On 30 September 1897, the first IAA was held by the Mitteleuropäischer Motorwagenverein ("Central European Motor Vehicle Association") at the Hotel Bristol on the Unter den Linden boulevard in Berlin.

With a pause after the war, the IAA was then reinstated and returned to a newly built exhibition hall in Berlin Westend in 1921, with 67 German automobile manufacturers displaying 90 vehicles under the motto "comfort", including the Rumpler Tropfenwagen and a Bosch electric car horn.

It featured the first German vehicle with a rack steering and independent suspension (Röhr 8) as well as the eight-cylinder Opel Regent luxury car and a crank operated window by Brose.

It was inaugurated by Chancellor Adolf Hitler, who announced tax benefits for car owners, a major road construction programme and state-funded motorsport events.

New models introduced included the Ford Köln, the Standard Superior, as well as the twelve-cylinder Maybach Zeppelin DS 8, then the most expensive German car ever built.

He also proclaimed the idea of economic autarky, illustrated by the display of wood gas generators based on the patent of Georges Imbert or a steam car designed by Henschel.