The German Formula Three Championship was the national Formula Three championship of Germany, and the former West Germany, from 1950 to 2002, then as Formel 3 until 2014. In 2003, the series merged with the French Formula Three Championship to form the Formula 3 Euro Series. The lower-level series, the ATS Formel 3 Cup, subsequently operated in Germany, but it folded after the end of the 2014 season. Since the late 1980s, the list of German F3 champions has included many notable drivers, including Formula One World Champion Michael Schumacher and nine-time Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen.

The first few years of Formula Three in Germany were inevitably subject to the effects of the country's post-war geo-political situation, which resulted in the existence of two separate championships. The West German championship ran from 1950 to 1954, while the East German equivalent continued until 1956. During this period, both championships used the then-standard 500cc two-stroke formula. This era was notable for BMW's first foray into open-wheeled racing as an engine supplier, having enjoyed success in pre-war motorcycle racing and touring cars.

The 500cc Formula 3 specification was superseded in 1958 by Formula Junior, with engine capacities of 1000cc (360kg chassis) or 1100cc (400kg chassis) that were derived from production cars, rather than motorcycles. This new specification was adopted in a revived German F3 Championship in 1960, which was won by Gerhard Mitter. The 1961 title was won by Kurt Ahrens Jr., who became champion again in 1963. He was effectively a back-to-back winner, because there was no championship in 1962.

In 1964, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) ended Formula Junior and returned to Formula Three, but this time with 1000cc four-cylinder production-based engines. However, it would be ten years before Formula Three was revived in Germany. The first German F3 champion of this era was Ernst Maring, who won the title in 1975. He was also the first non-German driver to win the title. Other notable drivers of this era were two-time champions Bertram Schäfer (1976 and 1978) and Frank Jelinski (1980–81). Schäfer drove for his eponymous team, Bertram Schäfer Racing, which also won the championship with Jelinski. BSR became a stalwart of German F3, winning a total of eight drivers' titles. It still competes in the series today.

In the 1980s, the German F3 Championship began to produce some notable champions that would later graduate to Formula One and achieve title-winning success in other championships. Bernd Schneider (1987) and Joachim Winkelhock (1988) went on to make F1 appearances and became champions at the highest levels of touring car racing. 1985 champion Volker Weidler also competed in F1 and won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1991.

However, the 1990 champion was arguably the most notable of them all: Michael Schumacher. Four years before winning the first of his seven F1 World Championship titles, Schumacher had already attracted attention with his performances in F3 and the World Sportscar Championship at a time when the profile of German F3 was rising, and within a year, he had already made his Grand Prix début. Heinz-Harald Frentzen competed against Schumacher (sharing the runner-up position in 1989), and later became a winner of three Grands Prix.

Schumacher's championship successor, Tom Kristensen from Denmark, embarked on a sportscar career that peaked with a record number of eight Le Mans wins. He has since established himself in the DTM touring car series.

During the 1990s, two more future Grand Prix winners graduated from the German F3 Championship – Ralf Schumacher and Jarno Trulli – together with many other notable drivers that include Alexander Wurz, Jos Verstappen, Norberto Fontana, Nick Heidfeld and Christijan Albers. The last champion of this period, Gary Paffett, went on to win the DTM drivers' championship title and worked as a test driver for McLaren-Mercedes. In 2007, he returned to racing in the DTM.