Zprávy památkové péče 2013, 73(3):237-245

Technical monument as a living technological complex, with the high-pressure hydro-electric power station in Liberec-Rudolfov as an example

Petr Freiwillig

This study focuses on the high-pressure hydro-electric power station in Rudolfov (Rudolfsthal) in the Jizera Mountains on the outskirts of the city of Liberec. The station is presented as a good example of a technical monument which includes not only the outer shell, but the entire set of buildings that ensure its operation. Its historical value lies in the actual power plant building from a renowned architect, German engineering college professor Artur Payr (1880-1937), but foremostly as well in the intact preserved complex of the constructional, mechanical, and electrical part of the entire works, realized in the years 1925-1928. The work is significant in its amount of technical elements, unique throughout the wider region, but especially still completely functional.
The study is chronologically divided into chapters addressing the plans, the course of construction, operation and production, the operators, and the power plant's current state and future. The first chapter covers the years 1908-1925, defining the long period of goals, plans, and preparations, culminating with the start of construction of 1925, which is covered in the next chapters describing development until 1928. The construction was carried out according to the project of Ing. Ludwig Hamburger through the association of construction companies Eduard Ast, Stroner & Co., Pittel & Brausewetter, and L. Bill & Co. in Liberec. The year 1927 encompasses an important period involving a major scandal regarding the structure's financing. Using excerpts from newspapers and the power plant's written records, the course of the scandal is reconstructed to show how the budgeted costs of CZK 7,500,000 soared to an astronomical CZK 26.1 million. The event even became the subject of interpellation in the National Assembly of Czechoslovakia. The following chapter focuses on the plant's operation and provides statistical data on the production of electricity in the following decades, on building interventions and adjustments to the machinery, and on changes in ownership. This lasted until the 1940's as the Přespolní elektrárna Liberec, (Elektrischen Überlands-Werkes reg. Genossenschaft m. b. H. in Reichenberg, EÜW). The company had a cooperative nature and was owned by the city of Liberec, six surrounding municipalities, and by the Johann Liebieg & Co. company, who owned one of the biggest textile factories in Liberec. The EÜW was founded in 1912 and launched the coal-fired power plant in Andělská Hora two years later which supported the hydro-electric power plant in Rudolfov during peak consumption periods. The conclusion of the study is devoted to the future of the works and explains the reasons and possibilities of proposed monument protection.

Keywords: hydro-electric power plant, Liberec cross-country power plant, Artur Payr, Rudolfov, Ludwig Hamburger

Published: September 1, 2013  Show citation