Commissioned by Carl Friedrich Hensler, Beethoven's Overture to Die Weihe des Hauses (Consecration of the House) was composed in September 1822 for the opening of Vienna's Theater in der Josephstadt in the following month. Carl Meisl, commissioner of the Royal Imperial Navy, had putatively composed two pieces for the opening of the theater; what he had actually done, however, was to change the texts of numbers 1, 6, 7, and 8 of Beethoven's ballet Die Ruinen von Athen (The Ruins of Athens), Op. 113, which had been written for the opening of the German Theater in Pest in 1812. Beethoven was not pleased with the revision, for he felt that some of the new text did not fit the music. Meisl had also introduced a section, "Wo sich die Pulse," for which Beethoven wrote new music (WoO 98), in addition to this all-new overture.

An anecdote by Anton Schindler describes Beethoven conceiving two themes for the overture while on a walk, and relates the composer's intention of treating one of these in a Handelian contrapuntal fashion. The overture opens with brief, isolated chords that herald the beginning of a slow introduction in the manner of Haydn. A slow march, processional in character, ensues; the brass and winds take over the theme and are presently joined by the strings for a repeat of the march. A trumpet fanfare, underscored by a rapid bassoon part, introduces a fast tutti section that at first seems to signal the main body of the overture, but which instead dissipates, giving way to the beginning of a sonata-allegro form. Beethoven chose for the overture a monothematic scheme—that is, one in which in which a modulation occurs but the new key area features the same theme as the first key—suggesting the further influence of Haydn. The contrapuntal section referred to by Schindler is certainly the developmental area at the work's center, where different groups of instruments at different pitch levels enter one after another, producing a fugal texture. This section is a dynamic tour de force, growing rapidly from pianissimo to fortissimo. Following the recapitulation a forceful coda brings the overture to a close.

One of the more notable performances in the work's history was at the concert of May 7, 1824, at which the Viennese were also introduced to the composer's Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125 (1822 - 24) and sections of the Missa Solemnis, Op. 123 (1819 - 23).

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