The reintroduction of the Olympic Games in 1896 promoted interdisciplinary research into the effects of stress caused by sport. In the period that followed, Germany became the birthplace of modern sports medicine. The development of sports medicine in Germany was significantly influenced by the International Hygiene Exhibition in Dresden in 1911.

The success of this exhibition led to the first congress on scientific research into physical exercise being held in 1912. The German Imperial Committee for Scientific Research into Sport and Physical Exercise was also founded there, which was renamed the German Medical Association for the Promotion of Physical Exercise in 1924. This foundation is considered to be the beginning of organised sports medicine.

In 1933, the German Medical Association for the Promotion of Physical Exercise was renamed the German Sports Medicine Association. It was dissolved during the Second World War and re-established in 1950. From 1951 onwards, the revised guidelines from 1925 applied to the acquisition of the title of sports physician. It was not until 1970 that the German Medical Association adopted extended guidelines for obtaining the additional title of sports medicine.

The first sports medicine clinics were established in the Soviet occupation zone as early as 1947. With the founding of the German University of Physical Culture in Leipzig in 1950, a department of sports medicine was also created. The high social status of sports medicine in the GDR was reflected in the introduction of the specialist in sports medicine in 1963. In 1991, the ‘Society for Sports Medicine of the GDR’ joined the ‘German Association of Sports Physicians’, which was renamed the ‘German Society for Sports Medicine and Prevention’ in 1998.

The inadequate consideration given to orthopaedic surgeons and trauma surgeons within the German Sports Medicine Association and to sports orthopaedic issues within their own professional associations led to the founding of the Society for Orthopaedic-Traumatological Sports Medicine (GOTS) in 1986, which has since been instrumental in representing the interests of sports orthopaedics and traumatology. To date, there is only one chair for orthopaedics and sports orthopaedics in Germany, at the Technical University of Munich.