The festivals of 1912 and 1913 at the garden city of Hellerau near Dresden, Germany are often cited as marking the birth of the modern theatre. Here, music, dance, lighting, theatre architecture and stage settings were integrated to present “total” works of theatrical art to an astonished international audience. The theory and practice of theatrical production was never the same again. This presentation offers a description and assessment of the festivals, together with an account of the extraordinary subsequent history of the site and its “re-birth” in recent years as a venue for artistic innovation, building upon its luminous legacy.