The State Central Theatre Museum named after A. A. Bakhrushin, located in Moscow, was founded in 1894 by the famous Russian merchant and patron Alexey Alexandrovich Bakhrushin. The Great Soviet Encyclopedia calls it the largest theatre museum in the world.

The museum is situated in Bakhrushin's former estate house in Zamoskvorechye. The main building of the museum, a one-story mansion in the style of early English Gothic, was built in 1896 according to the design of architect Karl Gippius. In 1937 and 1938, the building was expanded and raised by architect Ilya Bondarenko.

The official date of the museum's founding is considered to be October 29 (November 10) 1894, when Bakhrushin first opened his collection to the public. In search of exhibits, he often traveled across Russia, bringing not only theatrical rarities but also folk art, furniture, and antique Russian costumes.

Abroad, Bakhrushin visited antique shops. In the early 20th century, he traveled abroad three times to enrich the collection on the history of Western European theatre. He brought personal belongings of the French actress Mars, masks from Italian commedia, and rare musical instruments.

The museum's collection was also supplemented by gifts from artists. According to the antiquarian M. M. Savostin, the idea of creating a theatre museum appealed so much to the actors that many generously donated rare photographs, autographs, and memorabilia. The popular "Bakhrushin Saturdays" in Moscow's theatrical circles also contributed to the influx of gifts. These meetings were attended by famous actors and directors such as A. I. Yuzhin, A. L. Lensky, M. N. Yermolova, F. I. Shalyapin, L. V. Sobinov, K. S. Stanislavsky, and V. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko. Traditionally, guests brought gifts with them. For instance, the actress of the Maly Theatre, Glikeria Nikolaevna Fedotova, passed her relics and commemorative gifts to Bakhrushin.

In 1913, the museum was transferred to the Academy of Sciences with the condition of its preservation in Moscow, and in 1917 it became part of the network of state institutions. In 1918, at the suggestion of V. I. Lenin, Bakhrushin was appointed the museum's lifetime director. Until 1917, the museum was visited by about 300 to 400 people a year; later, this number significantly increased. By 1917, the museum had about 12,000 exhibits. During the Soviet era, the museum's collections were actively replenished: in 1949, they numbered 314,000, and in the 1990s, over a million. Today, the museum's collection includes more than one and a half million exhibits.

In 2014, in honor of the museum's 120th anniversary, it was awarded the silver order of "Audience Sympathy" for its contribution to preserving the history of domestic and foreign theatre.