The administrative seat and the main town was Suhl.

The district was established, with the other 13, on 25 July 1952, substituting the old German states.

After 3 October 1990 it was disestablished as a consequence of the German reunification, becoming again part of the state of Thuringia.

The Bezirk Suhl, the westernmost and the smallest of the GDR, bordered with the Bezirke of Erfurt and Gera.

The Bezirk was divided into 9 Kreise: 1 urban district (Stadtkreis) and 8 rural districts (Landkreise):