The Opera Ball has existed since 1814 when it was first hosted by the Imperial Court of the Habsburg dynasty. The outbreak of the Second World War and the subsequent adversity faced by war-torn Vienna forced a 17-year hiatus upon the event. The Opera Ball was re-established in 1956 in its original home, the newly re-opened Vienna State Opera, where it has remained ever since. The Opera Ball had been held there since 1877 when Emperor Franz Joseph I gave his consent to a ‘soiree’ in the opera house. Dancing was not officially allowed that night but one thing led to another and after midnight the first dance took place. The rest, as they say, is history…