Until 1918, WEISSKIRCHEN IN MÄHREN - HRANICE was part of the Austrian monarchy (Austria side after the compromise of 1867), in the district with the same name, one of the 34 Bezirkshauptmannschaften in Moravia.The German name only was used before 1867 (including Weiskirchen).
In 1883,Antonín Kunz (1859–1910) founded a company in Hranice for the repair and production of small farm machinery and then specialized in the production of wind pumps and other pumps. The company became the largest factory for water pumps in Austria-Hungary. At the end of the 19th century, it also produced complete communal water systems (by 1912 it had done so for 1,056 towns and municipalities, as well as factories and large landowners). The Sigma Pumps company developed out of Kunz's company.
In the Austria-Hungary era, in the interbellum Czechoslovakia,and during the Communist Czechoslovakia times the city had a military academy. Notable graduates include Wilhelm von Habsburg
