Kopřivnice

Kopřivnice (ˈkopr̝̊ɪvɲɪtsɛ; Nesselsdorf) is a town in Nový Jičín District in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 22,000 inhabitants. It is an industrial town, known especially for the vehicle manufacturer Tatra. Villages of Lubina, Mniší and Vlčovice are administrative parts of Kopřivnice. Both the Czech and German names of the town are derived from "nettle" (kopřiva in Czech, Nessel in German). The name refers to the probable founder of Šostýn Castle (German: Schauenstein), Bishop Bruno von Schauenburg, who had a nettle in his coat of arms. Kopřivnice is located about east of Nový Jičín and south of Ostrava. It lies in the Moravian-Silesian Foothills. The highest point is the hill Pískovna at above sea level. The town lies on the Kopřivnička Brook, a tributary of the Lubina River, which flows through the northern and eastern part of the territory. Větřkovice Reservoir is located in the territory. Completed in 1976, it serves as a water supply for the Tatra Trucks company and the industrial zone, as a recreational area, and for fish farming. The Šoštýn Castle was founded around 1280–1290 and was first documented in 1347. The settlement was probably established soon after the castle. The first written mention of Kopřivnice is from 1437, when the castle and its surroundings were bought by Emperor Sigismund and joined to the Hukvaldy estate. In 1465, the estate was owned by King George of Poděbrady, who sold it a year later to Olomouc bishop Tas of Boskovice. Kopřivnice then became a property of the Olomouc bishopric. For centuries, Kopřivnice remained only a village that did not escape the invasions of troops during the Thirty Years' War, natural disasters, crop failures, or epidemics. A turning point in the history of Kopřivnice was the establishment of a factory for earthenware in 1812. The factory gained fame throughout the whole Austria-Hungary with its products, and existed until 1962. The main driving force of industrialization was the carriage factory of Ignaz Schustala.