The Baroque Age was one of the undisputed peaks in the history of European theatre, opera, and festive stage production. The assumption so far (at least for the German-speaking territories) has been that sumptuous performances of this nature were largely, if not exclusively, staged at princely courts. This does not however square with the facts, as is borne out by the example of the important free imperial city of Nuremberg. Though little note has been taken of the fact, 17th century Nuremberg was the centre of a rich tradition of stage presentation and entertainment that developed in the urban context of this free city of the Holy Roman Empire. Numerous examples show that theatre was an important factor in the public life of the city and was also pressed into service as a >utility< art form for political and representative purposes.