The Hockenheimring was first built in 1932, initially as a triangle-like layout around 12 km long. It was shortened to just over 7.5 km in 1938. Grand Prix motorcycle racing events were held at the circuit from the 1950s onward, with the German motorcycle Grand Prix alternating between Hockenheim and other tracks during that era.
The 1965 rerouting produced the version of the circuit most associated with its motorcycle heritage: a layout dominated by two very long, fast forest straights connected by the Motodrom stadium section, which was designed by John Hugenholtz, also the designer of Suzuka and Jarama. After Jim Clark was killed in a Formula 2 accident at the track in April 1968, safety modifications were made including the addition of chicanes in the forest straights in 1970. Patrick Depailler's death at the Ostkurve during a private test in 1980 prompted further modifications.
The German motorcycle Grand Prix was held at Hockenheim in 1957, 1959, 1961, 1966, 1967, 1969, 1971, 1973, and 1975 in the pre-permanent era, alternating with other venues. From 1977 onward, following the permanent departure of both Formula One and motorcycle racing from the Nürburgring, Hockenheim became the fixed venue for the German motorcycle Grand Prix, hosting the event in 1977, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1987, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, and 1994. A Baden-Württemberg motorcycle Grand Prix was held in 1986. The Superbike World Championship also came to Hockenheim in 1988 through 1997 (with gaps) and 1999 to 2000, while the Supersport World Championship visited in 1997 and 1999 to 2000.
The original long-circuit layout, featuring straights measuring approximately 1.3 km separated by chicanes, produced extremely fast racing but also brought concerns about overtaking opportunities being confined to the forest section where few spectators could see the action. Sidecar World Championship rounds were also held at Hockenheim through multiple decades from 1957 to 2000, reflecting the venue's broad role in German motorcycle sport.
In 2002, the Hockenheimring underwent a significant redesign by Hermann Tilke. The long forest straights — defining features of the motorcycle racing experience at the venue — were removed and replaced by a tighter infield section with new corners. The shortened circuit measured approximately 4.574 km. This transformation fundamentally altered the track's character and coincided with the later stages of the circuit's World Championship motorcycle schedule.
The Superbike World Championship's last visit under the old layout had been in 1999 and 2000. By the time the new layout was completed, the German round of MotoGP had consolidated at the Sachsenring, which had become the permanent home of the event.
The Hockenheimring's role in German motorcycle Grand Prix history spans the full arc of the World Championship's development, from alternating visits in the 1950s and 1960s to its establishment as the fixed German venue from the late 1970s through the mid-1990s. The long-circuit configuration, with its characteristic forest straights and Motodrom stadium, gave riders a unique mix of outright speed on the straights and technical demands through the infield. The loss of the forest straights in the 2002 redesign removed the circuit's most distinctive motorcycle-era feature, but the Hockenheimring's contribution to the history of the German motorcycle Grand Prix over nearly four decades places it among the significant historic venues of the sport.