On Saturday, almost 15,000 people watched the reenactment of the Battle of Austerlitz (Slavkov), where the Napoleonic army won a famous victory in 1805, staged below Santon hill in the village of Tvarozna near Brno, according to Miroslav Jandora, one of the organisers.
The organisers chose one of the initial phases of the battle. The re-enactment, which lasted one hour and took place in sunny weather, was performed by over 1,000 military history enthusiasts in period uniforms with more than 70 horses and 15 cannons, said Jandora, adding that there could be twice as many soldiers at the 220th anniversary of the battle next year.
“Every year we have military history fans from 15 countries, and we expect higher interest on the 220th anniversary. We will definitely add something extra to the programme, we will be publishing details gradually,” Jandora said.
In the Battle at Slavkov on 2 December 1805, Napoleon’s French army defeated the armies of Austrian Emperor Franz I and Russian Tzar Alexander I, in one of the largest battles in the history of Central Europe. A total of 20,000 soldiers perished on the battlefield, and historians estimate that twice more inhabitants of Moravia died as a consequence of the battle.
This year, one of its initial phases of the battle was staged, namely the advance of the allied troops from Pratecky hill to the area between the villages of Telnice and Sokolnice.
Admission to the reenactment is free every year, though tickets are sold for the 350-seat stands.
This weekend’s reenactment was the culmination of a programme that began on Wednesday with a meeting of Napoleonic soldiers in the village of Kucerov. The event concluded with a commemoration at the Cairn of Peace memorial on Sunday. An accompanying programme, including historical military encampments and other activities, also took place in Krenovice, Tvarozna, Zbysov, Kobylnice, Sokolnice and Slavkov.
In Slavkov, the “Back Then in Slavkov” event took place simultaneously at the chateau, in its park, and in the town centre, including parades of military history enthusiasts in period costumes and smaller battle scenes. The event is organised by the administration of Slavkov Chateau with support of the town.
