Visit 15 technical monuments and points of interest in Jablonec and the wider environs with us. The varied selection includes lookout towers, water-engineering structures, museums, a railway line and a windmill. All of the places are open to the public and are excellent trip destinations, either on foot or by car. You can see with your own eyes that our region offers a number of technical spectacles in addition to natural beauty.

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1. The Jablonec Reservoir – the Mšeno dam reservoir

The reservoir on the Mšeno Stream is one of a series of reservoirs built between 1906 and 1909 by the Prague construction company of Franz Schön and Sons in order to regulate the flow of water in the Lusatian Nisa catchment area. Based on the area of its water surface, it is the second largest inner-city body of water to the east of Lake Geneva and it attracts people for active relaxation all year round.

The reservoir on the Mšeno Stream is one of a series of reservoirs built between 1906 and 1909 by the Prague construction company of Franz Schön and Sons in order to regulate the flow of water in the Lusatian Nisa catchment area. The steel structures were supplied and assembled by the Christian Linser from Liberec. The structure was created according to the last design created by Professor Dr O. Intze of Aachen and it is considered to be his best work. It was built in a wide valley in the characteristic shape of an arch with a radius of curvature of 350 m, a height of 20 m above the foundations and a length of 425.5 m along its crest. It is one of the significant water engineering structures that have been declared a technical cultural monument. At the time of its creation, the reservoir was known as the “Talšperk” (from the German word “Talsperre” or “dam”) and it became a recreation facility for the town. Based on the area of its water surface, it is the second largest inner-city body of water to the east of Lake Geneva and it attracts people for active relaxation all year round. Those with an interest in technology will be fascinated by the unique adit that constitutes an integral part of the regulation system’s technical design.

KONTAKT: www.jablonec.com, +420 774 667 677, info@jablonec.com

 

2. The Museum of Glass and Costume Jewellery in Jablonec nad Nisou

The Jablonec Museum of Glass and Costume Jewellery offers not only a number of permanent exhibitions, but also short-term exhibitions and workshops. It presents the most fragile and most beautiful parts of Czech art and industry to its visitors. Interactive exhibits, a phosphorescent aquarium, a moving mirror wall, a seed bead train and so on have been prepared for both young and old visitors alike.

The museum offers three permanent exhibitions. One is dedicated to Czech glass and involves the largest glass exhibition in the Czech Republic, while the second presents unique and internationally renowned Jablonec costume jewellery. The experiential exhibition of glass Christmas ornaments, known as the World of Wonders, was open to the public in 2022. WoW!

The museum is located in an art nouveau building in the floral style that originally belonged to an export company (Zimmer & Schmidt). The building was designed and realised in 1903–1904 by the significant Jablonec architect and builder, Emilian Herbig. It was listed as a state protected monument in 1958 as a typical example of Jablonec nad Nisou architecture. Since 2020, the main building has been adorned by an attractive glass extension in the shape of a glass crystal or a cut costume jewellery stone. Its form symbolises the museum’s focus and constitutes a new architectural feature for the entire area, which is reflected in its polished glass walls.

KONTAKT: Muzeum skla a bižuterie v Jablonci nad Nisou – www.msb-jablonec.cz, +420 778 527 123, info@msb-jablonec.cz

 

3. The paternoster lift in the Jablonec town hall

This technical rarity consisting of a functioning circulating lift with an endless chain of cabins was invented in Great Britain in the 19th century by the Liverpudlian architect Peter Ellis. The first specimen was commissioned in London in 1884. This invention also appeared in the former Czechoslovakia during the period of the First Republic. In Jablonec it was in 1933.

There are currently 3 paternoster lifts in operation in the Liberec Region, one of which is working in the Jablonec town hall after being renovated in 2020 in cooperation with the

city’s monument preservationists. All 14 cabins were removed during the repairs. With the exception of their steel structures, they have been completely refitted with brass strips around the floor, period style floor coverings and wooden handles with brass attachments in the original architectural style of the building, which was designed by the significant architect, Karel Winter, in the style of interwar modern architecture with elements of constructivism and functionalism. At the time of its opening in 1933, the Jablonec town hall was one of the most modern buildings. This is borne out by the fact that it was equipped with several lifts. Passenger transport was provided by a lift next to the northwest staircase and by the paternoster near the main staircase, which is still accessible to visitors to the Jablonec town hall.

See the official opening times for the Jablonec town hall for the opening hours.

