The cinema was the centrepiece of the wider WOGA housing complex, designed by Mendelsohn in a New Objectivity-styled urban development ensemble, with a shopping walkway, apartment blocks, lawns, and a tennis court in the back.

Heavily damaged in World War II, it was rebuilt and re-opened and from 1969 served as a dance hall and for musical theatre.

The building's current use as a lyric-style theatre dates from the late 1970s, when the Schaubühne ensemble around Peter Stein, formerly residing on Hallesches Ufer in Kreuzberg, searched for a new venue.

In 1999, Thomas Ostermeier took over as artistic director at Schaubühne am Lehniner Platz in Berlin, alongside co-directors Jens Hillje and Sasha Waltz.

Since 2005, Thomas Ostermeier and Jens Hillje have been responsible for a vigorous modern orientation of Stein's former theatre, where tradition still has its place with a focus on interpretations of classic works.