The story
A predecessor of Merklín was a medieval village called Bijadla, first mentioned in 1115 as a property of the monastery in Kladruby and later abandoned. The first written mention of Merklín is from 1356, when it was already a market town. It was owned by various local lesser nobles. From 1431 to the end of the 15th century, Merklín was ruled by a family that called themselves Merklínský of Merlín. At the end of the 15th century, Merklín was purchased by Vilém of Chřínov, who established the fishpond Merklínský rybník. The Lords of Chřínov owned Merklín until 1595, when they sold it to the Lords of Říčany.
During the rule of the Lords of Říčany, Merklín prospered, but their properties were confiscated as a result of the Battle of White Mountain, and other blows were the fire in 1621 and the plundering by Ernst von Mansfeld's army during the Thirty Years' War. Indebted Merklín was bought by Vilém of Klenová, but Merklín situation worsened during the war and after the war ended, the market town was in a desolate state and abandoned. After Vilém of Klenová died in 1652, Merklín changed hands several times.
During the rule of Jan Gref of Grefenburk, Merklín was resettled by Germans from Bavaria and Palatinate. In 1659, Jakub Filip Berchtold bought the village. The Berchtolds sold the estate to the Novohradský branch of the Kolowrat family in 1692. From the 1720s, the Morzin family owned the market town. During their rule, Merklín experienced a period of great development and prosperity. The last feudal owners of Merklín were the Krakovský branch of the Kolowrat family, who inherited the market town from the Morzins in 1815.
Merklín had a Jewish community that founded a Jewish cemetery in 1685. In the 19th century, the community had several dozen inhabitants. The synagogue was built in 1826.
From Wikipedia’s article on Merklín (Plzeň-South District), shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5