Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Changes in Urban Area Discovered by
Analysis of Chosen Places in Old Maps
of Liberec
Vojtˇch Blaˇek, Vojtˇch H
´
jek, Ladislav Li
ˇ
´k, Branislav Niˇnansk´ ,
and Kl
´
ra Popkov
´
Introduction
This article follows the previous multidisciplinary research of the area of Husova
Street, which helped to create the monograph (Niˇnansk´ and Popkov´
2012
). The
current research is carried out differently for it is not focus on one particular
locality, but more of those, which can characterize the development of Liberec
from the centre towards the Jizera Mountains. There are three localities introduced
in the article. The multidisciplinary research, which will result in a forthcoming
publication, can be characterized with the help of those localities. The localities
include: Technical University of Liberec (next TUL) area, the crossroads of streets
Masarykova and V
´
t
ˇ
zn
´
and Kr
´
l
˚
vH
´
j—old housing development. They have
been selected for several reasons. The first reason is the diverse and characteristic
development of the areas, which is reflected not only on old maps. The second
reason is the contemporary attractiveness of the studied localities, which is
connected with their architectural and urban uniqueness. The third reason is the
simple identification and availability of relevant secondary sources for historical
analysis of the localities.
Liberec itself is one of the most interesting areas for historical-geographical
studies. Its history dates back to the Middle Ages when it was founded as a small
settlement on a trade route to Zittau (Technik
1967
). The expansion of the town was
connected with the industrial boom which came during the nineteenth century. This
can be seen in the fact that Liberec does not have any city walls which could
emphasize its importance in Middle Ages or early modern period (Koˇasov´, In:
Niˇnansk´ and Popkov´
2012
). The industrial revolution and its effects had irre-
versible impact on the face of the town, which is still visible in the area (Purˇ
1960
).
It was as late as in this period when the studied area consisting of the selected
