The village lies on a flat landscape behind a hill, from which point there is a far-reaching view around, to Seelze and Hanover, as well as toward the Deister.

Its existence can more conclusively be validated from 1220 onward (documents from Hildesheim dated back to 1195 also may refer to it, but the obscurity of the spelling means this is not definitive).

The other inhabitants worked within trades such as tailoring, shoemaking, carpentry, smiths or weaving, though Harenberg did not yet have any factory or railway workers.

Harenberg has a neo-gothic-style church named Barbara-Kirche, that was developed from a small chapel built in 1882 by Conrad Wilhelm Hase.

The Sportplatz, tucked down in the south west of the village, is home to the local football club TuS Harenberg of the Hannover 1.