Schöneberg lies in the Hunsrück on a mountain ridge in the Soonwald between the Guldenbach and Gräfenbach valleys, roughly 10 km southwest of the River Rhine at Bingerbrück.

The military road running by Schöneberg from Kreuznach to Koblenz later served postal coach traffic.

It was the so-called Niederländischer Postkurs (Dutch Postal Route), which led from Simmern over the heights of the Hunsrück to Seibersbach, Dörrebach, Schöneberg, Hergenfeld, the Breitenfelser-Hof and Kreuznach.

Schöneberg's beginnings may have arisen at what is now the village's northern outskirts, whereas the castle complex only arose later and about one kilometre to the west.

The old Schöneberg churchyard was mentioned in 1577 and lay on what is today the Kreisstraße that leads to Eckenroth, at the corner of Höller Weg.

Whether Hans Valentin zu Schönenberg appointed the first Protestant clergyman to Schöneberg of his own will or at Electoral Palatinate’s behest is unclear.

What is clear, however, from the fact that he sent two of his sons to study at the University of Marburg in 1568, is that at this time, he stood squarely on the Protestant side.

In 1602, Archbishop-Elector of Mainz enfeoffed Hans Reichard von Schönenberg with Schöneberg and Hergenfeld for himself, as the eldest, and his brother's underage sons.

Also belonging to the Schöneberg Jewish community were the Jews living in Hergenfeld and Spabrücken, which in 1858 amounted to 10 and 15 inhabitants respectively.

After 1933, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazis came to power, only one Jew still lived in Schöneberg, an invalid named Simon Michel (b.

According to the Gedenkbuch – Opfer der Verfolgung der Juden unter der nationalsozialistischen Gewaltherrschaft in Deutschland 1933-1945 ("Memorial Book – Victims of the Persecution of the Jews under National Socialist Tyranny") and Yad Vashem, of all Jews who either were born in Spabrücken or lived there for a long time, five were the victims of Nazi persecution (birthdates in brackets):[8] As at 31 January 2014, there are 633 full-time residents in Schöneberg, and of those, 157 are Evangelical (24.803%), 345 are Catholic (54.502%), 9 (1.422%) belong to other religious groups and 122 (19.273%) either have no religion or will not reveal their religious affiliation.

In 1893, an addition was built onto the schoolhouse's west side, containing the two schoolrooms, a cellar, a storehouse, the stairwell and for each teacher's dwelling a small room.

From the graveyard's size it seems clear that the dead from surrounding Jewish communities (Hergenfeld and Spabrücken) were also buried here.

It lies roughly one kilometre south of the village centre in the area called “Auf dem Gerstenberg” near the Windesheimer Wald (forest) and can be reached by a farm lane that branches off the road to Hergenfeld (not far from the crossing near the sporting ground) eastwards towards the edge of the forest.

[15] Each year on 3 May, the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, Schöneberg holds its kermis (church consecration festival).

Both for school and youth groups and for adults and families, the offerings include one-day or several-day programmes in environmental education as applied to woodlands and forest adventures.

Only a stone's throw from the Centre, just short of Dörrebach, is a locality called the Lehnmühle (historically a mill).

There are bus links from Schöneberg by route 244 to Bad Kreuznach in one direction and Spabrücken, Argenschwang and Münchwald in the other.

Running on the line to Saarbrücken and by way of Gau Algesheim and the West Rhine Railway to Mainz are Regional-Express and Regionalbahn trains.

Schöneberg may soon have a more convenient rail service if the plans to reactivate the Cross-Hunsrück Railway (Hunsrückquerbahn), which runs through neighbouring Stromberg, meet with success.

Schöneberg's preferred vineyard locations have been found since yore at the edge of the Aubach or Steyerbach valley.

[23] The two locations known as Schäfersley and Sonnenberg lie at the northern edge of the Nahe wine region and belong to the winemaking appellation – Großlage – Pfarrgarten.

There are also secondary schools in nearby places:[25] Schöneberg has a municipal public library, a community centre and a volunteer fire brigade with a promotional association.