It should not be confused with the Internationale Mathematische Nachrichten, an unrelated publication of the Austrian Mathematical Society.

It was established in 1948 by East German mathematician Erhard Schmidt, who became its first editor-in-chief.

[1] At that time it was associated with the German Academy of Sciences at Berlin, and published by Akademie Verlag.

After the fall of the Berlin Wall, Akademie Verlag was sold to VCH Verlagsgruppe Weinheim, which in turn was sold to John Wiley & Sons.

[2] As of 2021, Ben Andrews, Robert Denk, Klaus Hulek and Frédéric Klopp are the editors-in-chief of the journal.