Capitol Theater Offenbach

The Capitol Theater in Offenbach occupies a building constructed between 1913 and 1916 as a synagogue for the city’s Jewish community. Designed by Fritz Schwarz and Karl Wagner, it drew on Greco-Roman architectural forms and was consecrated in April 1916. During the November 1938 pogrom its interior was burned, although the structural shell survived. After the war, the former synagogue was sold to the city with the new Jewish community’s consent and a requirement that it serve cultural purposes. Its later theatrical and concert use developed into the Capitol’s present identity. The venue became home to the Neue Philharmonie Frankfurt and subsequently the Capitol Symphony Orchestra.