The beautiful Estates Theatre, renowned as the venue for the premiere of Mozart’s Don Giovanni on 29 Oct 1787, was built in less than two years and was opened in 1783 by a performance of Lessing’s tragedy Emilia Galotti. Originally named after its founder Count Nostitz, it was built in the classicist style and remains one of only two in Europe that have been preserved in their original state. In 1878 the Czech Estates purchased the theatre and gave it the name it holds today. However, from 1948 until 1990 it was known as the Tyl Theatre, and in 1862, with the completion of the Czech-dedicated Provisional Theatre (see below), this theatre became a German-dedicated stage and was named the Royal Provincial German Theatre. Why? Well, Count Nostitz was a German born in Prague, but luckily he was not averse to productions in other languages. In addition to Mozart’s Don Giovanni, his 1791 opera La clemenza di Tito, which marked the coronation of Leopold II, premiered here. In 1834 the song “Where Is My Home” (later to become the Czech National Anthem) was introduced here and many famous names from the world of Czech and international theatre and literature had their works produced under the theatre’s appropriate inscription Patriae et Musis - To the Native Land and the Muses.

Prague’s National Theatre, bearing the motto “The Nation Unto Itself” is seen as the embodiment of Czech identity and independence and was created as such when the idea was first touted in 1844. By 1851 the Society for the Establishment of a Czech National Theatre in Prague was founded and public donations allowed for the purchase of land previously occupied by a salt works. Despite the completion of the Provisional Theatre in 1862 on the site (the cladding of which can still be seen at the elevated rear section of today’s theatre), a 33 year old professor of civil engineering at Prague Technical College, the architect Josef Zítek drafted a design, won an open competition and on 16 May 1868 the foundation stone was ceremonially laid. With a neo-Renaissance and Slavonic mythology inspired interior, the National Theatre opened on 11 Jun 1881 in honour of a visit by Crown Prince Rudolf. The theatre was temporarily closed to complete finishing touches and during this time, on 12 Aug, fire broke out and destroyed the copper dome, auditorium and stage. This was seen as a national catastrophe and within 47 days 1 million gulders were raised and a new architect, Zítek’s pupil Josef Schulz, employed. Amazingly, the rebuilt theatre was inaugurated on 18 Nov 1883 with the premiere of Smetana’s Libuše. The theatre continued hosting performances until 1977 when reconstruction closed it for six years. A performance of Libuše again reopened the theatre on 18 Nov 1983 – one hundred years later.

The Prague State Opera was opened as a German stage in 1888 to allow more Czech productions at the Estates Theatre. These boards have witnessed the talents of Caruso, Gigli, Mahler, Zemlinsky, Nellie Melba, R. Strauss and Wagner, whose opera The Mastersingers of Nürnberg first raised the curtain. The venue as a theatre saw its final performance on 25 Sep 1938 after the Theatre Association sold the building to the Czechoslovak state. No regular performances took place under the occupation although it was during this time that some of the most famous names performed here. After liberation, the building was given to the May 5th Theatre, which later became part of the National Theatre and in 1992, the Prague State Opera was founded and housed in this magnificent building.

The Kolowrat Theatre, the National Theatre's stage, sits adjacent to the Estates Theatre at Ovocný trh 6 and Prague's opera, ballet and drama performances alternate between these three historical buildings.