This article focuses on the former working-class neighborhood of Karlov, built at the beginning of the 20th century by Skoda Works in Pilsen. We study the now non-existing place in the context of the transforming urban space of an industrial metropolis, and its relation to its collective (witness) representations. Based on data from interviews with living contemporaries, participant observation during commemorative meetings and archival research, we analyze the negotiated changes in the representational strategies of "Karlovers." In the article we study two forms of Karlov: commemorative Karlov, as it is remembered and produced by the former inhabitants of Karlov during their regular meetings, when they retroactively construct Karlov as a meaningful place and an ideal for life in an urban environment. Then we attempt to explain why this commemorative Karlov resists being identified with the remaining Karlov, that is, with the physical and architectonical remains of the commemorated place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]