[2] The Jahrbuch was first published by the musicologist Rudolf Steglich from Hannover for the new Handel-Gesellschaft in Leipzig, founded in 1925 by Hermann Abert.
Although between 1967 and 1976 the Jahrbuch sporadically described international academic conferences held at the Handel Festival in Halle, since 1989 have been regularly published.
The economist Manfred Rätzer continues to provide statistical records of the current performances of Handel's operas and oratorios in the yearbook.
Various forthcoming publications on Handel are advertised, including new volumes of the Hallische Händel-Ausgabe (HHA, a critical complete edition).
For more than three decades (1955 to 1988) the Handel researcher Walther Siegmund-Schultze held the position of Scientific Secretary of the Society.