Liberec Routes

• 1945: in the centre the line begins its route at the town hall; the terminal in the lower centre is still being prepared.
• 1948: the interval on the line is 30 minutes.
• 1953: a new terminal in Fügnerova street is opened, so the termini of all lines move to the lower centre. The lines to Stráž and Ostašov, however, unlike the others, start at Gottwaldovo náměstí (today Soukenné), because they run towards the railway station along tř. generalissima Stalina. The new route is therefore Gottwaldovo náměstí - nádraží - Ostašov.
• Probably 1955: the line was extended to Karlov.
• 1956: the marking of bus lines reverts to numbers — already in today's form. Line A was assigned the number 16.

In this local-geography article I will try, using old maps and records, to travel back to 1955 and ride along this line. It is possible that history experts will clarify some of the details; I will be glad of that.

We set off from the square that has been called Gottwaldovo for only a few years. Before the communists came to power and after their end, this square is of course known as Soukenné. The stand for lines A and B is on the northern side of the square. It is thus separated from the tram stop, which is on the southern side. Of the Ještěd department store there is not yet a trace; in its place is grey city development, but also the now non-existent streets U Splavu and Švédská. The route continues along Generalissimo Stalin Avenue, today 1. máje. It has been so from the start, so the buses go along the little street past the future Lípa cinema, unlike the trams, which run on today's alignment. Before the bridge over the Nisa, however, the two alignments meet and continue together to the station. We see no panel blocks; instead there are larger residential houses with various services on the ground floor. Of the tunnel, the Uran and the bus station there is not a trace. But the Imperial hotel, for example, already stands in place. What also has not changed much is the station area. The station building is practically unchanged, except for banners proclaiming peace; the Skloexport building also already exists, housing the Regional National Committee and other offices. The old customs house burned down twenty years ago, so in its place there is now an open lot, and the surrounding buildings stand too. On the lot there is a tobacconist's, a statue commemorating 1945 and, beside it, a beer hall. Another change is the track triangle and the terminus of tram no. 1 in front of the station arrival hall. We continue further along Nákladní Avenue, today renamed Žitavská in this section. On the left we see the station throat much as today, on the right we see larger and smaller apartment houses, mostly grey and depressing. Below the hill we turn left under the well-known viaduct. There is only one for now; Švermova street splits off only beyond it, and in the place of today's complex double junction and through route there is the meandering Františkovský brook. Along Švermova street we pass the place of the future Viadukt tram loop and join its today's route. The old oppressive development in the first part of the street was there even then and has lasted to this day, perhaps including some of the pubs. Further on, however, we see a completely different world. Not a trace of a panel block, though a certain uniformity is here after all. At regular intervals, smaller little streets with relatively new family houses branch off to both sides. These were a kind of first satellite town, but they were not as uniform as today. Later this character was broken by even greater uniformity in the form of panel blocks. A little way off, near the turn onto Uralská Avenue, we come upon a smaller factory; that is the harbinger of the future Sved. Otherwise, though, only sparse development of family houses lines the street. One of them is the oldest in Liberec. The underpass beneath the railway at Karlinky looks roughly as it does today. After all, the railway with its viaduct has been here for almost a hundred years. Beyond Karlinky the development leaves us, and along a meadow beside the railway we continue to another industrial building. The foundry grounds are smaller than today, but a railway siding has already been brought into them. Beside today's Kovošrot stop we come upon a football pitch, of which today there is only a trace. The village of Ostašov does not fundamentally differ from its today's form. Even the school on the square already exists. Houses were of course added later, but it is not a fundamental change of character. The link between Ostašov and Karlov must have looked similar to today as well, perhaps even better. The state of the road suggests that it has not seen many repairs since then. In Karlov we will not see many differences either; the village character has been preserved to this day, only the cottages are more modern. Where the bus turning loop is, I have no idea, but it could have been where it is today, or the buses could have driven all the way to the station. Either way, the arrival into this quiet village must have been romantic, and the view of Liberec was not disturbed by any shopping or industrial zone.