There are many
Roman sites in the municipality, mainly on the shores of Soline Bay and in the Gostinjac area, and it is assumed that saltworks existed in the Melina area at that time. In more recent explorations, carried out at St. Peter's Bay on the northwestern side of Soline Bay, remains of Roman pottery and ancient ports have been found. However, there are several sites indicating an
Illyrian presence - the Zagrajini fort near Karst, Gradišće near Dobrinj, and Dobrinj, which itself was created at the site of the previous Illyrian settlement. The history of Dobrinj is inextricably linked to the history of the entire island of Krk, of which it is an integral part. Dobrinj, along with
Baška,
Vrbnik and
Omisalj, is one of the oldest (early medieval city centers), which were founded sometime in the 7th century, i.e. at the time of the Croats' migration to the present homeland. These castles, along with the already existing town of Krk, were most probably erected at the place where the Illyrians lived until then, as evidenced by the numerous Illyrian sites, as well as the very position on the hill overlooking the surroundings. The antiquity of these castles is also indicated by the archaic forms of Old Croatian, ie Old Caucasian speech, in Dobrinj - Čokavica. However, unlike other castles, Dobrinj was not located directly by the sea and never had ramparts, which may be the reason that it was repeatedly killed throughout history (in the 16th and early 17th centuries) pillaged by pirates and Uskok. The name Dobrinj was first mentioned in the Grant Certificate of the famous Dragoslav, written in Croatian and
Glagolitic on January 1, 1100. In it, Dobrinj and neighboring Vrbnik are referred to as church () and municipal () units with a judge, municipal clerk, and secretary. This grant is an important witness to the cultural, communal, and educational development of the contemporary population of Dobrinj and the island of Krk. Somewhere in the 11th century, Krk princes, later called the
Frankopans, appeared. Their origins are still unclear but probably originated from a more powerful native (Croatian) nobility. There was a theory for a while that they were of Roman origin, but that was rejected. From then until 1480, the princes of Krk were the rulers of the whole island, including Dobrinj, which was directly governed by judges, but also by the so-called "princes on behalf of the prince". In the second half of the 15th century,
Ivan VII Frankopan, Prince of Krk, settled to the western parts of the island
Vlachs and
Morlachs (originally
Romanians who later split into
Istro-Romanians) to have more manpower. These were settled in and around the areas of
Dubašnica and
Poljica and also in the lands between the castles of Dobrinj and
Omišalj. They formed a community on the island until 1875 when the last speaker of the
Istro-Romanian dialect of Krk passed away. During the Middle Ages, Dobrinj was one of the most important centers of verbiage. The
HAZU archive preserves the Baptist Registers of Baptism that were written in 1559 and which are the oldest registry books in Croatia. These registers were written in Glagolitic script until 1850 when they were written in Latin. The most important industry during the Middle Ages was certainly the saltworks in the Soline Bay below Dobrinj; salt was much sought after and appreciated at the time. After conquering the island, the
Venetians close the salt pans, but their remains are clearly visible today. In 1480, the
Venetian Republic occupied the entire island of Krk and ruled it until the collapse of the Venetian Republic in 1797, after which the ownership of Krk changed hands several times between the Austrian and French, and eventually to the Austrian government. The Austrian government was in charge of Krk until the downfall of the
Austro-Hungarian Empire, at the end of the
First World War in 1918. The following few years were very uncertain for all the inhabitants of the island as the
Kingdom of Italy laid claims on the entire eastern Adriatic coast. The twilight of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy was the peak of both the village and municipality Dobrinj. The town of Dobrinj had 608 inhabitants in 1898, 390 in 1931, and only 216 in 1970. The area of the municipality reached the largest population in 1910 of 4,046, and a dozen years later of 4,033. Since then, the population has been steadily declining. After
World War II the population was 3,319, and 2,273 in 1971. The reason for this decline is the two World Wars, but also the difficult economic situation on the island that drove its people into the new world, most notably America, but also in the fast-growing cities in a coastal area (such as
Rijeka,
Crikvenica) where many found jobs and livelihoods. The time of the Kingdom of Serbia and Montenegro was a time of difficult life and large emigration. The whole island was a marginal and rather forgotten part of the monarchy. After World War II, the island became part of the
Socialist Republic of Croatia within
Yugoslavia. The difficult economic situation changed only around 1980 with the opening of the
Rijeka Airport and the
Krk bridge, thereby removing the island from isolation, which was a prerequisite for economic development, especially for tourism. Tourism is still underdeveloped in Dobrinj but has brought liveliness and interrupted almost the entire migration of the population from the island and from Dobrinj. Although the town Dobrinj has never reached a population of 1,000 in its history, it has been called "the city" since ancient times. Residents of the surrounding villages would say they were going to (meaning city in Croatian) when they went to Dobrinj. Its inhabitants were called and the inhabitants of the surrounding villages , ie "villagers". Dobrinj itself is divided into Dolinja, the older quarter, and Gorinja, a newer town. Earlier Glagolitic manuscripts: HR-ZaKGZ R 56 Inv. 91.jpg|Will of Anton Patković written by Mikula Brusić on 1725-04-20 HR-ZaKGZ R 56 Inv. 93.pdf|Power of attorney of Matij Fugošić dated 1729 Glagolitic manuscripts by notary Petar Petriš in Dobrinj: HR-ZaKGZ R 56 Inv. 89.pdf|Deed of purchase dated 1717-06-14 HR-ZaKGZ R 56 Inv. 90.jpg|Deed of partition dated 1720-09-12 Glagolitic manuscripts by notary Anton Petriš of Vrbnik in Dobrinj: HR-ZaKGZ R 56 Inv. 92.jpg|Deed of purchase dated 1725-11-03 HR-ZaKGZ R 56 Inv. 94.pdf|Deed of purchase dated 1733-11-08 HR-ZaKGZ R 56 Inv. 95.pdf|Deed of purchase dated 1750-01-11 HR-ZaKGZ R 56 Inv. 96 (partial scan).pdf|Deed of purchase dated 1751-03-14 HR-ZaKGZ R 56 Inv. 97.pdf|Deed of purchase dated 1755-12-28 Glagolitic manuscripts written by notary Ivan Prašnić of Dobrinj: HR-ZaKGZ R 56 Inv. 98.pdf|Deed of purchase dated 1758-04-25 HR-ZaKGZ R 56 Inv. 99.pdf|Deed of purchase dated 1764-01-23 HR-ZaKGZ R 56 Inv. 101.pdf|Deed of purchase dated 1773-05-24 HR-ZaKGZ R 56 Inv. 100.pdf|Will of Kata Pavačić dated 1773-10-24 HR-ZaKGZ R 56 Inv. 103.pdf|Deed of purchase dated 1779-01-07 HR-ZaKGZ R 56 Inv. 104.pdf|Deed of exchange dated 1780-04-09 Glagolitic manuscripts written by
notary Ivan Kirinčić of Dobrinj: HR-ZaKGZ R 56 Inv. 102.pdf|Deed of purchase dated 1776-12-21 HR-ZaKGZ R 56 Inv. 105.pdf|Deed of exchange dated 1785-02-14 ==Economy==