The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument zone.

Žacléř consists of three municipal parts (in brackets population according to the 2021 census):[2] Initially, the settlement was called Bornflos (meaning "mountain creek" in Middle High German) and Bernstadt ("Bern's town"), and Schatzlar was only the name of the local castle, but the name of the castle was eventually transferred to the whole town.

The western part lies in the Giant Mountains and most of this territory is protected as the Krkonoše National Park.

Paper mill, glassworks, and factories for textile, ceramics and soda were founded, but almost all operation ended during the 20th century.

[4] During World War II, the German occupiers operated a women's subcamp of the Gross-Rosen concentration camp in the town.

The camp was liberated on 8 May 1945, coincidentally the day of the end of World War II in Europe.