Has anyone visited this Napoleonic battlefield? Easy access from Brno? Or should I hire a tour guide?
Thank you
Posted by
Seattle
4637 posts
The battle happened on a huge area. In order to see as much as you can I would recommend a guided trip, for example: http://www.brnodaytrips.com/trip-to-austerlitz-battlefield/
If you want to see just museum and Cairn of Peace you can go there cheaply on your own by city bus (I think #47 or 48). Visitor Center in Brno would be able to provide detailed information. You can also go on your own by train or bus to Slavkov u Brna where you can visit chateau where the armistice was signed. Last December 2nd I visited the reenactment of the battle. It was great. Very well organized. Plenty of buses available for that occasion.
Posted by
San Francisco
14976 posts
Hi,
In 2016 and 2017 I went to Slavkov (Austerlitz) from Brno by train. The Schloss Austerlitz is about a 30 min walk from the Slavkov train station. Turn left from the station, go to the end of the block, then another left that leads to the Zentrum. Just before that you'll see the Schloss and signs of the Napoleon Exhibition, which is a history of the battle...pretty good comprehensive and balanced treatment.
The signs and explanations in the Exhibition are in Czech but there is (I think) an audio guide. The entrance price was also quite cheap, a bit over 3 Euro, which was the equivalent price.
Apart from the Exhibition the Schloss itself and the grounds are interesting. When I was there to see the Exhibition in 2016, two women ran the place, one of whom spoke English. When I went back in 2017, I focused on seeing the Schloss, the grounds etc since the year before I only had time for the Exhibition (closes at 5 pm).
There is a guided tour of the Schloss but given only in Czech. I had inquired about that, the woman there then didn't speak English but German and told me about the tour. I declined that.
Going out to the battlefield itself I did not do, so I did not get to see the memorial monument there. Keep in mind that after one big decisive battle the Austrians had had enough and before the end of the month of Dec. signed the peace at Pressburg (Bratislava).
Posted by
San Francisco
14976 posts
part 2 here...
Most likely you've done this already, in part or in depth. I would heartily suggest reading up on the events leading up to this decisive battle and the operational aspects of the battle itself.
In English superb treatment of this topic is done by British historians...D. Chandler, A. Roberts, C. Duffy, A. Horne, to name a few of them. If you have a good reading level of French, all the better, then I suggest Thierry Lenz.