The highest point is a nameless hill at 516 m (1,693 ft) above sea level.

Transformation from a small village to a town began after 1897, when one of the biggest glassworks in Austria-Hungary were founded and the population significantly increased.

[3] During World War II, Holýšov was occupied by Germany.

[3] In 1944, two subcamps of the Flossenbürg concentration camp were founded: one for French, Polish, Russian and Jewish women, and one for Polish, Jewish, Czech and Russian men.

[8] The oldest building in Holýšov is the Church of Saints Peter and Paul.