Originally a West Slavic settlement, the village was first mentioned in 1261 as "Torbarmstorp", a possession of the Knights Templar. By 1335 it was known as "Tzorbensdorf" in the Neumark region of the Margraviate of Brandenburg. In 1540 it fell to John, Margrave of Brandenburg-Küstrin. It was the scene of the Battle of Zorndorf, in which the Prussians under Frederick the Great fought the Russians commanded by William Fermor, on August 25, 1758. The battle was one of the bloodiest battles of the Seven Years' War. Zorndorf became part of the Province of Brandenburg in 1815 and the German Empire in 1871.