One theory of the town's name is that it derives from Obora (Polish for "cow-shed"), denoting a village whose people were engaged in cattle-breeding.

The town's name remained largely unchanged through its history, including variations like Obora, Obornik, Obiring, Obernigk.

[2] Along with the rest of Silesia, Oborniki came under the suzerainty of the Kingdom of Bohemia, part of the Holy Roman Empire, during the Late Middle Ages.

Until the end of World War II, Bad Obernigk was part of Landkreis Trebnitz in the Province of Lower Silesia, Germany.

Near the end of World War II, in January 1945, the Germans evacuated most of the settlement's population, and most of the remaining residents were recruited into the Volkssturm.

[6] The settlement was transferred from Germany to Poland in 1945 and had its remaining German-speaking population expelled in accordance with the Potsdam Agreement; it received town privileges in the same year.

The town's sights and tourist destinations include sanatoria, historic churches of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and of St. Jude Thaddeus and the Grzybek Landscape Park.