Vrchlabí consists of three municipal parts (in brackets population according to the 2021 census):[2] The name of the town is closely related with the location on the Elbe River.

[3] The most significant person in the history Vrchlabí was Kryštof Gendorf, a mining expert who developed the town into one of the most important metallurgy centres.

Many people from German speaking lands came to work and live to the town during his rule and brought in the Lutheran reformation faith, which spread quickly in the region, supported vividly by Gendorf himself.

The weaving guild was founded in Vrchlabí in 1590, at the time of the town's greatest growth.

Especially linen cloth was highly desired and it was exported to all over the world, including Italy, Spain, North Africa and overseas.

[3] In 1624, Albrecht von Wallenstein bought the estate from Vilém Miřkovský of Stropčice Jr. During the Thirty Years' War, the smelters in Vrchlabí became an important supplier of weapons.

After Wallenstein's death in 1634, Emperor Ferdinand II donated the estate to Rudolf of Morzin.

[3] Vrchlabí was known for manufacturing of organs in the 17th and 18th centuries, which was introduced into the town by the Tauchmann family.

[11] Textile production dominated the town's economy from the late 18th century until the 1930s and determined the industrial and craft development of Vrchlabí.

[3] The town was part of the Kingdom of Bohemia, which itself fell to the Habsburg monarchy in the 16th century, and from 1867 to 1918 was included in Austria-Hungary.

[14] Nazi Germany also brought many Italian, French, English and Russian prisoners of war to work as forced laborers in the town.

[15] The town's Germans who had not fled in World War II were expelled according to the Potsdam Agreement and Beneš decrees.

[18] The largest employer with its headquarters in the town is ARGO-HYTOS, producer of components and systems for the hydraulic industry.

[19] Vrchlabí is also known as centre of tourism and winter sports, which significantly contribute to the town's economy.

The most valuable monument in the castle and the last piece of the original equipment is the Renaissance faience stove.

The monastery complex with the Church of Saint Augustinus was built in the Baroque style with Neoclassical elements and was finished in 1725.

Nowadays the premises of the monastery house an exhibition of the Krkonoše Museum on the nature and history of the region, and the church is often used as a concert hall due to its great acoustics.