{"id":2406,"date":"2025-12-19T15:38:43","date_gmt":"2025-12-19T14:38:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.austerlitz.org\/en\/?p=2406"},"modified":"2025-12-19T15:45:33","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T14:45:33","slug":"looking-back-at-the-austerlitz-2025-event","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.austerlitz.org\/en\/looking-back-at-the-austerlitz-2025-event\/","title":{"rendered":"Looking back at the Austerlitz 2025 event"},"content":{"rendered":"

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From November 26 to December 2, the Austerlitz 2025 commemorative event dedicated to the 220th anniversary of the Battle of Three Emperors at Austerlitz took place. It was attended by 1,800 reenactors, including 1,600 soldiers armed with 1,100 muskets, 15 cannons, and 95 horses. This made it one of the largest events of its kind in recent years and the second largest Austerlitz event in history, after the 200th anniversary in 2005, which was attended by 3,600 enthusiasts from around the world. The event was also Mark Schneider’s European finale in the role of Napoleon, whom he had successfully and convincingly portrayed for two decades.<\/p>\n

The Austerlitz 2025 program kicked off in Ku\u010derov on Wednesday, November 26, in the early evening with a parade and a battle reenactment, loosely inspired by the march of Russian-Austrian forces from Olomouc to Slavkov. On Friday, the official opening took place with traditional fires on \u017dur\u00e1\u0148 Hill near the village of Podol\u00ed, the place from which Napoleon commanded the first part of the battle in 1805. The fires on \u017dur\u00e1\u0148 refer to the night before the battle, when thousands of torches were lit in the French camps and the army paid tribute to their Emperor. Napoleon said that this evening was the most beautiful of his life.<\/p>\n

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Mark Schneider then spent time in the Russian-Austrian camp on the Tvaro\u017en\u00e1 village green, where he and his staff were invited by the commander of the Russian column to a social gathering. Saturday, November 29, began with a ceremony at \u017dur\u00e1\u0148, where French troops led by Napoleon lined up to watch the famous Austerlitz sunrise. With a slight delay of a few minutes, it actually shone through the low clouds above the Pratzen Heights, creating an atmosphere very similar to that of the morning of December 2, 1805. In the morning, the participants had maneuvers on the future battlefield on their agenda, the purpose of which was to form larger units capable of movement according to the principles of the time.<\/p>\n

The French Army consisted of five battalions \u2013 one guard and four line battalions with 100 to 160 bayonets, cavalry with 40 sabers and 6 cannons. The Coalition Army consisted of an advance guard and four battalions, including one Russian battalion with a total strength of 450 bayonets, cavalry with 36 sabers and 9 cannons, including a brand new replica of the Austrian 12-pound Liechtenstein field cannon. Participants came from two dozen countries. Most came from the Czech Republic (700) and Poland (250), followed by Germany (200), France (160), Italy (130), Belgium (120), Hungary (50), Slovakia (40), Lithuania (40), Austria, Latvia, Romania, Great Britain, Canada, Ireland, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Spain, Portugal, the United States, and even Argentina.<\/p>\n

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In the tent behind the podium, Miroslav Jandora, president of the Austerlitz Project, and Pavel \u0160\u0165astn\u00fd, mayor of Tvaro\u017en\u00e1, welcomed the guests of honor, including Jan Grolich, governor of the South Moravian Region, and St\u00e9phane Crouzat, ambassador of the French Republic, who took patronage of the event, senators, deputies, mayors of municipalities through which the armies passed in 1805, and representatives. Mark Schneider also bid farewell to the visitors with his last proclamation after twenty years.<\/p>\n

The scenario of the battle reenactment was inspired by the battle fought on December 2, 1805, at Star\u00e9 Vinohrady. It began with an attack by Vandamme’s French division against General Miloradovich’s Russian infantry, continued with a clash with General Rottermund’s Austrian regiments, and culminated in a clash between the elite corps of both armies, Napoleon’s and Alexander’s guards. All participants survived unscathed, and according to police estimates, 20,000 spectators left satisfied, thanks in part to the exceptionally good weather. According to many veterans, it was one of the most impressive and clearest battle reenactments, which was also appreciated by the cadets of the French military school Saint Cyr and members of the 2nd and 5th Dragoon Regiments of the French Army, units that continue the traditions of the cavalry that fought in the Battle of Austerlitz, who were present. Distinguished members of military history associations were then decorated on the battlefield, and Saturday’s program concluded with a social evening at the Old Post Office in Pozo\u0159ice, which is the indispensable base and headquarters for the entire event.<\/p>\n

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On Sunday, the program included partial memorial ceremonies in the villages of the battlefield, and at noon, a memorial ceremony began at the Peace Memorial on the Pratzenberg, the site of the bloodiest clashes of the battle. After speeches by the mayor of Prace, Petr \u0160imara, and the governor of the South Moravian Region, Jan Grolich, Catholic and Orthodox prayers were said and wreaths were laid in the chapel. Military-historical units paid tribute to the fallen and the deceased and also remembered their own deceased members. Delegations from the 2nd and 5th Dragoon Regiments of the French Army with their standards took part in the memorial ceremony.<\/p>\n

As December 2 fell on a Tuesday this year, several dozen participants gathered again on the \u017dur\u00e1n and at the Peace Memorial to say their final farewells to Mark Schneider in the role of Napoleon. His last act on European soil was to attend the opening of the new exhibition at the Peace Memorial.<\/p>\n

The event was organized as part of the Austerlitz Project by the Central European Napoleonic Society, the municipalities of Tvaro\u017en\u00e1 and Prace, and Austerlitz z.s. The event was produced by AusterlitzPro s.r.o. The program was financially supported by the South Moravian Region and the CzechTourism agency. We would like to thank the other partners of the event, which included Veolia CZ, Explosia a.s., Cairo CZ, and many others. The main media partner of the event was Czech Television.<\/p>\n

With greatest pleasure we add the excellent video made by Nibid Atreya (Daniel Lionsberg) for which we are thankful<\/p>\n

Austerlitz Grand Re-enactment, 2025<\/h2>\n

In 2025, the fields beneath the Santon once again echoed with musket fire, galloping hooves, and the disciplined cadence of Napoleonic drill. The annual Austerlitz re-enactment, one of Europe\u2019s premier living-history events, returned on a scale unmatched in recent memory. For viewers familiar with our earlier Austerlitz Animated Documentary<\/a>, this production brought the same history to life\u2014this time not through animation, but through thousands of reenactors standing on the very ground where the Battle of the Three Emperors unfolded.<\/p>\n