Kopřivnice (Not Just) a City of Cars

Kopřivnice (Not Just) a City of Cars In much the same way Ostrava is inseparably linked with heavy industry and coal mining, Kopřivnice is strongly linked with the automobile industry. The city of Kopřivnice, however, has a lot more to offer. The development of Kopřivnice is closely connected to the automobile industry. In fact, it was thanks to it that a small village became a city and many people still connect it with the Tatra brand. Over the last century, Kopřivnice, along with this brand, grew and underwent many changes. Many new inhabitants moved to the city and modern facilities had to be built for them, including housing estates as well as sports grounds. Each family had someone connected to the Tatra brand, and many employees from the surrounding area worked there. Societal changes that occured in the 90s, however, left their mark upon Kopřivnice. The city’s main employer started letting employees go, and many unfinished development projects remained. Kopřivnice was therefore faced with new challenges it had to overcome. The unfinished House of Culture was turned into a technical museum and, in the late 90s, the city started working with CzechInvest to construct an industrial zone in Zelená Louka. At that time, unemployment in the city was nearing 10%, and the Moravian-Silesian Region was closing in on 16%. Kopřivnice started to fight the wave of people leaving the city to look for opportunities elsewhere. After preparations of the industrial zone’s construction were completed, and after many meetings, Kopřivnice was able to gain eight investors. These investors were able to use the qualified workers in the city and managed to create job opportunities that replaced ones lost with the decrease of production in Tatra. The truth is, most of the new investors operate within the automotive industry, and so the local economy is still sensitive to the market’s fluctuations. The city is also, however, home to the biggest bike production company in the Czech Republic, Bike Fun International; a manufacturer of cutting edge audio technology, Tymphany; a producer of nutritional supplements, Favea; the young and innovative company Lumitrix, which concerns itself with projection systems; and many other manufacturers and service providers that help create job opportunities in fields other than the automotive industry. The city is trying to remind people of the knowledge and technical skills of its ancestors as well as its current citizens through museums and the Kopřivnice Days of Technology event, which presents mainly the production of local engineering companies. The city’s museum exposition is complemented by a private vehicle museum, Oldtimer, so car enthusiasts are bound to feel in their element in Kopřivnice. Furthermore, a new museum, built in an unused Tatra building, focusing on Tatra trucks, is set to open in 2021. This will become the city’s third major exposition centered around the automotive industry. The new museum will also include a showroom, where visitors will be able to see the famous train motor car “Slovenská Strela”--a national and cultural memento that is currently being restored. You can be the judge: what city deserves the title “City of Cars” more than Kopřivnice? POSITIV 4/2020 ǀ 59