he historic beginnings of Nové Město na Moravě date back to the middle of the 13th century where the local territory close to the border between Bohemia and Moravia was mostly covered with a virgin border forest.
Creation of Nové Město na Moravě is tightly linked with the foundation of the Cistercien monastery in Žďár nad Sázavou. The monastery was founded in 1252 by the Znojmo burgrave Boček of Obřany on the forested border territory, which was acquired by his father-in-law Přibyslav of Křižanov. Boček donated a part of the inherited territory to the monastery and he and his heirs went on with colonization of the other part. Before Boček died in 1255, he founded a settlement at the place of today's Nové Město na Moravě. When the Olomouc bishop Bruno confirmed the Boček's heritage to the monastery in 1267, the settlement was named Bočkonov (Bočkov) together with Bobrová and Žďár in the delimitation of the territory, from which tithing belonged to the Žďár monastery.
The founded settlement developed very rapidly because as early as in 1293 in the charter by the king Václav II it is referred to in Latin as NOVA CIVITAS. By the charter, the king appointed the jurisdiction of the monastery over some towns. They also include our Nové Město.
In 1312 Boček's son-in-law Smil of Obřany died, and because he was the last male descendant of the family, the family property passed on to the closest relative Jindřich of Lipé. Besides Obřany the lords of Lipé inherited Nové Město as well. In the environs, they founded some settlements, and thus a small separate Nové Město lordship began to develop.
The lords of Lipé built up a stronghold in Nové Město at about the end of the 14th century. In 1452 one of their heirs, also Jindřich z Lipé, gave to Nové Město the first known written confirmation of the right to produce malt.
The last but one of the lords of Lipé in Nové Město, Pertold of Lipé, appointed Vilém of Pernštejn a guardian of his under-age son Jindřich in 1476. After the death of Pertold in 1482 the lordship of Nové Město was in fact reigned by Vilém of Pernštejn. In 1496 Vilém espoused Jindřich with his daughter Bohunka and bought the lordship of Nové Město from Jindřich.
Vilém of Pernštejn succeeded in establishing two annual fairs in Nové Město in 1499. In 1500 he divided the Pernštejn lordship to parts and Nové Město became a part of so-called Nové Město-Jimramov double part. Both parts of the double part began to develop separately under the reign of Jana of Pernštejn, who succeeded in 1521, after Vilém died. Jan of Pernštejn was favorable towards Nové Město, he entrusted him with execution of some of the suzerain rights, and he enforced for him an annual horse fair and established gilds for some trades.
After the death of Jan of Pernštejn in 1548 the lordship was taken over by the son Vojtěch, under the reign of whom a Renaissance town hall was built in 1555. The best time for the town was under the reign of Vojtěch's brother Vratislav, who owned Nové Město from 1561 till 1582. Vratislav of Pernštejn was however burdened with major debts. Nové Město offered him to settle them. As a reward the municipality was entrusted to administration of the lordship in 1564 with some limitations and in 1580 Vratislav confirmed by a special document and multiplied the town's privileges and let it use the Ochoz forest.
The indebted Pernštejn lordship together with Nové Město was taken over by Vratislav's sons Jan and Maxmilián of Pernštejn in 1582. They sold the Nové Město lordship in 1588 to Vilém Dubský of Třebomyslice. He rebuilt the Renaissance castle in Nové Město and resided in there. After a long time the suzerains resided back in the town.
Although Vilém Dubský confirmed two gilds and during his reign construction of a church cemetery began, still he tended to reduce the present privileges of the town. In 1603 he also bought the Jimramov lordship. In 1621 he was interned in Brno for suspicion of presence in the Estates' Uprising. He was pardoned, yet in 1624 he was brought to court again and sentenced to loss of property.
In 1624 the confiscated Nové Město lordship was sold to Cardinal František of Ditrichštejn, who at that time had in possession also the neighbouring monastery of the Žďár lordship, from where the administration of the local lordship was executed. In 1635 Cardinal Ditrichštejn granted Nové Město the fourth annual fair, he renewed and multiplied its privileges and promoted it to a town. At the same time the town's heraldry was restored. Heraldry of Nové Město na Moravě is diagonally split into two parts. The upper part is golden, the lower part is red. Two viticultural knives are standing side by side, one in a golden field and the other one in a red field. Above the knives in the golden field there is a princely hat, down in the red field there is a golden lion.
When Cardinal Ditrichštejn died in 1636, his brother passed the Nové Město lordship to the administrator of the Ditrichštejn manors to Simon Kratzer of Schönsberk in 1638. He again resided in the town, he cared for the economic development of the lordship and supported the glass industry. He intended to construct ironworks in the Nové Město lordship. Yet his plan was disrupted, because in 1645 he was shot by the Swedes during their attack on the town. From 1660 the Nové Město lordship was controlled and taken over by his son František Maxmilián Kratzer.
In between F. M. Kratzer realized his father's plan when in 1651 he built two ironworks blast furnaces in Kadov and a production linking the iron-mills in Kuklík, Vříšť a Líšná. Thus he laid the foundations of the ironwork production in Nové Město.
In the times of F. M. Kratzer the Nové Město lordship fell into huge debt, even though F. M. Kratzer died in 1679 (he is buried in the Catholic parish church), the lordship was controlled by the main creditor Prince Ferdinand Ditrichštejn. In 1699 his son Leopold passed the Nové Město lordship to the Foundation Institution of noblewomen "Mariánská škola" (Mary's School) in Brno.
The Foundation Institution of Noblewomen was established in 1654 in Brno, it was originally an educational, later a procuration institution for noblewomen. A castle in Brno belonged to the foundation, as well as the manor in Medlánky and the Nové Město lordship, which remained with the institution till 1945.
In the leadership of the institution there changed a couple of noblewomen. During their reign, so called late mountain colonization was carried out in the Nové Město lordship in the 18th century, during which the youngest villages were founded as Blatiny, Koníkov, Samotín, Krátká and Moravské Milovy. During the reign of Countess Hohenzollern (1721 - 1745), the Catholic church was rebuilt, her successor countess Miniati of Campoli (1746 - 1759) rebuilt the Baroque castle and extended the cemetery church. By abolishing serfdom in 1848 - under the reign of Countess Skrbenská (1836 - 1858) - nobility lost its significance.
In 1850 Nové Město became a centre of the district office and at the same time one of the three court districts. Since 1906 Nové Město has the attribution "na Moravě" (in Moravia) to distinguish it from the other towns of the same name. In 1949 the centre of the district was transferred to Žďár nad Sázavou.
The modern history of the town significantly influenced foundation of the technical grammar school in 1894, building the railway track from Tišnov to Žďár nad Sázavou in 1905, development of skiing since the end of 19th century, and related production of skis and production of surgery equipment was initiated in 1949.