Estates Theatre
Classical theatre of 1783 where Mozart conducted the world premiere of Don Giovanni.
Built for Count František Antonín Nostitz-Rieneck and opened in 1783, the Estates Theatre is one of the few European theatres of its period to survive in near-original form. Anton Haffenecker's restrained classical design, with a pedimented portico on Železná street, was intended as a house for German- and Italian-language drama and opera in a city then dominated by travelling companies. The Bohemian Estates bought the building in 1798, giving it the name it still carries today.
Mozart conducted the world premiere of Don Giovanni here on 29 October 1787 and returned in 1791 for La clemenza di Tito, and the theatre also saw the first performance of the Czech national anthem, in the play Fidlovačka of 1834. The building was used by Miloš Forman for interiors in the film Amadeus and reopened in 1991 after a lengthy restoration. It is now one of the four stages of the National Theatre, presenting opera, drama and ballet.
Highlights
- World premiere of Mozart's Don Giovanni took place here in 1787
- One of Europe's best-preserved theatres of the 1780s
- Birthplace of the Czech national anthem in 1834
- Filming location for interiors in Forman's Amadeus
