The oldest recorded mention of Grulich dates back to 1367. It is a record preserved in the country's tables of law, by which Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor, presented the castle of Žampach and "The mountain of Grulich" (montana in Greylichs) belonging to it to Čeněk of Potštejn. However, this record concerns only some unspecified mines. The proper town came into being as late as the 16th century and the first record dates to 1568. In 1577 the town and ten neighbouring villages were bought by Zdeněk von Waldstein (his great-nephew was a famous commander in the 30 years´ war Albrecht von Wallenstein). Zdeněk von Waldstein chose the town of Grulich as the residence of his new manor and began to develop it. Except the manor house, vicarage and Protestant oratory (today's church of St. Michael Archangel), he had the square built into today's shape and to his request Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor, granted the town a privilege to hold three annual fairs. In the surroundings iron ore was probably mined and perhaps silver, and at that time the town was supposed to get two crossed mining hammers with a sword into its heraldry. There was an attempt to revive mining in the 17th century but it is believed to have been unsuccessful. The industry has never been restarted.
Near the curative springs above the town, Bishop Tobias Johannes Becker, a native of Grulich, had in the years of 1696-1710 a monumental pilgrimage complex (Muttergottesberg) built. A lot of visitors came to this pilgrimage place and poor inhabitants of the Grulich region made a living from these pilgrimages. Production and sale of souvenirs boomed. Woodcarving began to develop, and Christmas cribs and wooden characters that have found their way all over the world are reminders of this. The Christmas cribs were even sold in America as "the genuine Wiener cribs". Organ building and weaving also developed. Many cathedrals and churches all over Bohemia feature organs from the organ masters of Grulich,
