Freies Werkstatt-Theater is a theatre in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is managed as a public utility and sponsored by the City of Cologne and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It was founded in Cologne in 1977 as part of the nationwide pilot project 'Artists and Students'. Since 1995 it has been located in a redesigned and refurbished listed building in the south of the city. Its five floors include two venues, two foyers, rehearsal, office, and workshop space
From its founding in 1979, as the first theatre in Germany to have a third-age company, it has developed plays whose themes reflect the lives and histories of the people involved, their entry into retirement, and life as older people today.
The theater is directed by Dieter Scholz, co-founder, and Ingrid Berzau Honour . Dieter Scholz was awarded the Order of Merit (Bundesverdienstkreuz) in 1995 and in 2007 the Cologne Theatre Prize, and Berzau also received of the FWT also the Order of Merit in 2010 for her commitment as artistic director.
The theatre has become known specially for its unconventionally staged arrangements and dramatizations of literary styles and classics. and in 1990 for its special concept, was the first theatre to receive the Independent Theatre Award of North Rhine Westphalia.
A total of 19 nominations for the Cologne Theatre Prize including:
Further nominations were received in 1990, 1991, 1992, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2003