The town lies in the Nahegebiet (Nahe area), to the north of the namesake river, on the edge of the Naturpark Saar-Hunsrück.

Clockwise from the north, these are Gollenberg, Elchweiler, Schmißberg, Rimsberg, Dienstweiler, Ellweiler, Dambach, Brücken, Buhlenberg and Ellenberg.

From the name's Frankish roots it can be inferred that today's town arose on a spot where there was quite a noticeable stand of birch trees sometime about the year AD 500, and that it was founded by Frankish-German farmers.

The Bronzestraße crossed the Nahe in Nohen (villa Aldena) and ran farther on, right through the Wasserschieder Wald, a state forest that still stands today on the town's outskirts, by way of Gollenberg, by Börfink and on towards Trier.

One night in February 1797, Johannes Bückler, known as Schinderhannes, burgled a cloth factory owned by the Brothers Stumm, who would later become coal and steel entrepreneurs on the Saar.

[3] In 1798, during the French Revolutionary Wars, the Left Bank of the Rhine was ceded to France, whereafter Birkenfeld belonged to the Department of Sarre.

However, a small area between the Prussian and Bavarian parts was given as exclaves to three other states: the Principality of Lichtenberg went to Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (Saxe-Coburg and Gotha after 1826), Meisenheim went to Hesse-Hanau and the Principality of Birkenfeld was awarded to the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg for the contribution of Peter I, then regent of Oldenburg, to the military effort against Napoleon.

By 1866 Birknefeld had become entirely enclaved within the Prussian Rhine Province, as Lichtenberg had been sold to Prussia in 1834 and Meisenheim had been annexed following the Austro-Prussian War.

After the Second World War, Birkenfeld belonged to the French Occupation Zone, and since 1946, it has been a district seat in Rhineland-Palatinate.

The following have served as mayor of Birkenfeld: The town's arms might be described thus: Azure on a mount vert a birch tree with roots proper surmounted by an inescutcheon chequy gules and argent.

The inescutcheon with the red and silver “chequy” pattern is the coat of arms formerly borne by the “Hinder” County of Sponheim, thus bearing witness to that time in the town's history.

A full-sentence example can be seen in a remark made by the Birkenfeld sexton “Fuchs Karl” to the church councillor and parish priest Haag: Jo, jo, Herr Kirjerot, pririje kann e jela, awa noch lang net loule!, or in Standard High German, Ja, ja, Herr Kirchenrat, predigen kann ein jeder, aber noch lange nicht läuten!

The following are listed buildings or sites in Rhineland-Palatinate’s Directory of Cultural Monuments:[7] Right next to the Birkenfeld State Museum is the Maler-Zang-Haus (“Painter Zang House”).

Since 2008, the building has housed not only the Birkenfeld district folk high school but also seven gallery rooms for changing exhibitions of works by local and national artists.

Owing to Birkenfeld's history as a noble residence town and an administrative seat, no great industrial development ever took place here.

The German Red Cross’s (DRK) Elisabeth-Stiftung, a medical rehabilitation foundation, with its hospital, Berufsförderungswerk Birkenfeld (an institute for retraining workers whose condition precludes their return to former occupations), private vocational schools, measures for youth and senior citizens’ home is with more than 600 employees the town's biggest employer.

The Stefan-Morsch-Stiftung, a foundation for keeping data on potential bone marrow and stem cell donors, has its seat in Birkenfeld.

Running outwards from Birkenfeld are five local loop trails for hiking with a total length through the region of more than 60 km.

Enjoying more than local importance is the Elisabeth-Stiftung medical rehabilitation foundation, with its specific offers of qualifications to people with either physical or mental handicaps.

Birkenfeld is the location of a number of authorities: Birkenfeld has, among other sport and leisure facilities, a heated outdoor swimming pool, the Stadion am Berg (“Stadium at the Mountain”), several sport halls, a zoo, two libraries, a vocational library and the youth centre.