The originally German village, Sichling means in German sheaf, is situated 4 km from the town of Lanškroun. There are St. John the Baptist Church (first half of the 18th century), rectory (1769), memorable tree (a small-leave linden with girth of 6.7 m).
Detailed information (adapted from the source "Vlastivěda Lanškrounska"): The village of Žichlínek is situated along the river Moravská Sázava, 4 km in south of the town of Lanškroun. The first reference to the village of Žichlínek (Sichlingsdorf) dates back to 1304. The village is mentioned in the deed issued by the king Václava II by which the king donated the Lanškroun region to the Zbraslav monastery. The name given to the village is typical for the colonisation period and it is derived from the name of the locator-founder. The founder was usually given the hereditary reeve’s office, representing the suzerain in the village. The medieval colonisation of the region was carried out by the family z Drnholce. The family had also the village of Žichlínek founded which is certified in written. In 1364 the reeve of the village Žichlínek, Otto de Lapide (Lapide means in Latin stone, i.e. Otto of Stone), asked his new suzerain, the Litomyšl bishop Jan ze Středy to confirm the old reeve’s privilege. The bishop Jan ze Středy who acquired the Lanškroun and Lanšperk regions by exchange from the Zbraslav monastery in1358, granted the privilege to the Otto de Lapide. Hence, we know a part of the content of the oldest reeve handfest in the region. The bishop certifies that the reeve presented the old deed confirming the reeve office issued by squires Heřman and Oldřich z Drnholce in favour of the reeve of the village of Žichlínek and his heirs. To the independent reeve’s office belonged, in those times, a privilege to keep a third of all imposed fines, two independent hides, twenty-four rods of grounds subjected to taxation, an independent mill with two wheels and brook. The reeve had to pay royal taxes and contribution in amount of a three-score of Prague groschen. The bishop added the privilege to hunt in the surrounding woods. During the Hussite wars the Litomyšl bishopric was dissolved and its property was acquired by the aristocracy. Since mid-15th century, the Lanškroun region was property of the Kostkové z Postupic family it was acquired by the Pernšten family by the marriage at the beginning of the 16th century. In 1541 the owner of domain Jan z Pernštejna granted to the inhabitants of the village of Žichlínek the privilege of free use of a part of the brook Moravská Sázava, as compensation for construction of a fullery (for drapers from the village of Lanškroun) in the village. In 1561 the reeve’s office was acquired in the village of Žichlínek by the Viktorín family who kept the office until 1886. The last owner partitioned the grounds belonging to the reeve to local farmers. The officers of the new owner of the domain, Karel z Lichtenštejna, liked the location of the original reeve’s building and they exchanged it for a manor farm at the lower end of the village with Kryštof Viktorín in 1624. The building of the former reeve’s office was pulled down and reconstructed as farm buildings. The new reeve’s was twice renovated – after the fire in 1668 and in 1878 (also after the fire). The manor farm was, within the 1926 land reform, partitioned and sold to six Czech families. A minority school for their children was opened in the building of the farm in 1927 (closed in 1938). The Czech population represented around one tenth of the total population (700 persons) before World War II. A milestone in the history of the village of Žichlínek was construction of the Olomouc – Prague railway line between 1842 and 1845. The newly opened railway station was named after the town of Lanškroun. In 1876 the railway was renamed to Sichelsdorf (Žichlínek). The railway station building burnt out in 1924, it was renovated. However, it was closed in 1930. Then, it was used as a stop and loading point which was closed in 1960’s. There is a railway stop now. The first train was keenly welcomed on 20th August 1845 – a festival gateway with towers and battlement decorated by coats of arms because the train crossed the Czech border here. Another milestone in the history of the village was the end of World War II the village of Žichlínek was repopulated by persons from upland. Shortly after the liberation, a rendering plant was opened in 1946 (still existing). In early 1950’s the local united agricultural cooperative was founded (in spite of initial problems). The cooperative integrated all similar cooperatives existing in neighbouring villages (Žichlínek, Luková and Tatenice) in mid-1970. In 1982 other cooperatives were integrated and the United agricultural cooperative JZD Budoucnost Žichlínek was founded. In 1996 the telephone lines and cable TV were laid down. The following summer the village was hit by floods. The most important historical monument in the village is the building of the St. John the Baptist Birth Church. The first reference dates back to 1380 as the adjacent church of the Lanškroun parish district. In late 1670’s the church in the village of Žichlínek was wooden. The current building was constructed in 1725. The local chaplaincy was established in 1769 which was promoted to parish in 1859. The rectory was built in 1769. The cemetery surrounding the church was founded in 1795. The first reference to the local school dates back to 1664. The building of the school (current building of the municipal office) was constructed in 1795. The building of the current school was constructed between 1908 and 1909. Until 1919 there were monuments of Joseph II and Franz Joseph I in front of the school. However, they were pulled down as victims of iconoclasm of the revolutionary period. Among sacred monuments two statues in front of the church are worth of mentioning – St. John of Nepomuk (1755) and St. John the Evangelist (1769). There is a sculpture of the Holy Trinity near to road to the town of Rychnov. The stronghold Kroteful (although there is not trace of it now) was probably somewhere at the southern end of the village. The only written reference to the stronghold dates back to 1378, when it was hold by the Augustinian monks from the town of Lanškroun. In 1460 the confirmation deed of Augustinian property refers only to the village of Kotenful that was probably integrated into the village of Žichlínek. The site of the stronghold was destroyed during the construction of embankment of the railway line. The list of personalities connected to the village of Žichlínek includes, among others, Wenzel Bernard Appel (born 1815 in the village of Žichlínek), dean and prior of the monastery in Reichersberg, awarded by the Leopold’s knight order in 1891 and another churchman, Adalbert Janisch (born in 1805 in the village of Žichlínek), pastor in Seckau, was awarded by the emperor Franz Joseph I by he golden cross in 1880. And also Berhnard Kratschmer, born 1832 in the village of Žichlínek – died in 1905 in Vienna), was first class commissary of the technical and administrative committee and author of the supplier’s manual (1889). He worked up to high position in the k.u k. army. However, similar type of army officer of the Austrian army was masterly criticised by Jaroslav Hašek in his book The Good Soldier Švejk. The associations in the village of Žichlínek, as in many neighbouring villages, were represented by the brigade of voluntary association (Freiwillige Feuerwehrverein) founded in 1885. The brigade was re-established in 1945. Apart from its main activities, the brigade organises the traditional vendage and the saint’s day celebration. The tradition of the former gymnastic club (Turnverein) founded in 1922 continues in the current gymnastic club that has three divisions – football, volleyball and body-building. The gymnastic club organises the Ball of the gymnastic club. Today, there is also huntsmen association that keeps the hunting districts and the pond Kozí rybník (for carp keeping). Local businesses are KOVO-DŘEVO Urban, employing 80 persons and producing wooden pallets, ASANACE s.r.o., rendering plant employing 90 persons. The former cooperative was transformed into the company ZOD Žichlínek that has 340 employees. Other smaller businesses are RAWELA s.r.o., tool-making, H.S.T., heating systems, Šenkýř, locksmithery, or Dařílek, building and constructing. The current population of the village of Žichlínek is 816 (in around 200 houses). .
German name: Sichelsdorf
