The Church of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary is located in a suburb of Liberec – Harcov. The church in Harcov was built in 1858-1860 thanks to donations from local citizens

For a long time, the inhabitants of Starý Harcov had to make do with just a bell (from 1784) near the church we see today, hence the name of the street in which the church now stands. In 1841 a chapel was built by the Kadlice road, after which it was only a small step to building a full-fledged church. 

The Harcov church was built in 1858-1860, the work being funded by donations from local citizens; the biggest supporter of its construction was the Liberec chaplain and catechist of the Harcov school Anton Henke, who, together with local teacher Anton Neumann, raised the money and laid the foundation stone on 7 June 1858. The plans for the church were drawn up and the main construction work carried out by Josef Schwarzbach (a builder from Jablonec who had been born in Harcov). 

It seemed that fate did little to favour the construction of the church. Soon after the work had started, on 1 August 1858, prolonged rains led to flooding that badly damaged the building site. The Austro-French-Sardinian War of 1859 further hampered progress with the work. Despite all the circumstances, however, the building was eventually finished and on 25 November 1860 the church was consecrated by the vicar of Liberec, Franz Moysel.

The original organ was built in 1862 by Karl Fröhlich of Zawidów, and the first person to play it was organist Anton Proksch from Liberec, the brother of Josef Proksch, Bedřich Smetana’s blind teacher. In 1890, an organ made by the Rieger brothers in Krnov was purchased for the church.

The Visitation of the Virgin Mary is the name given to an event in the New Testament. It is the moment the pregnant Virgin Mary meets her relative Elizabeth, also pregnant, as the future mother of John the Baptist. The pregnancy of the barren Elizabeth was to be a miracle, one that would confirm Mary's previous Annunciation. It is also the occasion on which two important prayers of Catholic Christianity, the Hail Mary (or part of it) and the Magnificat, were first uttered. 

In 2009, the City of Liberec sold the church, by then consecrated, to a private buyer, on condition that the external appearance of the church building be preserved. The new owner was a local patriot, who repaired the church and also used it for his business. In 2023, the Září Nursery School publicly presented its plans for the establishment of the Světla Education and Leisure Centre in the church.

the Late Empire church is a single nave building with a slender tower, and its appearance to some extent suggests the emergency of the Neo-Romanesque style. Although the church architecture is not particularly acclaimed, the building itself is a distinctive and absolutely inseparable part of Harcov.