The theatre has occupied the 1867 ballroom of the Hotel zum schwarzen Greifen on the Kaiser-Josef-Platz since 1904; a plan of 1916 to enlarge the room from 620 seats to 1,200 was dropped in the war. Bombs destroyed hotel and hall on 25 December 1944 and the rebuilt auditorium opened on 16 December 1948 with Lehár's Paganini. The city took a long lease on the premises in 1989. The Linz Landestheater played a weekly night here for years, the Wels subscription concerts run through the season, and a Richard Wagner festival was held from 1989 to 2015.