Originating from a princely riding arena, the Theater im Schlossgarten has been regularly used for artistic events of various genres since its renovation in 1842.

After the First World War, the theater became the property of the town of Arnstadt. It has been run by the Theaterverein Arnstadt e. V. since 1995.

Today, the theater welcomes many national and international artists every year. In addition to plays, operettas, operas, musicals, concerts, cabaret and ballet performances as well as cabaret are performed on a rotating basis. The small artistic ensemble's own productions regularly turn out to be real crowd pullers.