AUSTRIA – Bregenz // Quantum of Solace (2008)

Bregenz at Lake Constance hosts the world’s largest floating stage. But that wasn’t what convinced the Bond makers to stop for a visit.

Why Bond was here
James Bond (Daniel Craig) picks up loose ends from Casino Royale and a sinister organization called “Quantum” comes in his way. In Bregenz, “Quantum” has a secret meeting – that Bond crashes. The villains come together for their meeting during an opera play of “Tosca” at a modern opera house at the sea shore, the Seebühne Bregenz. Bond uncovers them at the finale of the first act – during the aria.

How you gonna get there
Bregenz is at the border between Germany and Austria at the eastern tip of Lake Constance. The floating sea stage of the opera, the “Seebühne Bregenz”, is the world largest floating stage. You’ll obviously find it at the harbor – directions lead towards the stage from all across town.
The easiest way to reach Bregenz is via train, then it is just a short walk towards Lake Constance. The best way though is to come to Bregenz via ferry. There is a good ferry network across Lake Constance, connecting Bregenz with the German island town Lindau and the Swiss alp city Rorschach. Check out the routes and times at the Bodensee Schifffahrt homepage.

Good to know
You can visit the Seebühne Bregenz year round – but it is something different to be visit for an opera night. The concerts are only held during the annual Bregenzer Festspiele, a short summer festival between July and August. Check out their homepage for the chosen opera play and the schedule – and better get your ticket as early as January to gain a good seat.

We’ve been to the dramatic Verdi play “Rigoletto” in 2019. In the opera, Rigoletto, the jester, gets tricked by the royal household of the Duke of Mantua to abduct his own daughter. He swears revenge – and also wants to protect his beautiful daughter Gilda. But Rigoletto’s rage makes everything worse.
The Seebühne is famous for it’s floating stage, making the stage itself one of the headliners of the play. For “Rigoletto” the stage was transformed into a giant clown face, holding a balloon in the left hand and strings in the right. As the drama unfolds, Gilda was freed from the strings and climbed into the balloon – but the clown face was damaged and dehumanized the more Rigoletto loaded guilt upon himself. For the final act, the sun long gone at the western shore of Lake Constance, the face resembled a red-drenched skull.

And it must have been those clever stage arts, that lured the Bond crew. Producer Barbare Broccoli came to Bregenz in early 2007 – half a year before filming. Though the play starts in summer, EON productions needed the singers to be ready in April 2008 as we learned from the Bregenz management. The opera team hurried, the stage was completed early and the Bond crew could film their scenes, including 5000 extras.

We stayed in the beautiful German town Lindau – just across the Lake. In the evening, we took a ferry to head over to Bregenz. A thunder storm accompanied us – so we had to hide dress and tuxedo underneath rain capes. Luckily, the heavy rain stopped only minutes before the scheduled begin of the play. So everybody wiped their seats and could enjoy “Rigoletto” under a now clear and star-spangled evening sky.

© 2019 Huntingbond (1,3), © 2008 Danjaq, LLC and United Artists Corporation (2)