Many important works were performed for the first time when it was Frankfurt's opera house, including Schreker's Der ferne Klang and Carl Orff's Carmina Burana in 1937.

The building was designed by the Berlin architect Richard Lucae, financed by the citizens of Frankfurt and built by Philipp Holzmann.

[8] Among the guests was Kaiser Wilhelm I of Germany, who was impressed and said: Das könnte ich mir in Berlin nicht erlauben.

[11] Alluding to the inscription on the frieze the folkloristic Frankfurt poet Adolf Stoltze [de] wrote, in his best Hessian dialect: The opera house was extensively damaged by bombing raids during World War II in 1944, though many of the outside walls and façades survived.

It ended costing c. 160 million DM, and the building was reopened on 28 August 1981 to the sounds of Gustav Mahler's Symphony No.