Small and dapper, but very strong

This black beauty dating from 1771-1774 Originally belonged to the linen merchant Bedřich Šolc (Hans Friedrich Scholze). That's why the house stands near the water (the drapers needed water to make the cloth) and has reinforced rafters so that the poor building could can bear the weight of all the materials stored up in the attic. After Šolc, the Baroque house passed through the hands of a number of other owners, the most famous probably being the Tschörner family, owners of a cloth factory, from 1892. The "Šolcák", as the building is known, lived through some dramatic times in the eighties, when the House of Culture began to rise up behind it, so its future existence was highly uncertain. In the end, fortunately, it was preserved.

Chráněnka

This little house is most commonly known as Chráněnka, or Protector, as it is home to the administration of the Jizera Mountains Protected Landscape Area. The building is listed as a heritage site, as it is one of the oldest houses still standing in Liberec and is also a fine example of a wooden building that has been preserved in the city. And as opposites attract, right behind this little gem of folk architecture you’ll see a nice contrast in the Liberec Regional Authority building – the city’s modern skyscraper.