Even before the Romans came, people lived here, because the location favoured transport (confluence of the Nahe and Rhine, and the Rhine's entry into the gorge), a Celtic (Gaulish) settlement by the name of Binge - meaning "rift".
From 1792 to 1813, the town was, as part of the département of Mont-Tonnerre (or Donnersberg - both names meaning "Thunder Mountain"), French after French Revolutionary troops had occupied the Rhine's left bank.