The building of the theatre was initiated and substantially supported by the German emperor William II who regularly visited the spa in Wiesbaden.

Since 1932, the city of Wiesbaden was responsible for the theatre; therefore it was renamed "Nassauisches Landestheater" (Theater of the Province Nassau).

[4] In addition to the annual Internationale Maifestspiele in May, since 2004 a biennial festival "Neue Stücke aus Europa" (New European Plays) is organized in collaboration with the Staatstheater Mainz, presenting in ten days new plays in the original language with simultaneous translation.

Its conductor from 1874 to 1905, Louis Lüstner, established besides entertaining music for the spa audience twelve symphony concerts a year.

During this period Johannes Brahms, Clara Schumann, Joseph Joachim, Camille Saint-Saëns and Pablo de Sarasate appeared in concert, among others.

Regular guest conductors during his era, which lasted until 1944, included Fritz Busch, Felix Weingartner, Bruno Walter and Richard Strauss.

[4] After the war, a fusion of the two orchestras under the new name Hessisches Staatsorchester was initiated and finalized by Wolfgang Sawallisch at the end of the 1950s.