With the growing German community in the Colony of New South Wales in the second half of the 19th century, the club was established on 26 September 1853 as a result of the "want of a place of resort having been generally felt by the daily increasing number of educated people of different classes".

In November 1858, the club, located on its new premises on Wynyard Square, hosted the crew of the Austro-Hungarian naval ship, SMS Novara, commanded by Bernhard von Wüllerstorf-Urbair, which was visiting Sydney as part of its round-the-world scientific expedition.

[2] In September 1857, a committee was set up at the club with the expressed purpose for sending another expedition to look for the missing explorer Ludwig Leichhardt, who was last heard of in 1848.

"[9] Meanwhile, in Parliament the Premier, William Holman, was asked on 13 November 1914 whether it was his government's intention to revoke the licenses of the various German clubs in Sydney.

After a protracted sale process, in April 1917 the club became the home of the Highland Society of New South Wales, which undertook some minor alteration in 1921.

[18][19][20] The Highland Society remained there until December 1932 when the former club premises were again sold to the Commonwealth Wool and Produce Company Ltd, which undertook substantial alterations to the interior in 1933 to accommodate their offices.

[21][22] The former club house was eventually demolished in 1947 when it was resumed by the City of Sydney in a road expansion scheme in the CBD.