Besides the rooms in the pleasant ambience of wood in GOSTel Kočevski rog, we have also fitted out a new apartment in the neighbouring Schneler house. The rich past of this multi-dwelling house tells stories from the time of the Gottschee Germans, when lodgings were arranged here. When they returned home for a visit, American emigrants also stayed overnight here.

The apartment is arranged in Secession style, which matches the architecture of the whole house and tells the story of an important figure – the German chancellor Leo von Caprivi, whose ancestors came precisely from Koprivnik. Besides works of art, in the apartment you will also find a memorial book with an extensive book collection that will acquaint you with the rich history of Chancellor Caprivi and of the whole Kočevje area. 

Koprivnik is a settlement in Kočevski Rog below the 1077 m high Kopa, on the Kočevje - Črnomelj road in the municipality of Kočevje.

Koprivnik is one of the numerous Gottschee villages, with a formerly predominantly German-speaking population. The settlement itself is first mentioned in written sources under the German name Nesselthal only in the middle of the 15th Century, it certainly came into being already in the second half of the 14th Century. In 1400 the independent Koprivnik parish is also first mentioned. Valvasor mentions it too in his The Glory of the Duchy of Carniola, as places known for woodenware.

As with most of the Kočevje region, the Second World War did not spare Koprivnik either. The devastation continued after the war itself as well, when the church of St James and the cemetery church of St Anne were burnt down and destroyed. The latter was restored in the nineteen-seventies.

In 2009 the Nesseltal Koprivnik Institute for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage was founded in the village, where you can see the Ethnological Collection of the Gottschee Germans and a permanent exhibition of works and glimpses from the life of the Gottschee academic painter Michael Ruppe. A presentation of the production of fruit juices by traditional Gottschee methods and a tasting of home-made delicacies are also possible.

Because of its position the village is an excellent starting point for exploring the wild nature of Kočevski rog. Active leisure time is made possible by well-kept hiking and cycling trails, which you can set out on alone or with a guide. You can also set out on exciting excursions along the valley of the river Kolpa, all the way to Kostel and Osilnica. In the immediate vicinity is the Rajhenav Farm, where by prior arrangement you can treat yourself to a tasty meal. Both Rajhenav and Koprivnik offer locally produced food.

For your information we present some distances to Koprivnik, which lies at 671 metres above sea level. Do not forget that only the Kočevje – Koprivnik road is asphalted along its whole length; the other roads are partly gravel.

Kočevje – Koprivnik = 16km (asphalt)

Ljubljana – Kočevje -Koprivnik = 83km (asphalt)

Novo mesto – Dvor – Kočevje - Koprivnik = 63km (asphalt)

Novo mesto – Dolenjske Toplice – Podturn – Žaga Rog – Koprivnik = 38km (gravel)
Črnomelj – Mavrlen – Miklarji – Koprivnik = 21km (partly asphalt, gravel)
Semič – Vrčice – Planina - Koprivnik = 20km (partly asphalt, gravel)
Predgrad in the Poljanska valley – Koprivnik = 21km (partly asphalt, gravel)