THEATER DER WELT is the most important international theatre festival in Germany and is held every three years in a different German city.  

Inspired by the ITI festival Theater der Nationen, which took place in Hamburg in 1979, THEATER DER WELT was founded by the ITI Germany in 1981 and since then has presented ground-breaking achievements and developments in theatre from every continent every three years. THEATER DER WELT has been held in Cologne (1981), Frankfurt a.M. (1985), Stuttgart (1987), Hamburg (1989), Essen (1991), Munich (1993), Dresden (1996), Berlin (1999), Cologne-Bonn-Düsseldorf-Duisburg (2002), Stuttgart (2005), Halle (2008), Mülheim and Essen (2010), Mannheim (2014), Hamburg (2017), Düsseldorf (2021). The next stop will be Frankfurt a.M. together with Offenbach (2023 

THEATER DER WELT obtains its core funding in three equal parts from the host city, the respective state, and the federal government (Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media).

The ITI manages the archives of the Theater der Welt festival and is the point of contact for questions and contacts regarding the various festival editions.