In 1225, Salm had its first documentary mention in an agreement between Gerhard von Blankenheim and Abbot Heinrich von Himmerod dealing with the donation of an estate to Himmerod Abbey, which was reached on the cobbled road between the abandoned village of Hundswinkel and Bremescheit (Prümscheid). It is reasonable to conclude, therefore, that the village's beginnings reach back somewhat further, but an entry in Prüm Abbey’s directory of holdings, the "Prümer Urbar", that supposedly mentions Salm is at the very best doubtful. It would, however, make the village centuries older, since it dates from 803.