Škoda Works and Karlov Colony

The first company premises were located in the area near today’s Poděbradova and Kovářská streets. However, the capacity of the plant became insufficient in the second half of the 1880s. As the factory grew, so did the surrounding housing development. Therefore, between 1889 and 1899, the company moved its production to a new area on the edge of the Říšské Předměstí (Imperial Suburb), today Jižní Předměstí (Southern Suburb) towards the village of Skvrňany. The premises that were originally delimited by Tylova Street, the no longer existing Vidmanova Street, the road to Stod and the railway line to Cheb, were growing southwards. In 1910-1911, the company built the workers’ colony Karlov with more than 200 houses south of its borders.

The First World War served as the impetus for a great expansion of the company. The Škoda Works, the largest arms manufacturer of Austro-Hungary at the time, absorbed the area between Tylova, Hálkova and Korandova streets that was originally intended for residential development. Even over the course of the war, the factory expanded to the railway line to Domažlice and further south to Borská Street. Especially in this area, the company also further developed in the interwar period. In 1945, Allied air raids destroyed more than half of the plant. The restoration also included the construction of a new building of technical offices at the main gate in Tylova Street or a warehouse for new models. Further building activities headed west towards the district of Zátiší.

Most of the nearly 40 buildings on the trail route were built in the key period of 1914-1948. The factory halls, some of which gave way to new construction during the so-called revitalization of the Škoda brownfield after 2000, are complemented by a former canteen, which has been adapted into the Techmania Science Center planetarium, a unique all-welded steel bridge with a reinforced concrete spiral ramp, the late-functionalist office building or residential buildings in the Karlov workers’ colony and the no longer existing Habrman School.