At the jubilee celebrations of Emperor Franz Josef on December 14,1898, the present Volksoper was officially opened as the Emperor's Jubilee Capital Theater after a strenuous ten months under construction. Primarily meant as a theatrical stage, after 1903 it became a traditional Opera house. However, it was only a year later that the title Wiener Volksoper appeared for the first time on the program. Due to excessive damage in World War II, it is now rated the third Bundestheater behind the Staatsoper and the Burgtheater.