KONTAKT: www.mestojablonec.cz, +420 483 357 111, informace@mestojablonec.cz

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4. The Museum of Bead Production in Jablonec nad Nisou

This unique museum of bead production bears witness to the many years of traditions and experience among local glassmakers. It will delight those who love both technology and history, as well as bead enthusiasts. G & B beads, which operates the museum, is one of the largest producers of glass beads in the Czech Republic.

It offers excursions to its production facilities and creative bead working workshops for children and adults. It has created a unique gallery of period photographs and materials about where and how original Czech glass beads had their origins more than 300 years ago. The exhibition offers displays of historical and contemporary bead pressing machines, several types of cutting and polishing machines, stringing machines, the tools and implements used to produce beads, period sample books, a collection of glass lamp beads, costume jewellery, glass pins and brooches. The exhibition of glassmaking machines is followed by an excursion to the company’s individual operations. This provides a view of contemporary glass bead production and a chance to become acquainted with the raw materials, moulds, glass types, bead types and individual technological processes. Visitors will be able to view fine-polishing machines and to become acquainted with how beads are cut both manually and using automated processes. They will also see the process of bead polishing and a conveyor belt furnace and get to know how much work and artistry is hidden within each single bead.

Excursions must be booked in advance.

Parking is available for cars and buses directly in the facility, next to the main building.

KONTAKT: G & B beads –  www.muzeumkoralku.cz, +420 483 317 929, info@gbbeads.cz

 

5. The Proseč lookout tower

The Proseč Ridge is located between the cities of Liberec and Jablonec nad Nisou. It is a 1 km wide and about 4 km long forested strip that is interwoven with hiking trails and paths. The German Mountain Association for the Jablonec Area built the octagonal stone lookout tower not far from the highest point of the Proseč Ridge according to a design by the significant Jablonec architect, Rudolf Hemmrich.

The municipality of Proseč nad Nisou stretches out on one side, while the Jablonec suburbs of Lukášov and Rýnovice are located on the other. This not overly high ridge reaches a maximum height of 593 m above sea level. The German Mountain Association for the Jablonec Area built the octagonal stone lookout tower not far from the highest point of the Proseč Ridge according to a design by the significant Jablonec architect, Rudolf Hemmrich. The granite block structure is 28 m high and 105 wooden steps lead to the top. The ascent to the observation platform situated at a height of 24 m promises exceptional views. From there, it is possible to see all of Jablonec, part of Liberec, the Jizera Mountains with their other lookout towers, Císařský kámen, Černá Studnice, part of the Giant Mountains and the Bohemian Paradise, the Ještěd Ridge and a number of other places. The lookout tower is open to the public during the opening hours of the adjacent Chata Proseč restaurant. While the chalet restaurant was rebuilt in 2016 after the original building completely burnt down, the lookout tower has been standing watch over the ridge since 1932.

KONTAKT: Chata (rozhledna) Proseč – www.chataprosec.cz, +420 604 520 550, info@chataprosec.cz

 

6. The Ještěd cableway

Ještěd has long been a dominant feature of North Bohemia and a symbol of Liberec. The mountaintop provides unlimited views to all points of the compass. Its shape and cultivated technicism respects the context of the landscape and provides the mountaintop with an elegant, aerodynamic point.

Ještěd offers fascinating views of the Giant Mountains, the Jizera Mountains, the Lusatian Mountains, the Bohemian Paradise and the Czech Central Mountain Range. A cross was erected on the crag at the top in 1737 and there was a refreshment station for hikers there in the 19th century. The upsurge in visitors led to the construction of a larger mountain chalet and a 28 m high lookout tower made of stone in 1907. After it burnt down in 1963, construction commenced on a new modern building combining a transmitter and a hotel and restaurant with a 90 m high tower designed by the architect Karel Hubáček. Its shape and cultivated technicism respects the context of the landscape and provides the mountaintop with an elegant, aerodynamic point.

Transport to the top of Ještěd is provided by a cableway which was built by František Wiesner’s company from Chrudim and commenced operations in 1933. As such, it was one of the first suspended cableways in the Czech Republic. It was reconstructed in 1975 and is now one of the region’s popular transport attractions operated by Czech Railways. It ascends 400 m from the lower station situated at a height of 600 m above sea level. A cabin from the original cableway of 1933 is owned by the North Bohemian Museum in Liberec.

