The journal was founded in 1890 by G. v. Escherich and E. Weyr as "Monatshefte für Mathematik und Physik" and appeared with this title until 1944. Continued from 1948 on as "Monatshefte für Mathematik", its managing editors were L. Gegenbauer, F. Mertens, W. Wirtinger, H. Hahn, Ph. Furtwängler, J. Radon, K. Mayrhofer, N. Hofreiter, H. Reiter, K. Sigmund, J. Cigler.

The journal is devoted to research in mathematics in its broadest sense. Over the years, it has attracted a remarkable cast of authors, ranging from G. Peano, and A. Tauber to P. Erdös and B. L. van der Waerden. The volumes of the Monatshefte contain historical achievements in analysis (L. Bieberbach, H. Hahn, E. Helly, R. Nevanlinna, J. Radon, F. Riesz, W. Wirtinger), topology (K. Menger, K. Kuratowski, L. Vietoris, K. Reidemeister), and number theory (F. Mertens, Ph. Furtwängler, E. Hlawka, E. Landau). It also published landmark contributions by physicists such as M. Planck and W. Heisenberg and by philosophers such as R. Carnap and F. Waismann. In particular, the journal played a seminal role in analyzing the foundations of mathematics (L. E. J. Brouwer, A. Tarski and K. Gödel).

The journal publishes research papers of general interest in all areas of mathematics. Surveys of significant developments in the fields of pure and applied mathematics and mathematical physics may be occasionally included.