The name Dobin stems from the name of a castle which the Obotrite prince Niklot had constructed between the Schwerin Lake and the Döpe around 1160.

From the 15th century to the 18th century, the villages of Alt Schlagsdorf, Buchholz, Flessenow, Neu Schlagsdorf, Retgendorf and Rubow belonged to the von Sperling family.

Up until World War II, the area was part of the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.

Dobin am See lies on the northeastern shore of Schwerin Lake amid a hilly terminal moraine landscape.

The poet August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben stayed in Buchholz from 1844 to 1849; many of his poems had their origin in the area.