It has its own ensemble presenting plays, operas, operettas, musicals, orchestral concerts and ballet.

[1] The theatre was built on demand by the citizens of Cottbus, a town flourishing around 1900 due to textile industry.

The town assembly decided on 1 November 1905 to build a municipal theatre (Stadttheater) and held a competition.

In the Cottbus building, he combined architecture, crafts, painting and sculpture in Jugendstil.

The theatre was built in only 16 months, and opened on 1 October 1908 with a performance of Lessing's Minna von Barnhelm.