Elberfeld, then still a town of its own, began building its municipal hall on the Johannisberg in October 1896 and opened it over three days in July 1900. The great hall seats about 1,550 and has an orchestra recess of 190 square metres; it was the only historic venue in Wuppertal to come through the bombing of 1943, and served as the city's opera and operetta house immediately after the war. A modernisation in 1957 stripped the stucco and painted over the ceilings; a restoration between 1992 and 1995 put them back. It is the concert hall of the Sinfonieorchester Wuppertal.