The precursor of Willdenowia was founded in 1895 as Notizblatt des Königlichen Botanischen Gartens und Museums zu Berlin to publish information about the institution's collections and activities, and research contributions from its staff and associated botanists. Revived in 1953, after the fatal destruction of much of the institution's collections and facilities in World War II, initially as Mitteilungen aus dem botanischen Garten und Museum Berlin-Dahlem, then with its present title commemorating Carl Ludwig Willdenow (1765-1812, director of the garden and first professor of botany in Berlin), it has grown to a peer-reviewed journal with an international authorship publishing original research papers in English on plant taxonomy, plant systematics, floristics and plant geography.
JSTOR provides a digital archive of the print edition of Willdenowia and its precursors. The electronic edition (1996 - present, since 1999 with supplement content not found in the print edition) is available at http://www.bgbm.org/willdenowia/ for authorized users.