On the basis of the measures in force and other restrictions, and by mutual agreement with the communes of the battlefield, we are cancelling the Austerlitz 2021 event programme. We regret that we are taking this step at the very last minute, complicating the situation of many registered participants who were able to meet the conditions announced on Monday. Further developments, new restrictions and an uncertain outlook do not allow us to find another solution.
We are preparing the 216th anniversary of the Battle of Austerlitz (December 2nd, 1805), the Battle of the Three Emperors – Austerlitz 2021, which will take place on December 1st-5th. We expect participation of approximately 1000 participants from 15 countries, 60 horses, 15 guns, and a complete program including a commemorative event in Kučerov (December 1), fires on the Žuráň Hill (December 3), re-enactment of the Battle of Austerlitz on the battlefield under the Santon Hill at Tvarožná (December 4) and the act of piety at the Peace Monument near Prace (December 5).
The event is organized within the Project Austerlitz by the Central European Napoleonic Society, the communes of Kucerov, Tvarozna and Prace and the Austerlitz association, and is sponsored by the Region of South Moravia.
Austerlitz 2021 from the point of view of the applicable measures:
Apart from the tribune, where different hygienic measures will be in place, we do not regulate public access to any of the points on our programme, all of which take place outdoors. We ask for mutual consideration and compliance with the applicable regulations.
Last year’s plans for events canceled in the spring and later in the year (Ligny and Waterloo in Belgium, Marengo in Italy and others) are being transferred to 2021. At the same time we can look forward to the important 215th anniversary of the Battle of Jena (in October), but also, and probably above all, the 200th anniversary of Napoleon’s death (May 5, 1821), which will be commemorated by a series of commemorative events in Paris. Austerlitz 2021 will therefore not only be a substitute for this year’s reduced program, but also an epilogue to another very important and attractive year in terms of the re-enacted Napoleonic history of Europe.
At Austerlitz, the Emperor of the French Napoleon I has decided, within a span of few hours, the outcome of the 1805 campaign and the entire war of the 3rd coalition. The defeated Russian Emperor Alexander I and his army have left the Central Europe; the war between France and Russia would however continue until 1807, ending with the battle of Friedland and the Tilsit peace treaty. The Austrian Emperor Francis I accepted the conditions of armistice signed on the 6th December 1805 at chateau Austerlitz and later also the conditions of the severe Presburg peace treaty signed on the 26th December. The severity of these conditions and Napoleon’s rising influence in Germany led in three years to another conflict between Austria and France, the war of 1809, culminating in Moravia again, at the battle of Znaim. The Napoleonic epopee continued by the Russian campaign of 1812, the war of the 6th coalition in 1813–1814 and culminated by the battle of Waterloo.
The main points of the memorial events program are Saturday’s re-enactment of the battle taking place near the village of Tvarožná under the Santon Hill on the northern edge of the historic battlefield, remarkable for its size of approximately 10 × 12 kilometres. On Sunday noon on the Pratzenberg, the place of the cruelest fights of the battle, in front of the Peace Monument dedicated to war victims, an act of piety takes place to commemorate not only military but also civilian victims of the Battle of Austerlitz. These memorial events do not celebrate Napoleon or his victory let alone wars and battles. Political and war events that have radically influenced and then for a long time divided Europe have become a reason for meeting and sharing common interest of many people in many countries of the world. The goal of such events is a commemoration and cognition of the common European history.
4th December 2021, Re-enactment of the Battle of the Three Emperors – Tvarožná, Santon
The theme of this year’s re-enactment held on the occasion of the 216th anniversary of the Battle of the Three Emperors will be Napoleon’s “Lion’s Leap” and the decisive struggle on the Pratzen Heights, with an emphasis on moments colorfully described in his memoirs by French Brigadier General Thiébault. You will see infantry, cavalry and artillery maneuvering and fighting according to the principles of the period. Napoleon’s “Grande Armée” will compete for the “Pratzen Heights” and the “Stare Vinohrady” with the center of the coalition army. Emperor Napoleon will be portrayed by Mark Schneider from Viginia, who has been playing this role at Austerlitz regularly since 2005.
Program
Wednesday, December 1st, 2021
- 15:00 – 18:00 Kučerov, presentation of units, skirmish
Friday, December 3rd, 2021
- 17:30 Fires on Žuráň Hill, organized by the commune of Podolí
Saturday, December 4th, 2021
- 07:30 Žuráň, Sun of Austerlitz ceremony, parade of the French troops
- 09:00 Tvarožná, line-up of the Coalition army
- 10:30 – 12:00 Santon, battlefield – infantry and cavalry maneuvers
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14: 00-15: 30 Re-enactment of the Battle of the Three Emperors – Tvarožná
You can buy your tickets for tribune for the Austerlitz 2021 event’s battle re-enactment. The entrance is free except for the tribunes.
You may buy your ticket with TICKETSTREAM at www.ticketstream.cz.
Groups may order their tickets directly at our e-mail adress.
Sunday, December 5th, 2021
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12:00 Act of piety, Peace Monument
Change of programme reserved.