The municipality lies in the Vulkaneifel, a part of the Eifel known for its volcanic history, geographical and geological features, and even ongoing activity today, including gases that sometimes well up from the earth.

In and around Mürlenbach, a series of Roman and mediaeval remnants has been found (lesser temple complexes, hoards of coins); these are catalogued in the Trier Rhenish State Museum’s archive.

A clue to the village’s importance in late antiquity and the Early Middle Ages is its favourable location near the old Roman road from Trier to Cologne at the junction of a sideroad leading eastwards.

Whether Mürlenbach belonged to Prüm Abbey as long ago as the Early Middle Ages, which would have put it close to Carolingian royalty, is something that simply cannot be confirmed.

When the Abbey was annexed to the Prince-Bishopric of Trier, the castle lost a great deal of its importance beginning in the 16th century, although at first it was further expanded and furnished with artillery bastions.

The municipality's arms might in English heraldic language be described thus: Tierced in mantle above fess point, dexter vert a lamb carrying a banner argent, the banner charged with a cross gules, sinister vert a dagger bendwise of the second, in base argent a base wavy azure surmounted by a gatehouse with two towers gules.

The green field tincture in the upper divisions symbolizes the almost 80% share of the municipal area that is wooded and the charming, rustic location in the Kyll valley.

The Abbots of Prüm were, through Bertrada's endowment of the monastery, the lords at Mürlenbach and often lived at the castle, until the Electorate of Trier took over ownership.