The settlement was first mentioned in a Latin document of Diocese of Wrocław called Liber fundationis episcopatus Vratislaviensis from around 1305 as item in Hermanni villa.[1][2][3][4] It meant that the village was in the process of location (the size of land to pay tithe from was not yet precised). The creation of the village was a part of a larger settlement campaign taking place in the late 13th century on the territory of what will be later known as Upper Silesia.
The village became a seat of a Catholic parish, mentioned in the register of Peter's Pence payment from 1447 among 50 parishes of Teschen deaconry as Hermansdorff.[5]
After the heavy industrialization of Ostrava, the majority of local people were employed in nearby factories. Heřmanice was formerly an independent municipality; it was incorporated into Ostrava by Emil Beier, the Nazi mayor, in 1941.
According to the Austrian census of 1910 the town had 3,727 inhabitants, 3,608 of whom had permanent residence there; 2,800 (77.6%) were Czech-speaking and 776 (21.5%) were Polish-speaking. The most populous religious groups were Roman Catholics with 3,600 (96.6%) and Protestants with 105 (2.8%).[6]
In 1959, a labour camp was built there, now it is a prison.
