. In addition to a series of events, the book Im Palast der Selbsterfindung (In the Palace of Self-Invention) was also published, spanning the period from the destruction of the opera house to the 1955 Opera Festival. Essays on this important and formative piece of contemporary history as well as a large number of previously rarely shown photographs retell the decade of reconstruction. The volume, published by Molden-Verlag, has now been shortlisted from more than 130 books by a jury of experts in this year's The Most Beautiful Books in Austria 2025 competition.

Im Palast der Selbsterfindung was sold out in specialist shops in no time at all. Only HAMTIL & SÖHNE still offers a small print run.