No one was more operative in advancing and shaping the development of theatre studies in Germany (or elsewhere) than Max Herrmann (1865-1942). He was the author of the first standard work on this new discipline and initiated the foundation of the world's first theatre studies centre (Institut für Theaterwissenschaft) in Berlin, an institution soon to achieve international renown. Approaching the subject from a variety of angles, the author traces the difficult process of emancipation that early theatre studies went through and delineates the cardinal role played by Herrmann in that process. The result is an entirely new perspective on the 'foundation' of theatre studies.