New Town

The publisher from Liberec, Roman Karpaš, recalls the playground of his childhood that used to be located on the site of the present-day SokolovSquare. He describes how he used to explore the mysterious Wallenstein houses in Větrná Street. The complex of the oldest preserved buildings in Liberec has been to a certain extent devastated as this fragile historic and cultural monument has been neglected for a long time. The remaining buildings can’t become an ancient world in a new city because what’s left of them is only a fenced-off torso. According to Mr. Karpaš, this and other examples illustrate the way Liberec treats its buildings, historic places and the whole atmosphere of the city. Since time immemorial, the city has in a careless fashion relinquished attained values. In the case of Liberec this is not a story with a beginning and an end but a continuous process. Testimony was gathered within the Living Memory of Liberec – Reichenberg project.