Koprivnica

Population

The list of settlements in the Koprivnica municipality is:

Geography

Koprivnica (German: Kopreinitz, Hungarian: Kapronca) is situated at a strategic location – on the slopes of Bilogora and Kalnik 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 century Koprivnica became a 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.

History

Koprivnica has a history similar to nearby Varaždin: it was first mentioned in 1272 in a document by prince László IV and declared a free royal town by king Lajos I 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 Frontier in the 16th century during the wars with the Ottoman Turks, but after Maria Theresia'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 Empire 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. Anthony of Padua 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 Synagogue was built in 1875 in the center of Koprivnica. Today it is listed as a cultural monument.

In the late 19th century and early 20th century, Koprivnica was a district capital in the Bjelovar-Križevci County of the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia. The first concentration and extermination camp established in the Independent State of Croatia during the World War II was Danica concentration camp established in Koprivnica.

Koprivnica developed significantly in the 20th century with the advent of the Podravka food industry, known worldwide for its Vegeta spice. They even have a museum of Podravka.

The annual "motifs of Podravina" event when the whole town becomes a gallery of naïve art. Many of the Croatian greatest naïve artists come from the villages along the Drava in this county, notably Ivan Generalić.

Notable people