The circuit's origins date to 1903, when a hillclimb was established from the Stuttgart Westbahnhof station up to Solitude Castle. The start was subsequently moved to the Heslach district of Stuttgart in 1906. A full circuit of approximately 22.3 kilometres was introduced in 1925, with its start and finish at the castle itself. Over the following decade the layout was revised twice: a shorter routing through the Mahdental valley was adopted in 1931, and the final configuration — a 11.4086-kilometre clockwise circuit incorporating both the Mahdental road and an older section reinstated in 1935 — remained in use until the track's closure. The course passes the Seehaus and the historic junction at Glemseck near Leonberg, crosses the Schattengrund, and follows the valley of the Glems river back to the finish area.
Motorcycle competition at Solitude ran continuously from the 1920s into the 1960s, attracting world-class riders across all solo and sidecar classes. Early German manufacturers BMW, DKW, and NSU dominated the results in the interwar years, with riders such as Arthur Geiss, Ernst Jakob Henne, Ewald Kluge, Werner Haas, and Georg Meier accumulating multiple victories. International competition grew significantly after the Second World War. In the postwar era, marquee names including Geoff Duke, Bill Lomas, John Surtees, Mike Hailwood, Jim Redman, Phil Read, and Ernst Degner all won at Solitude.
The sidecar category was equally prestigious. Notable champions at the circuit included Eric Oliver, Wilhelm Noll with Fritz Cron, Ludwig Kraus, Max Deubel, Fritz Scheidegger, and Helmut Fath. Solitude was not a round of the FIM World Championship, but its results were closely watched in the international paddock given the calibre of its entry lists.
Automobile races at Solitude were less frequent but equally prominent. From 1960 to 1965, Formula and sports car events ran alongside the motorcycle programme. The races were not rounds of the Formula 1 World Championship, yet they drew works entries and factory-supported drivers of the highest standing.
The 1960 Formula 2 race was won by Wolfgang Graf Berghe von Trips in a Ferrari, ahead of Hans Herrmann and Joakim Bonnier in Porsches. The following year, a Formula 1 race was held, with Innes Ireland (Lotus) taking victory over Bonnier and Dan Gurney, both in Porsche machinery. Dan Gurney then won the 1962 Formula 1 race for Porsche, and Jack Brabham triumphed in the 1963 edition in his own Brabham. Jim Clark gave Lotus a dominant win in 1964, ahead of John Surtees in a Ferrari. The final 1965 event, run to Formula 2 regulations, was won by Chris Amon in a Lola.
Other notable participants over the circuit's life included Hans Herrmann, Bruce McLaren, Lorenzo Bandini, Jo Siffert, Graham Hill, and Edgar Barth. The combination of a challenging public-road layout and an elite entry list gave Solitude a status that rivalled many contemporary world championship venues despite its non-championship standing.
International racing at Solitude ended after 1965, as improving safety standards made long public-road circuits increasingly difficult to sanction. The roads reverted to ordinary use. A centenary celebration in 2003 brought historic racing cars and motorcycles back to a shortened 4-kilometre route around the castle, retracing portions of the original 1925 configuration. From 2005 onward, the Glemseck 101 gathering — an annual rally for custom motorcycles held near the old Glemseck junction — has kept the spirit of the circuit alive.
In 2011, as part of the automotive summer marking the 125th anniversary of the Benz Patent-Motorwagen, the roads corresponding to the final 1935–1965 layout were closed for a weekend so that historic cars could drive the full course for the first time in decades. The event drew large crowds and confirmed the enduring affection for Solitude among European motorsport enthusiasts.
The racetrack stands as one of several celebrated German public-road circuits of the mid-twentieth century, alongside venues such as the Nurburgring's original Nordschleife and the AVUS. Its role in giving German and international riders and drivers a high-profile non-championship arena during the 1950s and 1960s secured its place in the broader history of European motorsport.