Racing on public roads near Hohenstein-Ernstthal had begun in the 1930s, with the Sachsenring name formally adopted in 1937. After World War II, Germany was divided and the Sachsenring found itself in the newly formed German Democratic Republic (GDR). When the FIM's motorcycle World Championship launched in 1949, neither German state nor German circuits were initially permitted to participate. Western West Germany eventually gained access through circuits like the Solitudering and Hockenheimring, while the Sachsenring remained outside the championship for over a decade.
The Sachsenring joined the World Championship calendar in 1961 as the Grand Prix of the German Democratic Republic — officially named the Großer Preis der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik. It ran annually through 1972, abbreviated EGER (East German) on modern MotoGP records to distinguish it from the West German Grand Prix (WGER) held at circuits in the Federal Republic of Germany during the same period.
The GDR government used the event as an opportunity for international recognition, and crowds were large by the standards of the era. Eastern bloc manufacturers and riders were prominent participants, though western riders and factory teams also competed. The East German brand MZ had made significant advances in two-stroke engine technology under engineer Walter Kaaden through the late 1950s and early 1960s, and MZ machinery was competitive at the Sachsenring during this period, though internal difficulties and the defection of key personnel weakened the program as the decade progressed.
The event's World Championship status ended abruptly after the 1972 round, removed for explicitly political reasons. In 1971, West German rider Dieter Braun won the race outright. When celebrating, sections of the crowd began singing the West German national anthem, the Deutschlandlied, which the GDR authorities interpreted as a provocative political demonstration. To prevent further such incidents, the East German government chose to restrict entry by riders from Western states rather than risk a repeat. With the field now limited primarily to riders from other Eastern bloc socialist states, the FIM could not maintain the event's World Championship status, and it was dropped from the calendar after 1972.
Racing at the Sachsenring continued after the loss of World Championship status, still held as the Großer Preis der DDR through 1976. In 1977 the event was renamed the Großer Preis des ADMV der DDR, after the East German motorsport governing body. These later editions attracted primarily Eastern bloc competitors without the international field that had defined the championship years.
The Sachsenring's story did not end in 1972. Following German reunification, the circuit was rebuilt in shortened, purpose-built form and returned to the World Championship in 1998 under new promoters. The revived event became one of the most popular rounds on the calendar, regularly selling out its large spectator capacity. The circuit hosts the German motorcycle Grand Prix under contract through at least 2031, giving the Sachsenring one of the longest unbroken runs of any venue in the modern championship era. The East German GP years, though brief and politically curtailed, established the circuit's identity as a venue capable of drawing massive motorcycle racing crowds.