German Theatre Association to close the theatre in September 1938. The Czechoslovak state expressed an interest in the building but the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia on 15 March 1939 and establishment of the "Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia" thwarted its plans. Under the new title Deutsches Opernhaus (German Opera House), the theatre served for political assemblies of the Nazi Party, and for the occasional guest presentations by ensembles from the Reich. Theatre of the Fifth of May A radical change came in May 1945 following the fall of the Nazi-led government. A group of Czech artists headed by Alois Hába, Václav Kašlík, and Antonín Kurš founded the Theatre of the Fifth of May in the former German Opera House. For the first time the theatre became a home for Czech, rather than German opera. The first performance was of Bedřich Smetana's Brandenburgers in Bohemia on 4 September 1945. The artistic agenda of the new ensemble strove to create an avant-garde theatre that would serve as an alternative to the more conservative National Theatre. A striking new theatrical production of Jacques Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffmann on 29 August 1946 and a non-traditional staging of the previously-untouchable Bedřich Smetana's The Bartered Bride, were followed by Alois Hába's quarter-tone opera Mother, Sergei Prokofiev's Betrothal in a Monastery, and others. The theatre's ground-breaking productions aroused attention on the part of the public and media including acclaim from abroad. Unfortunately, the success of the Grand Opera of the Fifth of May began to create unwanted competition for the National Theatre. Starting with the 1948-49 season, by government decree the Grand Opera was incorporated into the National Theatre. Thus the second significant creative period of the theatre ended after only three seasons. Smetana Theatre In November 1949, the building was renamed the Smetana Theatre, now functioning as a second house of the National Theatre under the Czech Communist Party government. Given the stage facilities, it was suitable for large-scale works from the worldwide operatic repertoire. Ballet was given a prominent place. Opera productions mounted at the Smetana Theatre could moreover enlist the services of all soloists, conductors and directors. However, the organizational division of the productions often gave rise to immense operational difficulties. The repertoire provided for productions of Czech contemporary operas, but the works of Bedřich Smetana, Antonín Dvořák and Leoš Janáček were not neglected. However, the standard repertoire was formed out of the