Liberec Routes

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. And it is so further on, too, as we climb Jizerská Avenue. The area is somewhat less overgrown and built up, but many houses and villas will seem familiar to us. Among the prominent features in the landscape, the Wolkerák is still missing, which will begin to be built only in less than ten years. But we recognise, for example, the little turret of the Liberecká výšina. Beneath the well-known serpentines we also glimpse the beautifully maintained grounds of the shooting range, which will be demolished only after a long 66 years. And finally the highest part of Harcov; that too has not changed much to this day, only family houses and villas have somewhat increased. The sub-mountain village character and the view of Liberec, however, remain preserved.