After 57 years at the helm, Wolfgang Wagner will be succeeded by his two daughters - half sisters Katharina Wagner and Eva Wagner-Pasquier - the great granddaughters of the composer Richard Wagner.

There has been a recent long-running battle over who should take reins. In 2001 Wolfgang Wagner refused to step down in favour of Eva his daughter from his first marriage, saying that he had made a life-long contract. However he changed his position following the death of his second wife Gudrun - mother of Katharina.

The first Bayreuth Festival, directed by the composer himself, took place in 1876.