Erbenheim, located five kilometers south-east of Wiesbaden in the Wäschbach valley, has a number of important finds from prehistoric times, including those from the Bronze Age. Stone Age remains bear witness to the settlement of Erbenheim 5,000 years ago by the Linear Pottery.

The Roman period has also left traces in the Erbenheim district. Traces of a so-called Villa Rustica were discovered south of Erbenheim airfield in December 2009. The place name Erbenheim, which was first mentioned in the 10th century as "Ersinesheim" and is to be understood as the genitive form of a personal name, indicates a settlement in the early Franconian period; this can also be traced on the basis of archaeological finds. In 1876, a Frankish cemetery with over 200 graves from the 4th - 6th century AD was uncovered. In 1973, the foundations of a simple, rectangular sacred building with a semi-circular apse were found in the "Steinhaufen" district, which dates back to the 8th to 11th century AD.

Erbenheim was first mentioned in 927 in a document for the Ursula monastery in Cologne. In 1213, the monasteries of St. Alban in Mainz and Bleidenstadt - probably as legal successors to St. Ursula's Abbey - exchange their farms in Winkel and Erbenheim. In 1263, ownership by the Gottesthal monastery is mentioned, and in 1275 by the Tiefenthal monastery. Between 1437 and 1490, a family of lower nobility called themselves Erbenheim.

Erbenheim belonged to the Königssondergau and probably came to the Counts of Nassau with the Wiesbaden royal court; they ruled over the village and also exercised high jurisdiction. In 1423, the inhabitants were granted town privileges and from then on were allowed to protect themselves with gates, towers, ramparts and moats and hold a weekly market every Saturday. The moat path indicates the course of the rampart; two gates led into the town. However, this legal act had no further consequences. The lords of Eppstein, the nobles of Rüdesheim, Sonnenberg and Sulzbach as well as the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, the cathedral chapter and St. Peter's Abbey in Mainz owned property in Erbenheim.

In the 14th century, the village still consisted of the two parts Ober- and Nieder-Erbneheim, also known as Klein- and Groß-Erbenheim. Ober-Erbenheim was probably completely destroyed in the conflicts between the Eppsteiners and the Nassauers at the end of the 14th or beginning of the 15th century. This is indicated by the old field names "Steinhaufen" and "Zwischen den Dorffen". The village had already been set on fire by Mainz in 1461. In the late Middle Ages, a border between the Archbishopric of Mainz and the Nassau lands ran between Amöneburg, Biebrich, Kastel via Erbenheim and Hochheim to Flörsheim: the so-called Landgraben. There were also four watchtowers along this route, of which only the Erbenheimer Warte is still preserved in its original form. A mayor, assisted by several aldermen, was responsible for the secular administration in Erbenheim and the lower courts. The oldest court seal dates back to 1457.

A parish church in Unter-Erbenheim was first mentioned in 1313. The essentially medieval church, which was given its present form between 1729 and 1731, was located in the center of the former ring wall and was dedicated to the Apostle Paul. The oldest part is the Romanesque tower. The Reformation took hold in 1535. The most important pastor of this time was Nikolaus Gompe, who held his office from 1546-49. In the first decades of the 16th century, Erbenheim, like other villages in the area, suffered a sharp decline in population due to epidemics. In 1525, the village took part in the Peasants' War.

Erbenheim was not spared from the conflicts of the Thirty Years' War either. In 1630, 34 houses in Erbenheim stood empty because their inhabitants had been murdered, had died or had fled. Erbenheim was also affected by the wars of plunder under the French King Louis XIV, the siege and conquest of Mainz by Austrian and German troops in 1689, the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-14) and other armed conflicts. It was only after the Wars of Liberation that more peaceful times gradually returned to Erbenheim. However, the village had now accumulated such a burden of debt that it was forced to sell its forest on the Bingert to the city of Wiesbaden.

At the end of the 17th century, Erbenheim had 259 inhabitants. There had been a school in Erbenheim since 1626 at the latest; a teacher is also documented for the first time in this year. A two-storey schoolhouse with a shed, which also housed the council chamber and teacher's apartment, was built in 1649 and replaced by a new building in 1834/35. A new, second school (Justus-von-Liebig-Schule) was built in 1900.

