Haselbach is located in the southern outskirts of the Bavarian Forest, approximately 11 kilometres (6,8 miles) north of the river Danube.

The village of Haselbach was first mentioned in 1130 and for centuries belonged to the estates of the Oberalteich monastery.

At the end of the 17th century, the Danse-Macabre chapel, which today is the village's landmark and represented in the coat of arms, was built in the churchyard surrounding St. James' church.

The municipality in its current form was established in 1818 in the course of administrative reforms in the kingdom of Bavaria.

After World War II, Haselbach vastly expanded from a loose accumulation of farmhouses to a coherent village.