The Centre for Theatre Documentation and Information was founded by former members of the GDR Union of Theatre Producers (Verband der Theaterschaffenden der DDR) that was dissolved in 1990. The Union was founded with the aim to support the development of socialist German theatre, organise conferences, training events and colloquia, and publish books and magazines.

The Centre was founded as part of the Theatre Documentation Foundation (Fördervereins Theaterdokumentation e.V.), which agreed with the Academy of Arts in Berlin in 1994 to hand over its collections. In 2000, the theatre documentation section was integrated into the Archive of Performing Arts, of the Academy of Arts.

When the Centre was founded, it took over responsibility for the baseline assessment of the Theatre in ‘Transition’ (Theater im Übergang) and Performance Documentation (Sammlung Inszenierungsdokumentationen) collections and continued the collection of materials on and documentation of the former GDR theatres’ process of transformation. Almost 30 theatres responded the call to document their work over 1989–94 and provided theatre performance schedules and plans, programmes, posters, and photos.