bg Karlovy Vary

Theater Square Station

- Divadelní Náměstí 3 -
The five-story multi-purpose building, which was built on a plot where a former two-story building used to stand, was constructed somewhere between 1905 and 1907 as the Theater Square Station of the Imperial Underground Funicular Railway. The concession for the operation of the track to the future Imperial Hotel was issued on November 16, 1906, the approval was given on March 15, 1907, and put the track was put into operation on May 18, 1907. It was built as the oldest funicular in Karlovy Vary and the second oldest still functioning cable car tunnel in Europe, which was established and operated by the company named Karlovy Vary Electric Cable Car Westbury, owned by Lord Westbury. The supplier of rolling stock was the Swiss company Gesselschaft der L. von Rolleschen Eisenwerk from . The line goes from Theater Square Station to Café Helenenhof Station at the Hotel Imperial.
The interior of the Theater Square Station shown in an old photo
During the First Czechoslovak Republic, the funicular served mainly spa guests who stayed in the hotel and went down to the healing springs, and therefore, it was only in operation during the summer season. After the , the cable car was taken over by the city of Karlovy Vary and operated through the Joint Municipal Enterprise of the City of Karlovy Vary. On October 1, 1954, the newly established Transport Company of the City of Karlovy Vary took over the track, which carried out a complete reconstruction and replacement of machinery in the years between 1955 and 1957. The line has been part of the city's local public transport system since August 1, 1961. In 1980, the line was initially closed due to its poor condition. Renovation work was carried out between 1983 and 1987, and it reopened on November 28, 1987.
An old postcard in which the building is visible
The two dormers that are placed on top of the Eclectic and Art Nouveau building are adorned with a and floral and geometric decorations. Underneath these dormers, you can see a , as well as two pairs of supportive that are placed on top of a that's also topped with an Ionic . Around the windows, there are loads of garlands, as well as and fragments that are embellished with . Between the first and second floors, you can see some ornamental butterflies, motifs, an adorned with , as well as and other floral decorations. There's also a of which two of the corbels also serve as piers.
The building is shown in an old postcard