This district town, sometimes called the
"pearl" of the Jesenik region due to its beautiful landscape, sits at the confluence of the Staric and Bela mountain rivers. Jesenik has always been an important trade and transportation crossroads and is currently the home of 13,700 people.
The city, originally a village at the junction of the two rivers, was first mentioned in the year 1267. By 1290, it was already the center of a legal district comprised of 10 separate villages. Protection for the then wall-less city was provided by a castle. Mention of 13 important iron-mills in the area began to appear around 1326. They produced iron of very high quality that was sold as far away as England, according to documents preserved from the 14
th century.
Further development of mining - not only of iron ore, but also of gold and silver - resulted in the city achieving official "mining" status in 1506, and the town was later acquired by the well-known European firm, Fugger of Augsburg. After the company exhausted all the iron deposits, it sold the city and neighboring villages back to the Vratislav Bishopric in 1547.
Jesenik then settled on a more modest, though more permanent, source of income - linen manufacturing. The mercantile character of the city was also evidenced by a number of guilds that were granted it between the 16
th and 17
th centuries. At the end of the Feudalist period, Vincenz Priessnitz gave the city its characteristic seal; he through the hydropathic treatment he developed, became famous in both Europe and America. Priessnitz established a number of spas in Grafenburg nad Jesenikem, and they particularly attracted nobility, who brought the city both income and beneficial
facilities. Also after feudalism, in 1850, Jesenik became the seat of the district executive, which administered a region stretching from Zlate Hory to Javornik.
The year 1960 found the independent district of Jesenik consolidated with that of Sumperk. Since 1990, the whole area has witnessed significant renovation and maintenance projects (the pilgrimage site of Virgin Mary the Kind in Zlate Hory, Ditter's Museum in Javornik, etc.). In 1993, the former monastery chapel was fully restored and today it serves the public as a concert and exhibition hall. In 1994, a cooperative project in the field of travel and spa industry development began with Switzerland. Later, in May 1995, the Czech Parliament decided to re-establish the Jesenik district, which today consists of 23 villages. Among its important cultural monuments are the Water Citadel, which was originally both a tower and housing structure during the 1200-1300's and today exhibits both the Late Gothic and Renaissance styles. Since 1547, the Citadel belonged to the Vratislav Bishophoric, and then became a local history museum after World War II. Other recommended sights are the Jansky Vrch Chateau, the Castle and Chateau in Branna,
the monastery in Bila Voda, and the watchtower in Zlaty Chlum (875 meters above sea level).
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