As early as 1319, the prince-elector archbishopric of Mainz had won all the rights that the fief of Schaenberg had pawned to the knights of Handschuhsheim.

After seizing the capital Heidelberg, Dossenheim belonged to the Archbishop of Mainz for a short time.

In 1714, Lothar Franz von Schönborn, the archbishop of Mainz renounced all claims to Dossenheim forever.

The council of Dossenheim has 22 members elected by direct suffrage for five years, in addition to the presiding mayor.

Local attractions include an indoor swimming pool and a little shopping center in the area Am Petrus.

Dossenheim's location in the Rhine river flood plain at the edge of the Odenwald, offers a variety of landscapes.

The agricultural landscape of the flood plain climbs steeps from 110 m above sea level through the forests of the Odenwald to 548 m at the top of the Weißer Stein (White Stone).

When the air is clear, one can see the Hambacher Schloss in the Palatinian forest and the cities of Mannheim, Ludwigshafen, Speyer, and Karlsruhe.

The Upper Rhine Railway (Oberrheinische Eisenbahn, OEG), now part of Rhein-Neckar-Verkehr (RNV) GmbH, connects Dossenheim to the metropolitan centers nearby: Mannheim, Heidelberg and Weinheim.