Koprivnica is a city in northern
CroatiaCroatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a country in southeast Europe, at the crossroads of the Pannonian Plain, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean Sea. Its capital is Zagreb...
. It is the capital of the
Koprivnica-Križevci countyKoprivnica-Križevci County is a county in northern Croatia. This hyphenated name comes from two entities, the two of its largest cities, Koprivnica and Križevci.Koprivnica is the official capital of the county...
, and in 2001, the city had a population of 30,994.
Short history
Koprivnica (
GermanGerman is a West Germanic language, thus related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. It is one of the world's major languages and the most widely spoken first language in the European Union. Around the world, German is spoken by approximately 105 million native speakers and also by...
:
Kopreinitz,
HungarianHungarian is a Uralic language unrelated to most other languages in Europe. It is mainly spoken in Hungary and by the Hungarian minorities in the seven neighbouring countries...
:
Kapronca) is situated on the most convenient location – on the slopes of Bilogora and
KalnikKalnik is a municipality in the Koprivnica-Križevci county in Croatia. According to the 2001 census, there are 1,725 inhabitants in the area, with Croats forming an absolute majority....
from the south and river Drava from the north. Its position enabled it to develop numerous functions for the wider area such as trade, crafts and administration and in the 13th
centuryA century is one hundred consecutive years.Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages .-Start and end in the Gregorian Calendar:...
Koprivnica became town settlement. Koprivnica was named after the brook with the same name, which was first mentioned at the beginning of the 13th century during the Hungarian Kingdom.
Koprivnica has a history similar to nearby
VaraždinVaraždin is a city in north Croatia, north of Zagreb on the highway A4. City population is 41,434 on , urban area population is 49,075 on , and the metro area population Varaždin is a city in north Croatia, north of Zagreb on the highway A4. City population is 41,434 on , urban area...
: it was first mentioned in 1272 in a document by prince László IV and declared a free royal town by king
Lajos ILouis the Great Louis the Great Louis the Great was Apostolic King of Hungary from 1342 and King of Poland from 1370 until his death. (See Titles section)...
in 1356, and flourished as a trading place and a military fortress since.
In the 14th century the town settlement further developed due to increased trade under the influence of Varaždin. During the construction of Renaissance fortification in the second half of the 16th century Koprivnica was the centre of Slavonian military border. Koprivnica had in its troops musketeers, German soldiers, hussars and infantry. At that time the Renaissance square emerges together with the Town hall which emphasized the renaissance identity, so Koprivnica is today legitimately considered a renaissance town.
The military aspect set it back some when it was included in the
Military FrontierThe Military Frontier was a borderland of Habsburg Austria and later the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, which acted as the cordon sanitaire against Turkish incursions from the Ottoman Empire...
in the 16th century during the wars with the
Ottoman TurksThe Ottoman Turks were the subdivision of the Ottoman Muslim Millet that dominated the ruling class of the Ottoman Empire. Reliable information about the early history of the Ottomans is scarce. According to some sources , the leader of the Kayi tribe of the Oguz Turks, Ertugrul, left Persia in...
, but after
Maria TheresiaMaria Theresa may refer to:* Archduchess Maria Theresia of Austria , daughter of Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor and Eleonore-Magdalena of Pfalz-Neuburg...
's decree of 1765 it resumed life as a peaceful little merchant town that it really was.
Its position on the border of Habsburg Empire and
Ottoman EmpireThe Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State , also known by its contemporaries as the Turkish Empire or Turkey , was an empire that lasted from 1299 to November 1, 1922 The Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State (Ottoman Turkish: دَوْلَتِ عَلِیَّهِ عُثْمَانِیَّه Dawlet-il ʿAliyyat-il ʿOs̠māniyye, Modern Turkish:...
influenced the environment, economic, social and demographic changes, as well as everyday life. Koprivnica is therefore considered a border town. In the second half of the 17th century Koprivnica was among the most developed royal towns in Croatian-Slavonian Kingdom and its economic growth was in the first place based on strong trade activity. The fact that three most significant churches (St. Nicholas,
St. AnthonyFernando Martins de Bulhões, venerated as Anthony of Padua or Anthony of Lisbon, c. 1195 – 13 June 1231) is a Catholic saint who was born in Lisbon, Portugal to a wealthy family and who died in Padua, Italy.-Early life:...
of
PaduaPadua is a city in the Veneto, northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Padua and the economic and communications hub of the area. Padua's population is 212,500 . The city is sometimes included, with Venice , in the Padua-Venice Metropolitan Area, having a population of c...
with Franciscan monastery and Assumption of Virgin Mary in Mocile further proves economic power of the town in the 17th century. Economic activity was moved outside the town fortifications and this resulted with the wide and spacious baroque square – today’s Zrinski square and Jelačić square. At the same time the oldest streets were formed and they established the development base for the town till the present days.
In the 19th century old renaissance and baroque housing and trade objects were replaced with historicistical architecture and the new town centre obtained its present appearance. In 1863 the main part of the future town park was planted, and removal of the old fortification together with the construction of the railway determined the regional development of the town. Railway connections enabled development of industry and further established Koprivnica as a leading centre of Podravina region.
