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

[3] Jews were living in Heřmanův Městec as early as the first half of the 15th century[4] and it represents one of the oldest documented Jewish communities in the Chrudim District.

The town was the property of a series of aristocratic landowners who enjoyed a mostly positive relationship with the Jewish community.

[4] During the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries, Jews living in the town were mainly engaged in trade (linen, wool, hides, or feathers) and money-lending.

[4][7] The location of the town along the road connecting Prague with Moravia brought a great number of merchants into the area.

In 1680, the town was visited by a plague that claimed many lives, leaving a large number of dilapidated houses behind.

In 1686, Count Ferdinand Leopold Sporck called upon the Jews from the region to inhabit the abandoned houses.

[5] The ruling Habsburgs introduced restrictions on Jewish movement, residence, marriage, and other matters of everyday life.

All Jews were required to live in this part of town, effectively establishing a Jewish ghetto in Heřmanův Městec.

Until construction of a new synagogue in the Baroque style in 1760, the Jewish community used a private home as a house of prayer.

As a result, many Jews left the town for employment opportunities in industrialized cities such as Prague or emigrated abroad.

The architect had some lofty plans which had to be abandoned because the Catholic clergy feared that the synagogue might outshine the nearby Church of St. Bartholomew.

After design changes, the synagogue provided access to the women's gallery via a covered passageway from the school building next door.

Due to the reduction in size, the building was not really sufficient to support the large crowds which attended worship services especially on holidays.

[4] With the relaxation of restrictions on Jews, by the late 1800s the town and its Jewish inhabitants had a thriving role in the production of shoes.

[5] In 1891, Heřmanův Městec became the seat of a district rabbi, with the dependent communities being Chrudim, Hroubovice, and Dřevíkov.

In 1940, Jews living in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia were deprived of the ability to do business, they were dismissed from government service, Jewish children were denied the right to attend school, and worship and assembly were forbidden.

In 1945 at the end of World War II, only two members of the Jewish community returned to Heřmanův Městec.

The synagogue was furnished with replicas of the original benches, and the painting and stained glass windows were restored.

The cemetery includes the caretaker's house and mortuary from 1838 with a memorial plaque to the victims of Nazism and a hearse.