Jemnice is one of the oldest towns in Moravia. Its origin is connected with the settlement near a ford of the River Želetavka. At the turn of 11 and 12 centuries there was an important business crossway. The other development of the settlement and later of the town was increased thanks to a discovery of the mines of gold and silver. The name of the town Jemnice is derived from the word "jamníci" - it means miners. Precious metals were dug in primitive shafts (in Czech - "jamách" - from this "jamníci" - the origin of the name "Jemnice").

The first written note about Jemnice comes from the year 1226. The town was based as a royal property on the place of the frontier castle. In 1227 the Bohemian king Přemysl Otakar I gave an order to fortify the settlement which became one of the supports of the royal power over the south - west of Moravia. The main part of the fortification with four bastions and two barbacans has left to these days.

The highest increase of Jemnice was reached in the Middle Ages when Jemnice was called a royal mining town. During the rule of the Lucemburks´ a lot of privileges were given to Jemnice. In that time there was the origin of the historical festival Barchan, which takes place every year on the Sunday after the Saint Vitus day. A legend says that in 1312 the king Jan Lucemburk had to fight against robber-knihgts. He left his wife Eliška Přemyslovna in Jemnice with local burgesses to care about her. The large fortification brought safety to the whole town. The king sent an information to his wife about his successful campaigne with the help of four messengers.

History In Jemnice there was even one of the oldest Jewish community in Bohemian countries. The first written note about it comes from the year 1336. The Jewish area made up the south part of the town centre. At the Jewish graveyard we can find some tombstones dated to the 17 centrury.

In the history of the town the periods of increasing used to be replaced by periods of declines. For example in 1422 Jemnice was besieged by the Hussites. They didn´t get the town. No longer than 50 years later the soldiers by Matyas Korvin burnt Jemnice down. In 1530 Jemnice lost the statute of the royal town. Ferdinand I gave Jemnice to Jan Meziříčský. The contemporary appearance was given to the town after a big fire in 1832.

History A meaningful period of the town development started in 1890. In that time the first Czech chairman of the town Josef Augusta was elected for the head of the town council. In 1896 a railway line connected Jemnice with Moravské Budějovice. In 1898 the first basic school was built and eight years later State Secondary School of Forestry was opened here.

The town population is about 4300 people and there are two villages Louka and Panenská integrated into the town. The rich history of the town is reminded thanks to 97 cultural monuments written on the state list of cultural sightseeings and monuments. The town has been declared the zone of historical monuments.