The Nürburgring was inaugurated on 18 June 1927 when the circuit hosted the ADAC Eifelrennen. The German Grand Prix moved to the new facility that same year, leaving the AVUS circuit in Berlin that had hosted the first German Grand Prix in 1926. The original Nürburgring was a showcase for German automotive engineering, built in the mountainous Eifel region around the ancient castle of Nürburg. The circuit combined the 22.8 km Nordschleife with a Südschleife section to form the full Gesamtstrecke layout of approximately 28 km.
Between 1927 and 1939 the Nürburgring hosted 13 editions of the German Grand Prix. The 1935 race is regarded as one of the greatest victories in motorsport history: Italian Tazio Nuvolari, driving an outdated Alfa Romeo against the dominant German Silver Arrow cars of Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union, overcame a botched pit stop that had cost him six minutes, made up the deficit over the final laps, and passed leader Manfred von Brauchitsch in the closing stages to win in front of an astonished crowd of 350,000, including the German High Command.
The German Grand Prix returned to the Nürburgring Nordschleife after World War II, becoming part of the Formula One World Championship from 1951. The circuit's extraordinary length of 22.8 km allowed up to 375,000 spectators to attend each year, spread across the hills and valleys of the Eifel. The Nordschleife presented drivers with more than 1,000 feet of elevation change, over 170 corners, and surfaces that varied between smooth tarmac and bumpy, uneven asphalt running through dense forest.
The 1957 German Grand Prix produced another legendary performance: Argentine Juan Manuel Fangio, then 46 years old, emerged from a poorly executed pit stop that left him nearly a minute behind the lead Ferraris of Mike Hawthorn and Peter Collins. Fangio set the fastest lap of the race nine times consecutively, broke the lap record repeatedly, and passed both Ferraris in the closing laps to win his 24th and final Grand Prix victory and claim his fifth world championship.
In 1968, Jackie Stewart won in heavy rain and fog, finishing more than four minutes clear of second-placed Graham Hill, a performance that earned the Nürburgring race an enduring place in the canon of great drives.
The 1976 German Grand Prix marked the end of Formula One on the Nordschleife. Niki Lauda, the reigning world champion, had campaigned for improved safety at the circuit and had attempted to organise a boycott before the race. His concerns proved tragically valid. On the second lap, Lauda's Ferrari suffered rear suspension failure at a fast left-hand kink before the Bergwerk section, sending the car into an embankment where it burst into flames. Lauda's helmet was torn from his head in the impact. Fellow drivers Brett Lunger, Arturo Merzario, and Harald Ertl were also involved in the crash; Lunger pulled Lauda from the burning wreck. Despite initially appearing to be in stable condition, Lauda had suffered severe burns and had inhaled toxic fumes that damaged his circulatory system. He lapsed into a coma and very nearly died.
The race was red-flagged and restarted; James Hunt won, a result that proved crucial to his championship campaign that year. The 1976 German Grand Prix was the last Formula One race ever held on the Nordschleife, ending 49 years of German Grand Prix history at the circuit.
A new 4.5 km Grand Prix circuit was constructed adjacent to the Nordschleife and opened in 1984. This modern facility hosted the European Grand Prix in 1984 and returned for the German Grand Prix in 1985. From 2007 the Nürburgring GP circuit alternated with the Hockenheimring in hosting the German Grand Prix, a rotation that continued until 2013. The Nürburgring staged the last of its alternating-era German Grands Prix in 2013, after which financial difficulties prevented the circuit from maintaining its Formula One contract.
In 2020, the circuit returned to the Formula One calendar as host of the Eifel Grand Prix, named for the surrounding mountain region rather than the German Grand Prix title. As of the mid-2020s, the Nürburgring has not hosted a race officially named the German Grand Prix since 2013.
The Nürburgring's role in German Grand Prix history is inseparable from the story of Formula One itself. The Nordschleife produced the sport's most celebrated victories and its most haunting tragedies, and the 1976 Lauda crash remains one of the defining moments in the safety revolution that transformed Grand Prix racing through the late twentieth century. The circuit continues to occupy an unparalleled place in motorsport culture, and the name Nürburgring remains synonymous with the extreme demands of endurance, precision, and courage that have always characterized the highest levels of motor racing.