ZIPSER SPIŠ REGION

ZIPSER – 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 Ugrian Kingdom. The Spiš county stretched mainly over the north-eastern part of present day Slovakia. A small part thereof includes today’s southern Poland lying between the rivers of Dunajec and Bialka and the national border with Slovakia.

Today, the word Spiš refers only to the historic name of this region, lacking political autonomy  (similar to Burgundy or Gascony in France), or, it can be perceived as denoting one of the official tourist destinations in Slovakia. The name is still widely used among the people.  

The centre of Spiš used to be the 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 used to be the town of Levoča. Most Spiš towns grew larger with an influx of Germans. They came to the Spiš region in the wake of Tartar invasion in the 13th century. German immigrants were natives of the Baltic Sea area and Swabia. Most of them were specialists in various trades and miners. Owing to the German colonization of the Spiš region, it used to be the home of a great number of  German speaking people until the end of the 2nd 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 its heirs became partners in the Poprad plant TATRA producing liqueurs and canned preserves in 1930. 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 the new line of products called ZIPSER.