KONTAKT: The Ještěd television transmitter and the hotel: www.jested.cz, +420 485 104 291, recepce@jested.cz

The cableway – temporarily out of order: www.lanovka-jested.cz, +420 485 104 287, info@cd.cz

 

7. The Liberec Technical Museum

The museum, where industry’s past meets its present, offers its visitors 4 thematic pavilions. Pavilion A presents means of transport, automobiles from various corners of the world, pre-war and post-war motorcycles and a unique exhibition of bicycles and velocipedes dedicated to the 200-year anniversary of the invention of the bicycle.

In 2017, the museum expanded to include Pavilion B which presents Liberec’ textile past, as well as modern production technology thanks to the museum’s cooperation with significant local industrial companies. The museum subsequently opened its Pavilion C dedicated to public transport and its history in the Liberec area upon the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Republic in 2018. This pavilion has something for those who are fans of bus and especially tram transport. Pavilion D, known as the Kingdom of the Automobiles, presents luxury vehicles from brands such as Rolls-Royce or Cadillac and their development during the 20th century. Special exhibits include several more than 100-year old rarities, for example a Maxwell vintage car or the unique Ford T Rajo racing special. Train lovers can look forward to historical locomotives in the museum’s outdoor areas.

KONTAKT: Technické muzeum Liberec –  www.tmliberec.cz, +420 731 737 969, info@tmliberec.cz

 

8. The Kořenov rack-and-pinion railway

The Tanvald–Kořenov–Harrachov rack-and-pinion railway, known locally as Polubenka, is a technical rarity, i.e. the only rack-and-opinion track and at the same time the steepest line with the most precipitous tunnel in the Czech Republic.

The line, completed in 1902, was an important link between the industrial areas of the Jablonec and Liberec regions and the anthracite-producing areas of Silesia. The line’s builders made use of a rack and pinion, i.e. a toothed strip between the rails into which a cog from the locomotive fits. The track’s gradient reaches an unbelievable 58 per mille. It overcomes an extreme height difference of 235 metres over a length of 6.7 km. It is now possible to ride the original train during nostalgic trips operated by the Tanvald Railway Association. The building of the former Kořenov railway station is home to the Rack-and-Pinion Railway Museum. The exhibits present the rack-and-pinion line, its troubled history, the special features of its operations and some original vehicles. The texts, period photographs and displayed exhibits map out the line’s history and its present. The exhibits include models of different types of rack-and-pinion railways, including the cogs that are part of the rack-and-pinion equipment on the steam and diesel locomotives travelling on the local line. Tours of the museum also include the reconstructed engine shared with a turntable dating from 1902 which is home to a number of unique railway vehicles, such as the original T 426.0 diesel rack-and-pinion locomotive, locomotives, railcars or a historic handcar.

KONTAKT: Kořenov Zubačka –  www.zubacka.cz, +420 722 076 627, muzeum@zubacka.cz

 

9. The Museum of Toy Production in Jiřetín pod Bukovou

The DETOA Albrechtice, s. r. o. factory is the largest and the oldest producer of wooden toys in the Czech Republic. The company was established by Johann Schowanek in Jiřetín pod Bukovou, where he found suitable conditions for his business, in 1908.

The factory buildings were designed in the classicist style with elements of the art deco by the significant Jablonec architect, Robert Hemmrich. The company started producing wooden beads, buttons and other small, lathed components and quickly became the most significant producer in its field in all of Europe. In 1927, Hans Schowanek (Johann Schowanek’s son) extended the product range to include wooden toys. After 1945, the company began to produce upright piano mechanisms followed by piano mechanisms and keyboards. The company’s production has continued without interruption in the same facilities. It uses traditional procedures with a significant amount of manual work. The company’s most popular toy is the Little Mole created by the artist Zdeněk Miler. Visitors can take an interactive guided tour of production. The excursion includes displays of historical machines, period products and the company’s current production. Visitors can also create their own original toy in the creative workshops. The museum also offers a permanent exhibition of Famous Sportspeople and Wartime Production.

KONTAKT: DETOA Albrechtice, s. r. o. –  www.detoa.cz, +420 721 843 020, exkurze@detoa.cz

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10. The Štěpánka lookout tower and bunker

The Štěpánka neo-gothic stone lookout tower is the oldest lookout tower in the Jizera Mountains. Its construction was commenced by Prince Camille de Rohan in 1847 in honour of Archduke Stephan, the patron of the imperial road from Liberec to Trutnov. Connoisseurs of pre-war and wartime history will appreciate the bunker under Štěpánka.

However he did not complete the work. There is a legend that suggests that the Prince halted the work on Štěpánka on the basis of a warning from a gypsy woman who predicted that he would die shortly after the tower was completed. The lookout tower was completed in 1892 and Rohan truly did die shortly thereafter.

