The concept of a major race circuit in this area of Germany dates to 1986, when planners in the former East Germany proposed converting an open-cast coal mining pit into a motorsport facility. The idea lay dormant through the late communist era and the upheaval of German reunification, before being revived in the late 1990s. The new circuit was partly conceived as a replacement for the AVUS in Berlin, which had seen its racing use diminished by increased traffic following the fall of the Berlin Wall. Construction began on 17 June 1998, and the facility was officially opened on 20 August 2000.
The Lausitzring is built around a 3.256 km tri-oval, shaped similarly to Pocono Raceway in the United States, with high-speed banking designed for American-style oval racing. The circuit's main grandstands at the oval hold 120,000 spectators, with a further 25,000 seats in the main grandstand area — unusually for a circuit of this size, the entire oval is visible from these main stands. Winding through the infield of the oval is a conventional road course that can be configured at lengths up to approximately 4.562 km. A separate test oval on the property, with two long straights each measuring around 2.5 km, is used for high-speed vehicle development. When the road course, tri-oval, and test oval are all connected, the resulting endurance layout stretches to 12.030 km, though this has only ever been used for testing purposes.
The tri-oval hosted two major American open-wheel events under the CART Champ Car series, branded as the German 500. The September 2001 race, renamed the American Memorial, was held just days after the September 11 attacks in the United States. It was the first CART race staged in Europe, but the event was overshadowed by a catastrophic accident involving two-time CART champion Alex Zanardi. Zanardi lost control of his car exiting the pits and slid onto the oval, where he was struck at full speed by Alex Tagliani's car. The impact severed the front section of Zanardi's car and caused the traumatic amputation of both his legs. Tagliani escaped serious injury. Zanardi subsequently underwent extensive rehabilitation and returned to competitive sport, later becoming a successful Paralympic cyclist. A second German 500 was held at the circuit in May 2003, won by Sébastien Bourdais. The German Formula Three Championship also used the oval in 2005 and 2006, with pole position averages exceeding 251 km/h.
The circuit's first year of operation was marked by three serious incidents. On 25 April 2001, former Formula One driver Michele Alboreto was killed on the test oval when a tyre failure caused a high-speed crash during an Audi R8 test session in preparation for that year's 24 Hours of Le Mans. Just over a week later, on 3 May 2001, a circuit marshal was struck and killed by a touring car during a separate test session. The Zanardi accident followed in September of that year.
Despite the tragedies of its first year, the Lausitzring established itself as a regular venue for the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, hosting rounds of the German Touring Car Championship annually from 2000 onwards. The Superbike World Championship used the road course in 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2016, and 2017. Other notable events included the A1 Grand Prix in 2005, the Red Bull Air Race World Championship in 2010, 2016, and 2017, and the Champ Car German 500 races.
On 1 November 2017, the entire Lausitzring facility was sold to Dekra, a vehicle inspection and testing company, which renamed it the Dekra Lausitzring and repurposed it primarily as a proving ground for road car development and autonomous driving research. Dekra announced it would not directly organise public motorsport events, but that the circuit would remain available for rental by other event promoters. The DTM has continued to hold rounds at the circuit under this arrangement.