In 1987, the German Ice Hockey Federation created the Deutschland Cup as an official international tournament.

Along with host Germany, the most important prominent teams took part in the early years, such as Czechoslovakia, and later the Czech Republic and Slovakia, various representatives from the Soviet Union and Russia, as well as Sweden, Finland and Canada.

In conjunction with the establishment of the new top division Deutsche Eishockey Liga, a DEL All-Star Team also took part in 1994.

In anticipation of the 2001 IIHF World Championships in Germany, the tournament returned from its two-year hiatus in order to serve as a test run for the upcoming major event.

To emphasize the close cooperation with ongoing participant Switzerland, the opening games of the 2004 tournament as well as the renamed TUI Nations Cup in 2005 took place on Swiss ice, namely at the Bodensee-Arena in Kreuzlingen and at the Zurich Hallenstadion, respectively.