This exhibition was realised as the part of project "Development of Regional museum in Koprivnice" during the 1.7.2005 do 25.9.2005. Cost of exhibiton was 2,6 mil. Kč covered by the partnership of European Union fund (using the SROP agenda - www.strukturalni-fondy.cz) , city of Kopřivnice and Moravian-Silesian Region.

EXCEPTIONAL STORY OF ONE BUILDING...

The Fojtství (Reeve's House) Museum building is firmly bound up with the history of the Tatra Kopřivnice motor car works. In 1850, Reeve Jan Schustala, a brother of the founder of the motor works, assigned his brother Ignác Schustala a barn. In that barn, Ingnác Shustala together with two assistens built the first carriage in the same year.

An accurate date of the building erection has not been known. It was probably a wooden building with vaulted stone basements of which one has remained to date. The old building was rebuilt in 1789 by Reeve Jakub Schustala - as evidenced by an unimpaired inscription on the central carrier beam. The then-appearance of the building was almost the same as that of these days. The building is 26 m long and 15 m wide and has a mansard roof. A permanent exposition have been placed there, which has been dedicated to Ignác Schustala - the founder of the Kopřivnice carriage making works - and his wife Johana Schustalova, born Johana Feixova. The exposition includes original drawings originating form the factory catalogue of 1898 and some carriage drafts from the Ignác Schustala's sketchbook.

Another part of the exposition includes basic data on some important natives of Kopřivnice. Olympic winner Emil Zátopek and painter Zdeněk Burian are the most notable among them .

In the space of a former kitchen of the Reeve's former house, a rustic room (called Lašská rustic room after the historic Lašsko area) furnished in local style has been installed. This room and that of the natives are decorated with original vaulted ceilings. In addition, the rooms are decorated with popular paintings on glass and sheet metal.

The entrance room is dedicated to the oldest settlement of the town and its surroundings. That exposition includes archaeological discoveries originating form the near Šostýn Castle, which was built in the late 13the century and is situated 1.5 km southeast of the town centre. In that room, militaria - arrows, lances, knives, spurs, armour parts, technical and constructional ironworks and things commonly required for the life in a medieval castle - are displayed in particular. In addition, an ivory statuette called the Šostýn Venus, dating from the early 14th century, is displayed there. Among the archaeological material, the bronze treasure dating from the mid-8th century BC can be regarded a really unique object.

In a top room of the Reeve's former granary, there is, at present, an exhibition hall in which exhibitions of historic, homeland-study-related and artistic character take place on a regular basis.

In the Fojtství premises, there is a newly restored barn in which Ignác Schustala started to manufacture first carriages. In the barn, carriages manufactured by Schustala Works & comp. are displayed at present. In the immediate neighbourhood of the Fojtsví premises, there is an old cemetery, in which a pseudo-gothic chapel of the Schustala family and a tomb of the Raška family - the family of the founder of a majolica manufacturing company - are situated. In addition, an original little church of wood stood there by 1896.

INFORMATION: http://www.koprivnice.cz