The New Lusthaus in Stuttgart is considered one of the most important buildings of the German Renaissance and served as a venue for court festivals and celebrations. The Stuttgart-based chronicler and monument conservator Gustav Wais described the original building in 1954 as "one of the noblest creations of the German Renaissance, which, if we still had it today, would be the main attraction of Stuttgart". Both the architectural history as well as the appearance are well known due to the numerous traditions. From 1584 to 1593, the Neue Lusthaus was commissioned by Duke Ludwig by his master builder Georg Beer in the middle of the Lustgarten, on the site of today's art building. The Lusthaus was famous for its imposing banqueting hall, measuring 200 × 70 × 50 feet (57 × 20 × 14 meters), spanned by a self-supporting, painted tonneau ceiling. It was largely destroyed during the reconstruction of 1844/45 to the Court Theater: the upper floors were demolished, only the ground floor was integrated into the new theater construction. The Hoftheater was destroyed by fire in 1902. In this fire, the remaining ground floor of the pleasure house was destroyed. What remains is only the characteristic staircase - the double-flighted staircase with the arcade behind it, which was moved to the central palace garden in 1904.
The Renaissance building, built in the 16th century, was famous for its ballroom, which was covered by a cantilevered painted barrel ceiling. The Lusthaus later served as a ducal and royal court theater until it fell victim to a fire in 1902. The staircase was housed in the middle palace garden as a souvenir.