ZIPSER SPIŠ REGION

Zipser – The German equivalent of the Slovak adjective spišský, spišská and of the name Spiš  (Latin - Scepusium, German - Zips, Polish - Spisz, Hungarian - Szepes) – is the historic name of a shire and county of the former Hungarian kingdom. The Spiš county stretched mainly over the north-eastern part of present-day Slovakia. A small part of Spiš includes a southern part of today’s Poland lying between the Dunajec and Bialka rivers and the national border between Slovakia and Poland.

Today, the word “Spiš” refers only to the historic name of this region, which lacks political autonomy (similar to Burgundy or Gascony in France). Spiš also refers to one of the official tourist destinations in Slovakia, and the name is still widely used by people.  

The centre of Spiš used to be Spiš Castle, which lent its name to the region. The castle was built in the 12th century. From the 16th century until the year 1922 the centre of Spiš was the town of Levoča. Most Spiš towns grew larger with the influx of Germans. They came to the Spiš region in the wake of the Tatar raids in the 13th century. The German immigrants were natives of the Baltic Sea area and Swabia. Most of them were specialists in various trades and mining. Owing to the German colonization of the Spiš region, it was home to a great number of German-speaking people until the end of the Second World War. 

The Spiš region boasts a rich distilling tradition. In the 19th and 20th centuries, there used to be busy distilleries in Spišská Nová Ves, Kežmarok, Huncovce and Spišský Hrhov. In 1778 a plant was founded in Spišská Belá to manufacture Spiš Belan juniper liqueur. The distillery in Spišská Belá was established by the Kleinberger family in 1875 and in 1930 its heirs became partners in the Tatra plant in Poprad, producing liqueurs and canned preserves. In 1925, Henrich Morgenbesser also started a liqueur distillery in Stará Ľubovňa. Probably the best known liqueur distillery in the second half of the 20th century was the White Lady of Levoča company.

Respecting the tradition outlined above, our company brings you a new line of products called Zipser.