It is mentioned in the Wormser wall-building ordinance from around 900 as one of the places that shared responsibility for maintaining the city wall of Worms.

Currently it is in the district of Bad Dürkheim, and it joined the newly formed Verbandsgemeinde of Grünstadt-Land in 1972.

[1] The German blazon reads: In Rot auf grünem Dreiberg ein schreitender widersehender silberner Hirsch mit einem goldenen Wiederkreuz statt des Geweihs.

The municipality's arms might in English heraldic language be described thus: Gules on a mount of three in base vert a stag passant reguardant argent unguled Or with a cross crosslet of the same instead of attires.

[6] Mertesheim lies on the Eis Valley Railway, which runs between Grünstadt and Ramsen and is served by scheduled Regionalbahn trains.