As part of the Residenz in the Schwetzingen Castle, it first belonged to the Electors, later to Grand Duchy of Baden, then the state Baden-Württemberg.

On 10 November 2022, the Baden-Württemberg state administration of palaces and gardens announced that the theatre would be renamed the "Pigage-Theatre" on 23 August 2023, the three hundredth birthday of the architect Nicolas de Pigage.

[5] Andreas Sturm [de], a CDU member of the Landtag of Baden-Württemberg opposed this renaming publicly, claiming that it destroyed a globally recognised brand.

[8][9] Francesca Lebrun, the sister of Franz Danzi, a leading singer of the Mannheim Opera, performed, for example, the part of Parthenia in Anton Schweitzer's Alceste in Schwetzingen in 1775.

More than 35 operas have been commissioned and premiered,[10] including works by Hans Werner Henze, Werner Egk, Udo Zimmermann, Aribert Reimann, Salvatore Sciarrino, Adriana Hölszky, Bernhard Lang, Wolfgang Rihm, Michael Jarrell, Georg Friedrich Haas and Enno Poppe.