The first written mention of the town is in 1220. Before that, it was probably a Slavic settlement. At the end of the 12th century more people arrived. At the beginning of the 13th century a Gothic castle was built (it was gradually rebuilt into a Renaissance chateau in the 16th century). In the census following the Thirty Years' War, Jindřichův Hradec was the second largest city in the Kingdom of Bohemia. Between 1831-1935 it was the first city in the area to get electricity for lighting, in 1888 the water mill was converted to electricity
