The building served as a railway station for several decades until the closure of the branch line, in 1977.

The new construction was architecturally integrated with the former railway station and today encompasses the box office, the restaurant Aida, and a children's music space called Toccarion, sponsored by the Sigmund Kiener Foundation.

Built by the Viennese architect Wilhelm Holzbauer, the concert hall opened on 18 April 1998.

Following initial public startup funding, the Festspielhaus successfully converted to become the first privately financed European opera and concert company.

Between 2003 and 2015, the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden Cultural Foundation presented the annual Herbert von Karajan Music Prize.