Koprivnica developed significantly in the 20th century with the advent of the
PodravkaPodravka is a food company founded in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia based in Koprivnica, today Croatia. It produces the rather well-known product Vegeta and also Ajvar amongst thousands of other products in its diverse catalogue.-History:...
foodFood is any substance, usually composed of carbohydrates, fats, proteins and water, that can be eaten or drunk by an animal, including humans, for nutrition or pleasure. Items considered food may be sourced from plants, animals or other categories such as fungus or fermented products like alcohol...
industryAn industry is the manufacturing of a good or service within a category. Although industry is a broad term for any kind of economic production, in economics and urban planning industry is a synonym for the secondary sector, which is a type of economic activity involved in the manufacturing of raw...
, known worldwide for its
VegetaVegeta is a condiment sold worldwide, which is a mixture of spices and various vegetables.Vegeta is produced by Podravka, a company from Koprivnica, Croatia, as well as a subsidiary of Podravka in Poland and two Vegeta licensees from Austria and Hungary...
spice. They even have a museum of Podravka.
Worth mentioning is the annual "
motifIn art, a motif is a repeated idea, pattern, image, or theme. Paisley designs are referred to as motifs. Many designs in mosques in Islamic culture are motifs, especially those of flowers. Two major Roman motifs are egg and tongue, and ball and reel...
s of
Podravina" event when the whole town becomes a gallery of
naïve artNaïve art is a classification of art that is often characterized by a childlike simplicity in its subject matter and technique. While many naïve artists appear, from their works, to have little or no formal art training, this is often not true....
. Many of the Croatian greatest naive artists come from the villages along the
DravaDrava or Drave is a river in southern Central Europe, a tributary of the Danube. It begins in Toblach, Italy, and flows east through East Tirol and Carinthia in Austria, into Slovenia , and then southeast, passing through Croatia and forming most of the border between Croatia and Hungary, before...
in this county, notably
Ivan GeneralićIvan Generalić was a Croatian naïve art painter.Generalić was born in Hlebine near Koprivnica. In elementary school, painting lessons were his greatest joy and as a child he used to earn money...
.
Famous people
- Vanna
Ivana Ranilović-Vrdoljak is a pop singer from Croatia. She is also known with her artist name Vanna.-Biography:Vanna was born on September 1, 1970 in Koprivnica, . Although she won prizes in various national children and youth festivals, her official debut was at Zagrebfest, a contest held in the...
- Zlata Bartl
Zlata Bartl , is the creator of Vegeta....
- Josip Beruta
- Stjepan Brodarić
Stjepan Brodarić was a Croatian bishop and writer.Early records show that Brodarić was dean of Zagreb church in 1498. He studied in Padua around the years 1501 to 1506, receiving his doctorate in canonical law...
- Leander Brozović
- Vinko Česi
- Ivan Golac
Ivan Golac is a former football player and manager from former Yugoslavia.A Yugoslav international right back, he is best known as a player and manager of FK Partizan, of Belgrade...
- Tomo Čiković
- Žarko Dolinar
Žarko Dolinar , Ph.D., a native of Koprivnica, Croatia achieved eight medals in world table tennis championship competitions....
- Baltazar Dvorničić Napuly
Baltazar Dvorničić Napuly was a Croatian Catholic cleric and lawyer.A native of Koprivnica, he was a student at the University of Bologna from at least 1581. Some have claimed that he had previously studied in Graz and Vienna, but clear evidence is lacking. In Bologna he had earned his degrees in...
- Đuro Ester
- Dragutin Feletar
- Josip Friščić
Josip Friščić is a Croatian politician and current leader of the Croatian Peasant Party .Friščić joined the party in 1992 and subsequently established many local branches....
- Franjo i Fran Galović
- Pavle Gaži
- Ivan Generalić
Ivan Generalić was a Croatian naïve art painter.Generalić was born in Hlebine near Koprivnica. In elementary school, painting lessons were his greatest joy and as a child he used to earn money...
- Maja Gjerek Lovreković
- Anica Gjerek
- Rudolf Horvat
- Franjo Horvatić
- Ivan Stephan Jug
- Josip Juratović
- Zlatko Kauzlarić Atač
- Milorad Kovačević
- Mira Kolar
- Ivan Kraljić
- Mirko Lendvaj
- Zvonimir Mršić
- Antun Nemčić
- Antun Partlec
- Mladen Pavković
- Ranko Pavleš
- Stjepan Pavunić
- Kerubin Pehm
- Fortunat Pintarić
- Damir Polančec
Damir Polančec is a Croatian politician, currently serving as Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Economy, Labour and Entrepreneurship in the Croatian Government.-External links:...
- Božidar Prosenjak
- Stjepan Prvčić
- Vjekoslav Prvčić
- Tomo Šestak
- Josip Vargović
- Vinko Vošicki
- Ivica Vukić
- Adam Žuvić
- Goran Mitrović
External links