Founded by Berlin critic Siegfried Jacobsohn in 1905, the weekly periodical „Die Schaubühne“ was initially a theatre and culture magazine. After opening up to political issues, it was renamed „Die Schaubühne“ in 1918 and is still considered a central forum of the Weimar Republic today. The inclusion of as many well-known authors from the German-speaking world and beyond as possible was a consistent principle; the most important contributors included Alfred Polgar and Kurt Tucholsky. At its core was the reference to the theatrical centres of Berlin and Vienna, as well as the examination of Max Reinhardt's new staging style developed in Berlin.

The „Die Schaubühne“ presented and commented on the avant-garde in literature and the arts; prominent critics included Julius Bab and Willi Handl. Of particular importance is the large number of preprints and partial prints of theatre plays as well as poems and prose texts, an outstanding example being „Die Wupper“ by Else Lasker-Schüler. In addition, various sections provided information on a wide range of topics, from premieres and play commissions to listings of individual engagements, construction projects and illustrated staging plans. Even legal issues were documented.

Against the backdrop of the commercialization of theatre, especially in the second half of the 19th century, Jacobsohn explicitly advocated a renewal of the stage in the sense of an enlightenment of modernity. An important aspect of this is the focus on international events. European theatre as a whole was to be illuminated, and there were also reports on ‘foreign stages’ such as Indian pantomime or small Malay stages.

The sum of these qualities gives the „Die Schaubühne“ its documentary value and its character as a cultural-historical source of the first rank, whose development is of great relevance for media and contemporary history beyond the disciplines of theatre, film and literary studies.

The OeAW has digitized the 26 (half-year) volumes (approx. 17,000 files) of the black letter reprint from 1979–1980. The project includes annotation, indexing, linking to standard data sets, technical set-up (including searchability using SketchEngine, preparation of facsimiles) and open access publication in several steps. The text edition of 2024 presents the 643 issues of the journal with a reading version in roman type, an author index and the annotation of printing errors.