Liberec Routes

Before being re-marked as line E, only privately operated lines passed through Harcov, namely to Jablonec and to Bedřichov via Rudolfov. For a city line to Harcov we have to go all the way back to the First Republic, when it ran from 15 May 1932 under the number 5.

The change of bus-line marking from numbers to letters was decided in 1945, but line E was introduced on 8 April 1946. About the specific operation of the line it is only known that in 1948 the interval was 30 minutes and that in 1953 the terminus in the centre was moved to the new terminal in Fügnerova street; until then the terminus had been at the town hall. Barely after ten years of operation, in 1956, the marking of bus lines reverts to numbers — already in today's form. The line to Starý Harcov was assigned the number 15, which has survived on the same route to this day.

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.

The Fügnerova bus "terminal" is only three years old. It gave way to a playing field. With today's one, of course, it cannot compare. Essentially it is several station posts in a row, a tram passing loop, a shelter and a stall with refreshments and tobacco. All this is in the place of today's tram stop. Of the large shopping centres there is not yet a trace; the space is airy, relatively green, and in the surroundings there are several grey houses, one of which is the "Dunaj". Into the upper centre we cross along Moskevská street. Apart from the junction with Revoluční and Rumunská streets, which is much more cramped than today, the way is not so dissimilar. It is similar at the town hall, where our next stop is. On the right side we drive around the town hall and the theatre and finally reach Sokolská Avenue. Along it we go out, together with the one-way tram track, onto Šaldovo náměstí. Here we might not even recognise it. Instead of the department store and the open space of 5. května street, an essentially square, built-up square awaits us with the narrow, cramped Ludmilina street, which only later becomes the main link between the upper and lower centre. We, however, turn left into Husova Avenue. At first it does not differ much; we even come upon the hospital on the right already. That, however, takes up markedly less space than today. A while later, villa houses similar to today's begin to line the street. The ZŠ Husova building already stands too, as do the oldest university buildings and the adjacent apartment blocks. If we imagine away the panorama of the new TUL buildings, actually not all that much has changed. The same can be said of the next section, which runs into the little wood above the dam. A surprise comes perhaps only at the sight of the hill ahead of us, where the university dormitories are missing. They will begin to be built only in 1977. Instead, a picturesque valley of the Harcovský brook welcomes us, with little houses scattered freely on both hills. Not even the Kunratická estate on the right slope disturbs it, so the junction with the oversized Hrubínova street is also missing. The whole valley is much less overgrown and built up than today, so there is a beautiful view, for example, of the Church of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary.