Located behind the Charles University Buildings and the Old Town Square in Prague, Czech Republic, the Estates Theatre, one of the most beautiful historic theatre buildings in Europe, designed by Anton Haffenecker and built in neoclassical architectural style, was constructed by the enlightened aristocrat Count František Antonín Count Nostitz Rieneck, to enrich and elevate the cultural standard of the nation. While the cornerstone of the building was laid on 7th June 1781, the construction was completed within less than two years and the theatre was ceremonially opened on the 21st of April 1783, with a performance of the German playwright Gotthold Ephraim Lessing’s tragedy Emilia Galotti. It is one of the few European theatres, which stands in its almost original shape since its inception till today, and its gable tympanum containing a carved tablet with a relief of the Czech lion, the symbol of the powerful and sovereign Bohemia, under the crown of St. Wenceslas with the inscription of its motto, Patriae et Musis or dedicated to the Nation and the Muses, signifies the initial intention of the founder. The grand opening of the Count Nostitz Theatre, which soon became Nostitzsches Nationaltheater, following its affiliation with the National Theatre, also coincided with the final closure of the Kotzentheater or Kotzen Theatre, the second commercial theatre in Prague, which sporadically operated between 1739 and 1783, under a series of Italian impresarios.

The Estates Theatre in Prague has a very long history behind it, and with the change of hands, its name has also been changed several times. After the death of its founder, when the theatre was purchased by the Bohemian Estates in 1798, the word Royal was added as a prefix to its name, to make it the Royal Estate Theatre. But as the Czech ensemble left with the opening of the Provisional Theatre in 1862, and the theatre became dedicated to an exclusive German ensemble, the name of the building also changed again to become Deutsches Landestheater, which specifically means the German Regional Theatre. However, as the Czechs bounced back to take control of the building from the German ensemble in November of 1920, the building got back its earlier name Theatre of the Estates. Nevertheless, in 1948, the theatre was again renamed after the famous Czech dramatist Josef Kajetán Tyl, and came to be known as Tylovo divadlo or the Tyl Theatre. Finally, after the completion of an eight-year reconstruction project of the edifice, it again came to be known as the Estates Theatre.

Standing on its own in the western part of the Fruit Market and with its main façade facing out on Rytířská Street, the Estates Theatre was significantly lower in its original form. However, subsequently the entire building was enlarged to a great extent, without disturbing the main façade, although the bays on the side façades were expanded from a three window scheme to a five. In adherence to a strict safety regulation imposed after a catastrophic fire, a new fire escape corridor was also created through the addition of inner balconies and open staircases. Apart from that, the interior also got a new décor by connecting up the Rococo and the Neo-Renaissance characters of style, replacing the original luxury characteristics.

Unfortunately, due to years of negligence and lack of maintenance, the building of the Estates Theatre gradually deteriorated until in 1924, when even the State Regulation Commission officially called upon a need for its demolition. But finally good sense prevailed and the overall reconstruction of the theatre interior, took place in 1925, when several curved rows of seats were installed on the site of the five central loges on the first balcony, the fly loft was increased, a trap door was included and new iron curtains hung and the stage was expanded by around 16 feet (5 m). After necessary repairs and renovations, the first balcony got back its original look, while the underground spaces were expanded by extending the basement under the surface of the Fruit Market, making it possible for the fully loaded decoration wagons to be lowered underground with a newly installed lift.

Today, both the floors of the beautiful two storey building of the Estates Theatre are connected over the greater part of the surface by load-bearing high pilasters, along with Corinthian capitals. While the bay is crowned by a triangular gable, balcony with decorative relief on the parapet is situated between them on the first floor. Apart from that, Each of the side façades is crowned by triangular gables above slightly protruding groups of five interior windows. Since 2000, a mysterious sculpture of an empty, draping cloak, called Pieta, created by Anna Chromy, stands at the entrance to the Estates Theatre, dedicated to the operas of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who conducted the world premiere of his opera Don Giovanni in the theatre in October 1787.