The base is completed with a slender, octagonal tower made of bricks and sandstone that was built according to plans drawn up by Professor Brausenwetter from Liberec. It offers excellent views of the Giant Mountains and the Jizera Mountains, the Desná and Kamenice Valleys and Bezděz, Ralsko and the Lusatian Mountains from a height of 24 m.

Connoisseurs of pre-war and wartime history will appreciate the bunker under Štěpánka. Guided tours take place in bunker LO, model 37. It has been returned to how it was during the troubled period of September 1938 and it maps out the history of the light fortifications at the boundary between the Jizera Mountains and the Giant Mountains. Another of many light fortification structures in the Jizera Mountains, a type C machine-gun nest, is also located under Štěpánka. The light fortification lines were constructed between 1936 and 1938 to defend against the threat of military aggression.

KONTAKT: The lookout tower: www.jizerkyprovas.cz, +420 725 805 266, ic@jizerkyprovas.cz
The Light Fortification Museum: +420 737 376 238, Jirka-ropik@seznam.cz

 

11. The Černá studnice lookout tower

Černá studnice was to the Jablonec area what Ještěd was to Liberec and its immediate environs. At a height of 26 metres, Černá studnice is one of the tallest stone lookout towers in the Jizera Mountains.

As early as in 1895, the Liberec Mountain Association erected a simple viewing platform with an access stair on the rocky peak at an altitude of 869 metres above sea level. The Jablonec branch of the Association greatly desired a hiking destination that would represent it appropriately. They called for tenders and the competition was won by the famous Jablonec architect Robert Hemmrich, who gave the lookout tower the form of a dauntless watchtower of the Jizera Mountains. Nearly 3 tons of granite blocks were used in its 160 cm thick walls. The builder, Corazza, commenced work on the structure in 1904. One year later, the work on the mountain chalet and the lookout tower had been completed and opened to the public. At a height of 26 metres, Černá studnice is one of the tallest stone lookout towers in the Jizera Mountains. A total of 91 steps lead to the top and its four viewing galleries, from where there is an impressive panoramic view of the surrounding peaks of the Jizera Mountains with a number of other lookout towers (Královka, Tanvaldský Špičák, Bramberk), are accessible through glazed doors. During good visibility, you can see Ještěd, Ralsko, Kozákov, Trosky Castle, Bezděz Castle and the highest mountain in the Czech Republic, Sněžka.

Access: by bicycle, on foot, on skis. A winter tourist attraction includes the Czech Republic’s longest natural sledding run from Černá studnice to Smržovka. The run is freely accessible and it is 4 km long with an altitude difference of 360 m.

KONTAKT: Rozhledna a restaurace Černá studnice – www.cernastudnice.eu, +420 774 305 830, info@cernastudnice.eu

 

12. The Breached Dam

This water engineering structure was built on the Bílá Desná River in the Jizera Mountains at an altitude of 806 m above sea level in 1915 according to a design by Wilhelm Plenkner. In September of the following year, precisely 10 months after its final approval, the dam breached. The reservoir was never renewed and its ruins now stand as a mute witness to the tragedy.

A forty-centimetre rift was created over a short period of time and a significant amount of water barrelled down into the Desná Valley. The results were tragic: 65 human lives, more than 30 completely destroyed buildings, including glass polishing workshops, a school and the fire station, over 70 damaged homes, 307 people left homeless and 1020 unemployed. Animals were killed, warehouses full of goods were destroyed, meadows were flooded with mud…

Only the sluice tower, the remnants of the dam, the overflow cascade and a 1105 m long underground tunnel which drained water to the nearby Souš Reservoir remain from the original reservoir with a volume of 400,000 m3. The reservoir was never renewed and its ruins now stand as a mute witness to the tragedy. A further reminder of this event is a three-ton boulder in the Desná I, which was rolled there by the water. The catastrophe brought an end to the construction of embankment dams worldwide for a long time.

An educational trail with 4 informative panels leads from Desná to the Breached Dam, while the dam area includes a series of other panels that provide information on this historical event. There is also a memorial with the names of all the identified victims there.

Open all year round, free entry.

KONTAKT:  tel. +420 482 428 999, jizhory@nature.cz

 

13. The Bedřichov Reservoir on the Černá Nisa with an educational trail

The highest positioned reservoir in the Jizera Mountains is located 3 km to the north of Bedřichov in the Jizera Mountains Nature Reserve at an altitude of 775 m above sea level. The water is retained by a 340 m long and 23.5 m high stone dam. The main reason for the construction of the structure was to prevent flooding.

