In 1820 Leopold II, Prince of Lippe, with the support of his mother Princess Pauline, decided to have a court theatre built in Detmold.

[1] On 8 November 1825, the curtain of the Hochfürstliches Lippisches Hoftheater went up for the first time for Mozart's opera La clemenza di Tito, after only seven months of construction.

Famous artists working at the theatre included Christian Dietrich Grabbe (as author and dreaded critic) and Albert Lortzing (as singer, actor and Kapellmeister.

)[1] On 5 February 1912, during the performance of Hermann Sudermann's Der Bettler von Syrakus, the theatre burned down to its foundation, due to a faulty chimney.

The program included demanding productions as Handel's Alcina and Purcell's King Arthur.

Operettas were given composed by Franz Lehár, Johann Strauss and Karl Millöcker, and also, increasingly, musicals.

[9] In the 2001/02 season, part of the productions moved into the symphonic area under the leadership of GMD Erich Wächter.

[16][17] It covers the area of the entire state of North Rhine-Westphalia, and beyond to Belgium, Luxembourg, and more recently even to Switzerland.

[1] The Landestheater Detmold provides its operation as a three-division theatre with opera, ballet and plays.