After the abolition of serfdom on 01.01.1808, a freer life began in Erbenheim; a lively building activity began, which allowed the village to grow beyond its traditional boundaries. At this time, 665 people lived in Erbenheim. A two-storey, tiled town hall with its associated barn and stables is mentioned in 1817; it was replaced by a new building in 1866. Two shepherd's houses, a fire engine house and a fire ladder house were also part of the village's building inventory in 1817. A parish office book from 1709 lists the Erbenheim officials: church, town and brother masters, several field marksmen, Eicher, Schröder, a beadle, several fire runners, later also the field jurors and parish leaders. The brother masters point to a confraternity for the support of poor people that can be traced back to 1594, whose funds were used to maintain the community buildings and the school. There had been a mill in Erbenheim since the 18th century.

The construction of the Wiesbaden-Niedernhausen railroad line in 1876-79 (Ludwigsbahn), during the course of which Erbenheim received its own railroad station, heralded a new era for the village. A ring kiln brickworks was built in 1896 and the volunteer fire department was founded in 1902. An electric streetcar connection from Wiesbaden to Erbenheim was established in 1906. The village was connected to the water and electricity supply in 1906/08 and received a gas pipeline in 1928. Construction of the Erbenheim racecourse began in 1907.

The health resort in Wiesbaden provided Erbenheim with an additional market for all agricultural products. The Erbenheim dairy was Wiesbaden's main milk supplier in the 1930s. The dairy cooperative, which was ultimately only a milk collection point, was closed in 1995. The Mainz-Wiesbaden airfield for postal and scheduled passenger flights was established on the racecourse site in 1929 and became a military airfield for the German Wehrmacht in 1937. The First World War claimed 95 victims, who are commemorated on a marble memorial plaque in the church. In 1928, Erbenheim was incorporated into Wiesbaden, to which many residents objected.

In 1843, 17 Jewish families lived in Erbenheim. From 1914, they formed a community with the Jews of Bierstadt. In 1924, 37 Jews lived in Erbenheim. Of the nine Jewish families registered in the Jewish address book in 1935, some were able to emigrate, while nine people were killed in the Nazi extermination camps.

During the Second World War, Erbenheim suffered several bombings and shelling from Mainz. 77 people fell victim to a total of 25 air raids or artillery bombardments. Numerous businesses were hit, some of them severely, and almost 30 residential buildings were totally destroyed or severely damaged. 429 people were left homeless. Well over 100 men were killed in action, many were missing or died as prisoners of war. The post-war period brought an influx of refugees to Erbenheim, mainly from the Sudetenland (now the Czech Republic), but also from Pomerania, East Prussia and Silesia. Of the 3,967 inhabitants of Erbenheim in 1950, 681 were displaced persons and refugees.

Due to its convenient location, Erbenheim developed into a valued residential suburb and new business location in the post-war period; the "Hochfeld" housing estate was built next to the old town center in 1960 and the Erbenheim-Nord district in 1975. Numerous building projects were the result: the Hermann-Ehlers-Schule (now IGS) was inaugurated in 1966, followed by the private Europa-Schule Obermayr with a bilingual secondary school, grammar school and vocational schools. In 1970, a new Protestant community center was built in Hochfeld, followed by the community center in 1972 and a Catholic community center in Sigismundstraße in 1977. In 1982, a mixed residential and commercial area was designated in Kreuzberger Ring in Wiesbaden-Erbenheim, and in 2009, a new residential area was built in the rear Wandersmannstraße (Görlitzer Ring); 9,175 people were counted in Erbenheim that year.

There is a lively club life in Erbenheim. In 2009, there are 26 clubs that have joined together in the Erbenheim local clubs interest group. The museum of local history, founded in 1983, is housed in the former Erbenheim town hall. There are three parishes: the Protestant Paulus parish with a church in the old town center (Ringstraße), the Protestant Petrus parish with a parish center and worship room in Hochfeld and the Catholic parish of Maria Aufnahme with a parish center and worship room.

There is only one purely agricultural business left in the old part of the village. Instead, small businesses and, since 1908, the Erbenheimer Zeitung newspaper have settled here. Kreuzberger Ring is home to industrial and commercial companies, public authorities and businesses. The largest industrial companies are Smith Heimanns and Eckelmann AG.