It is situated on the Fils River, which flows westward here, with the Reichenbach coming from the north, the Lützelbach from the northwest, and subsequently the Talbach from the southeast.

The municipal area is predominantly located to the right of the river; its northern part belongs to the Schurwald subarea of the Schurwald and Welzheimer Wald natural region, while its smaller southern part along the river course belongs to the foothills of the central Swabian Alb.

Within the municipality's area lie the vanished localities of Bornhausen or Bernhausen, Geroldsweiler or Gerensweiler, and Knollenhof.

Traces of people from the Middle Stone Age (12,000–5000 BC) have been found on the heights of the Fils Valley, as well as on the terrain north of the Siegenhof.

Wilhelm Böhringer and Gustav Wohlbold, both former educators at the local elementary school, have researched state and church archives in the past and found the place mentioned for the first time in connection with a dispute between two noblewomen as "Marquardus plebanus de Richenbach," recorded as a witness on a document from the year 1268.

At the end of the 13th century, Reichenbach came under the sovereignty of the Lords of Württemberg, after the Staufers and then the Dukes of Teck had previously held sway.

During the recurring periods of war from the 16th to the 19th centuries, when Spanish, Swedish, Austrian, and especially French troops marched through the Fils Valley for nearly 300 years, Reichenbach became a battlefield through occupations, plundering, and combat.

In the economic history of the early Duchy of Württemberg, Reichenbach had long functioned as a mining town.

Already in the 15th century, the Württemberg counts and later dukes had copper and manganese ores mined at Asang and in the Lützelbachtal, from which colors were obtained.

In the implementation of the new administrative structure in the Kingdom of Württemberg, founded in 1806, Reichenbach remained assigned to the district of Göppingen.

The administrative reform during the Nazi era in Württemberg in 1938 led to Reichenbach being assigned to the district of Esslingen.

After World War II, Reichenbach belonged to the state of Württemberg-Baden in the American occupation zone.

The Protestant overall parish of Reichenbach belongs to the Esslingen district of the Evangelical Church in Württemberg.

Today, the parish belongs to the pastoral unit Neckar-Fils in the Esslingen-Nürtingen deanery of the Diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart.

The local elections on 26 May 2019 resulted in the following outcome:[3] Blazon: "Under a golden chief charged with a stag's attire, Gules a plowshare argent."

The current coat of arms design is attested in newer municipal seals and has been in use with the now customary colors since 1930.

The Traub Drehmaschinen GmbH & Co. KG (after whose founder the Hermann-Traub-Stadium of VfB Reichenbach is named) has been a subsidiary of the Esslingen INDEX-Werke since 1997, which at that time led to massive job cuts.

There are also cross-connections via Baltmannsweiler or Lichtenwald into the Rems Valley, as well as the road via Hochdorf and Notzingen to Kirchheim unter Teck.

It is the heavily traveled Fils Valley Railway from Stuttgart to Ulm, on which the ICE and TGV also run.

A significant traffic structure is the Sainte-Savine Bridge, named after Reichenbach's partner municipality Sainte Savine in France.

It spans the railway tracks, Filsstrasse, the B 10 expressway, and the Fils River, facilitating access to the outdoor pool and stadium.

A summer school met with resistance from the population because the children had to do fieldwork, even though compulsory education had existed since 1649.

The local library, with more than 22,000 books as well as cassettes, DVDs, and videos, is also housed in the secondary school building.

The lifeguards of the local DLRG group Reichenbach/Fils are also extremely successful nationwide, both in the youth (especially the female swimmers) and senior categories, and hold several German championships in lifesaving.

Since 1983, the cultural initiative die halle in the former beer cellar has regularly offered concerts, cabaret, readings and parties.

On 4 December 1954, Bishop Carl Joseph Leiprecht consecrated the church to the Holy Archangel Michael.

The bells of the old town hall can be found again in the entrance area of the new building; the tower clock now strikes in the Brunnenschule.

On this occasion, the then Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Minister for Research and Technology and later Federal Transport Minister Volker Hauff presented a check, and Mayor Richard Seeger jumped into the water from the diving tower in a tailcoat and top hat.

As early as 1951, there was an outdoor pool located near the Fils defense system and the factory canal of the Otto Spinning Mill.

During the World War II, there was a camp for Russian forced laborers near the Reichenbach train station.