The Theaterstrasse was built in 1852, but was not widened
to create a square until more than a hundred years later,
in 1959. The original intention was for the theater, which
was built in 1853 on the site of a former Capuchin monastery,
to blend relatively inconspicuously into the facades of the
adjoining buildings. Initially owned by a stock trading company,
the theater was taken over by the city in 1874. The appearance
of the buildings front has changed greatly over time,
being remod-eled in 1880, 1924, and 1990.