The first race was held on 26 May 1927 on an layout on public roads, running also through the village of
Hohenstein-Ernstthal itself. It was dubbed "Sachsenring" in 1937. The
East German motorcycle Grand Prix was held there from 1961 to 1972. The local
two stroke MZ bikes of
Zschopau were competitive during this time. The quickest lap was achieved by 15 time World Champion
Giacomo Agostini on a
MV Agusta with a average. After West German
Dieter Braun won in 1971 and the East German fans sang the
West German National Anthem in celebration (as is the case in sport, the winner's National Anthem is played after the event), the event was limited to East European entrants for political reasons. In 1990, with faster Western machinery now available, racing through the village became too dangerous with some fatalities (this can be compared with the
Isle of Man TT). To accelerate redevelopment of eastern Germany in the new unified Germany, a short track
berg corner was built in the 1990s to bring international motorsport to the eastern part of Germany. In 1996, IDM motorcycle racing and the
ADAC Super Tourenwagen Cup resumed racing here. The
DTM raced here in
2000, with
Klaus Ludwig winning at age 51, but the DTM did not return after 2002, preferring international venues. DTM returned to Sachsenring in 2023 after its take-over by
ADAC due to its preference of using national venues again. Since 1998, the
German motorcycle Grand Prix moved to the Sachsenring from
Nürburgring. In recent years, the track has been made faster and longer again, with the length now being . Since 2007, the Sachsenring is part of the regular schedule of
ADAC GT Masters. In 2011 the
FIA GT1 World Championship held one of its race weekends at the Sachsenring. ==Layout history==