Budapest National Theatre

The National Theatre is the main theatre of Budapest, and the largest such institution in Hungary, opening originally in 1837. Its company used several locations since then, including the original building at the Kerepesi street, and the People's Theatre at the Blaha Lujza Square. Their current home, the new National Theatre opened in 14 September 2000.

The idea of a national theatre in the capital was formed around the turn of the 18th-19th century, promoted by several great thinkers, including Ferenc Kazinczy. Baron István Széchenyi, a major figure in the reform age of Hungary dreamed of a great building on the bank of the Danube, operated in the form of a joint stock company. He proposed his plans in his 1832 pamphlet A Magyar Játékszínről.