After the catastrophic floods of July 1897, a project for the construction of a network of anti-flooding reservoirs was established in Liberec in 1900. Professor Otto Intze drew up the general project for the construction of six reservoirs in the Lusatian Nisa catchment area. Five of them were completed in the period from 1902 to 1906: in addition to Bedřichov, they were Harcov, Fojtka, Mlýnice and Mšeno. This is one of the oldest reservoir networks in our country. Unique period photographic documentation of the construction of the Bedřichov Reservoir has been preserved. The water engineering structure has been supplemented with a technical-nature educational trail, which passes through 12 stations from the Maliník saddle via the water château and the Rudolfov hydroelectric power plant. It provides information about a number of points of interest pertaining to water management, life in the reservoir, fish migrations and hydrological monitoring. The trail consists of a wooden path with two observation piers. It provides wheelchair access and passes several small Jizera Mountain monuments and through the valley under Olivetská hora to the spring of the Černá Nisa. From there, the trail leads to the Hřebínek hiking trail intersection, where it ends.

The reservoir is accessible all year round on foot or by bicycle and on skis in winter. Swimming is possible in summer.

KONTAKT: Bedřichov – www.bedrichov.cz, +420 483 380 034, infocentrum@bedrichov.cz

 

14. The Liberec–Jablonec nad Nisou tramline

The Liberec–Jablonec nad Nisou tramline is the longest and one of only four intercity tramlines in the Czech Republic. It was built between 1947 and 1955.

Tram operations gradually commenced from the Jablonec end, initially only to Proseč nad Nisou in 1953 and then to Vratislavice nad Nisou one year later. Trams commenced regular operations on the entire line from 1 January 1955. Like the former Jablonec tram network and the original Liberec network, the line had a gauge of 1000 mm. Until 2009, the entire line consisted of a single track with passing points. In the new millennium, the line has been gradually converted to the standard gauge of 1435 mm and the section from Liberec to Vratislavice now has dual tracks. This unique line passes through both cities and through beautiful woods and the sparsely settled suburban landscape between Liberec and Jablonec. At present, the last section from Vratislavice to Jablonec nad Nisou is undergoing modernisation and the transport in this section has been replaced with buses (this is expected to remain the case until 4/2023). Once this modernisation has been completed, only trams with a gauge of 1435 mm will travel between the cities and historical rarities such as the original vehicles from the Jablonec Electric Tramway dating from 1899 to 1953 will no longer be able to travel on the line. It will only be possible to travel on them around Liberec on the section of line from the centre to Lidové Sady. The history of tram operations in both cities is mapped out by the public transport exhibition at the Liberec Technical Museum.

KONTAKT: Bovera club – www.boveraclub.com, +420 739 682 083, boveraclub@dpmlj.cz

 

15. The Jindřichovice windmill

The Jindřichovice windmill is the only functioning and publicly accessible mill in the Czech Republic and it is one of the attractions at the Museum of Rural Life before the Industrial Revolution in Jindřichovice pod Smrkem.

The unique windmill structure was established in 2002. The creators used the remnants of a wooden windmill and turbine that had been erected in Tošanovice near Frýdek-Místek in 1930. The entire grinding mechanism was preserved and it was sensitively installed into a small single-storey round structure with a diameter of 3.9 m and a height of 4.2 m. The original fifteen-blade turbine with a diameter of 2.8 m and a directional rudder has been installed above the shingle roof. It automatically turns the turbine against the flow of the air stream. The building’s total height, including the turbine blades, is 7.1 m. The mill interior is used as a photography gallery documenting the construction of the mill and at the same time it also presents other windmills in the Czech Republic. Its brick masonry built on a stone foundation wall has been plastered with a mixture of clay, horse and cow dung and a layer of mixed sand, loam and a flour paste. The outer sides of the walls have been finished with a mixture of lime with the addition of quark and flaxseed oil. .

KONTAKT: Větrný mlýn Jindřichovice pod Smrkem – tel. +420 776 213 236, lunaria.jps@seznam.cz, www.zijiciskanzen.cz

Mapa s technickými památkami a zajímavostmi v Jablonci a okolí

Realised within the project “Cooperation in the presentation and promotion of technical monuments”. This project is supported by the European Union from the European Regional Development Fund from Cooperation programme free state of Czech Republic – Saxony 2014-2020.

The project’s partner: Entwicklungsgesellschaft Niederschlesische Oberlausitz GmbH