The club was founded in 1891 by a group of young athletes living in the borough and port district Djurgårdsstaden [sv] on Djurgården in central Stockholm.

Inspired by the Norwegian His Majesty the King's Guard and their ski jumping exhibitions in Stockholm, the adolescents of the area contested diverse sports against each other both summertime and wintertime.

[15] At the 1912 Summer Olympics, Djurgården athlete Erik Almlöf represented Sweden and won a bronze medal in the men's triple jump event.

[7] At the 1920 Summer Olympics, Djurgården wrestler Gottfrid Svensson represented Sweden and won a silver medal in the men's freestyle lightweight event.

[31] At the 1928 Winter Olympics, two Djurgården ice hockey players – Nils Johansson[32] and Ernst Karlberg[33] – was part of Sweden's bronze medal winning team in the men's tournament.

[36] Later in the year Djurgården's Gentzel represented Sweden at the 1928 Summer Olympics and won a bronze medal in the 800 metres event.

[38] At the 1928 Summer Olympics, Djurgården boxer Nils Ramm represented Sweden and won a silver medal in the men's heavyweight event.

[40] At the 1932 Summer Olympics, Djurgården wrestler Einar Karlsson represented Sweden and won a bronze medal in the men's freestyle featherweight event.

[7] At the 1936 Summer Olympics, Djurgården wrestler Einar Karlsson again represented Sweden and won a bronze medal, this time in the men's Greco-Roman featherweight event.

[34] During the 1940s, the women's bandy team played in a series in Vasaparken in Stockholm together with KSK Artemis, Föreningen GCI, and IK Göta.

At the 1952 Summer Olympics, Djurgården footballer Gösta Sandberg was part of Sweden's bronze medal winning team in the tournament.

[22] Starting in 1955, the Djurgården women's table tennis team won six consecutive national championship titles – Elisabeth Thorsson took part in all six, Signhild Tegner in five, Ing-Britt Molin in four, and Siv Petersson in three.

[46] At the 1956 Summer Olympics, Djurgården wrestler Edvin Vesterby represented Sweden and won a silver medal in the men's Greco-Roman bantamweight event.

[22] Djurgården players Hans Mild, Sven Johansson, and Gösta Sandberg were playing in both teams and winning both the 1959 ice hockey and football national titles.

[60] Starting in 1959, Kathinka Frisk won the alpine skiing Swedish championship titles in women's downhill event four consecutive times.

[64][7] At the 1964 Winter Olympics, four Djurgården ice hockey players – Sven Johansson,[54] Hans Mild,[65] Carl-Göran Öberg,[66] Roland Stoltz[67] – was part of Sweden's silver medal winning team in the men's tournament.

[68] Starting in 1972, the Djurgården men's fencing team won four consecutive titles in the men's epée event, with Leif Högström and Hans Jacobson contributing to all four; Göran Andersson and Carl von Essen to three, Jaan Veanes to two and Göran Flodström, Björn Jacobson, Takashi Masuyama and Stefan Pahlefors to one.

[69] In 1974, Sören Johansson became the first Djurgården player to be selected in the NHL entry draft, in the 11th round by Kansas City Scouts.

Starting in 1987, the men's épée fencing team won three consecutive national championship titles, this time with Otto Drakenberg, Ulf Sandegren, and Péter Vánky contributing to three of them, while Arne Johansson took part in two and Henrik Pontén in one.

[69] At the 1988 Winter Olympics, four Djurgården ice hockey players – Thomas Eriksson,[78] Mikael Johansson,[85] Jens Öhling,[81] and Håkan Södergren[83] – was part of Sweden's bronze medal winning team in the men's tournament.

At the 1988 Summer Olympics, Djurgården boxer Lars Myrberg represented Sweden and won a bronze medal in the men's light welterweight event.

[26] At the 1994 Winter Olympics, Djurgården ice hockey players Charles Berglund and Christian Due-Boje was part of Sweden's gold medal winning team in the men's tournament.

[96] In 1996, Djurgården became Swedish champions in pétanque for the first time through a team of Charlotta Brohult, Bengt Håkansson] and Kenneth Öttenius who competed in the open event.

[7] In the autumn of 1997, the ice hockey club tried to corporise and register on the Stockholm Stock Exchange, however the Swedish Sports Confederation denied their request.

[97] In 1999, the women's football team became Swedish champions in indoor five-a-side with a team consisting of Carolina Crevatin, Elin Flyborg, Tina Karlsson, Tina Kindvall, Aleksandra Maksimovic, Salina Olsson, Karin Sandbrink, Kickan Sigridsson, Jacinta Sjöblom, Malin Söderlind, Jessika Sundh, and Sara Thunebro.

[22] For the 2002–03 Elitserien season, the then lower-tier men's handball club joined forces with BK Söder in the league competing as Djurgården.

[114] In 2016, the martial arts club won its first two Swedish championship titles – Mehmet Kaya in men's kickboxing and Sandra Godvik in women's Muay Thai.

[7] At the 2016 Summer Olympics, Djurgården footballer Emilia Appelqvist was part of Sweden's silver medal winning team in the women's tournament.

[3] In Sport & affärer and Demoskop's research about the strongest brand among Swedish clubs 2025, Djurgårdens IF was positioned second after AIK and ahead of Malmö FF.

[134] Djurgårdens IF has several member sections, all of which legally are their own associations with their own financial and sporting responsibilities but share the common name, logo and values and support each other.