[4]: 30 The EAR was established on 15 December 1962 through the efforts of Boris Rajewsky of the Max Planck Institute in Frankfurt and Charles Marie Gros of the University of Strasbourg who would become the association's first president and first secretary-general respectively.

[4]: 4, 23  By the time it was formally registered, the association comprised radiological member societies from nine countries – Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, and West Germany.

[4]: 25 [5] As a result, the committee ultimately decided that the frequency of the congress should be increased to every two years and a permanent host location be selected.

[6] As the late 1980s, early 1990s was marked by the fall of the iron curtain and a call for greater European cooperation, a suitable host location was sought that could embody these ideals.

[4]: 24  By the late 1980s, the Verein Europaeischer Roentgenkongress, or European Congress of Radiology (ECR), had been founded and a congress-organising institution was established at the Medical University of Vienna, both in support of the biennial meeting.

[citation needed] After more than three years of meetings and discussions, the General Assembly of EAR held in the Austria Center Vienna on 7 March 2005 unanimously approved of the statutes of the ESR, paving the way for the creation of the society as it functions today.

Through renovations, the building has retained the style of its facade dating from 1823 with a newly constructed interior which houses a majority of ESR functions.

The composition of the board changes at the annual General Assembly which takes place on the last day of the European Congress of Radiology (ECR).

With more than 30,000 participants from around 120 countries, over 2,800 scientific presentations and 1,700 speakers, the ECR has developed into the largest radiological meeting in Europe since it was first held in its 'new' format in September 1991.

[13] The ECR hosts an accompanying industrial exhibition over a space of 30,000 m2, which provides a chance for congress-goers to explore state-of-the-art medical imaging technology and related services.

[7]: 43 Since 2012, the ESR has been a member of the EC's eHealth Stakeholder Group (eHSG), with the aim of recognising teleradiology as a medical act in its own right.

It is available to all members of the ESR and thus reaches a regular audience of over 100,000 readers, making it one of the most widely disseminated journals in the field of radiology.

The journal publishes articles on a wide range of topics including new modalities/techniques (e.g., magnetic resonance sequences or spectral computed tomography applications, molecular, hybrid, and optical imaging), 3D-modelling, printing and advanced teleradiology (e.g., virtual physician-patient interaction).

Insights into Imaging is an open access journal with a focus on critical reviews, guidelines and policy statements, and is dedicated to education and strategies in radiology.

The database's origins can be found in the late 1990s when the Europeans Association of Radiology (EAR) realized a comprehensive approach to case studies that could parallel their peer-reviewed journals would be necessary.

On ESR Connect, users can participate in live courses and watch recorded sessions and lectures from previous ECRs.

Officially launched at the European Congress of Radiology in March 2014, the initiative is meant to address radiation protection in patients.