A place called Salzborn was first mentioned in a 1221 deed, from the 14th century two settlements, Nieder ("Lower") and Ober ("Upper") Salzbrunn are documented.

Together with the Silesian Duchy of Jawor-Świdnica it fell to the Bohemian Crown after the death of Duke Bolko II the Small in 1368, held by his widow Agnes of Habsburg until 1392.

Ruled by Bohemian governors residing at Książ (Fürstenstein) Castle, the area was devastated during the Thirty Years' War.

In 1807, during the Napoleonic Wars, the Battle of Struga took place nearby, in which the Poles defeated a much larger Prussian army.

Among its guests were poets Zygmunt Krasiński, Teofil Lenartowicz, Lucjan Siemieński and Narcyza Żmichowska, composer and virtuoso violinist Karol Lipiński, philosopher August Cieszkowski and the inventor of Esperanto L. L. Zamenhof.