It was modelled after Det Kongelige Teater, founded by Ludvig Holberg in Denmark in 1748.

Its leading actor was Konrad Ekhof and the theatre employed Gotthold Ephraim Lessing as the world's first dramaturg; Lessing's influential Hamburg Dramaturgy, based on his work at the Hamburg National Theatre, defined the new field of dramaturgy and also introduced the term.

The Hamburg National Theatre was mainly owned and led by the former banker Abel Seyler, who invested much of his remaining fortune in the enterprise after suffering "a sensational bankruptcy for an enormous sum" shortly before.

The Hamburg National Theatre had to close in 1769 when Seyler's money had run out after two years of lavish spending.

Seyler would also later retain the vision of a "national theatre" during his work in Mannheim.