The hoopoe had an outstanding significance in Henze's animal world, going so far as to dedicate an entire opera to it.

Hans Werner Henze was known for his love of animals throughout his life. Over the years, La Leprara has been home not only to various breeds of dogs and other mammals such as cats, goats and Vietnamese pot-bellied pigs, but also to numerous species of birds, both tame and wild.

The wonderful artistic relationship between Hans Werner Henze and Natascha Ungeheuer had a slightly strange beginning.

When the Ruhr region was chosen as the European Capital of Culture, its artistic director Steven Sloane immediately saw Hans Werner Henze as a musical focus, a world star with roots in the region and an oeuvre that encompasses all musical genres as well as a wide range of opportunities for children, young people and amateurs, and who could thus connect the entire region.

On 26 October 2000, the annual award ceremony for the Praemium Imperiale, the Nobel Prize for the Arts, took place in Tokyo.