The municipality lies in mixed woodland in the western Vulkaneifel not far from Spangdahlem Air Base.

Schwarzenborn belonged from the Late Middle Ages to the County of Manderscheid and until the line died out in 1762, the village was ruled by the Manderscheid-Kail branch of the noble family, who owned a castle in nearby Oberkail.

Thereafter, the lordship passed to the Manderscheid-Blankenheim line, which held it until the lands on the Rhine’s left bank became French.

In 1814, Schwarzenborn passed to Prussia, which administered the village through the Mayoralty (Bürgermeisterei) of Oberkail.

Since 1947, Schwarzenborn has been part of the then newly founded state of Rhineland-Palatinate.