A new opera house opened in 1966, replacing an earlier facility which opened in 1904 and was destroyed during World War I. It was built on the former site of the Old Synagogue, which was demolished by the Nazi local government in the 1930s.

Architects Heinrich Rosskotten and Edgar Tritthart designed the modernist structure. The design separates the functions of the stage and technical areas in the Bühnenhaus (stage house), which is dominated by straight lines, from the auditorium under a concrete shell roof.

Opening season
The new house opened on 3 March 1966, to serve as a venue for operas, ballets, concerts, and for plays which require a large stage. The inaugural performance was Richard Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier, an opera first performed in 1911, shortly after its premiere; Wilhelm Schüchter conducted the Dortmunder Philharmoniker.

Teresa Żylis-Gara appeared as Octavian, along with guest artist Elisabeth Grümmer as the Marschallin, Liselotte Hammes as Sophie and Kurt Böhme as Ochs. In the short remaining part of the season, Verdi’s Il trovatore, with Fedora Barbieri as Azucena, Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, Hindemith’s Mathis der Maler, and Johann Strauss’ Der Zigeunerbaron were performed.

The first plays staged in the so-called Großes Haus during this period were Brecht’s Leben des Galilei and Anouilh’s Becket. Unusual for the era of the iron curtain, the Volkstheater Rostock performed Peter Weiss’s Die Verfolgung und Ermordung Jean Paul Marats dargestellt durch die Schauspielgruppe des Hospizes zu Charenton unter Anleitung des Herrn de Sade.