Radio silence for the last few weeks as I travelled across Europe in the van, I was meeting my son in Vienna with my plan to see as much interesting history as I could as I travelled out and back. Not surprisingly with freedom to roam I picked up a lot of history, in fact by the end my head was pretty much ‘blown’ ! I did do some other stuff along the way but this rather long photomontage gives the highlights of the History stuff.
Quatre Bras the Gemioncourt Farm
Tomb of Ottomonde just outside Ramillies
La Haute Censee Farm in Ramillies
Amphitheatre in Trier
Porta Nigra in Trier
Igel Column 250AD south of Trier
Blindheim village in the distance looking from the west
Schwenninbach Church where Prince Eugene’s Cavalry formed up in 1704
Höchstädt Castle
Schellenberg Hill up which Marlboroughs grenadiers attacked
Dachau concentration camp
The very small museum at Aspern outside Vienna
Napoleons HQ position for Wagram
The plaque marks the unfortunate friendly fire incident involving the Saxon troops at Wagram
Austerlitz
From Santon hill the flat ground where Lannes and Murats cavalry fought
The fort in Brno scene of the 1645 siege
A wonderful view of Brno looking out towards Austerlitz
The Schonbrunn Palace, Habsburg opulence in Vienna
View from the top of the Gloriette the green hills in the distance are where the Polish cavalry formed up in 1683.
St Stephen’s church Vienna sporting a snazzy roof and some Ottoman cannnon balls
One (possibly the only) remaining part of the old Vienna defensive wall
One of the remaining German flak towers in Vienna
Massive Russian memorial to soldiers lost taking Vienna WW2
The Car in which the archduke was assassinated sparking WW1, we need to return to Vienna sometime as parts of the Military museum were closed off for refurbishment
Another flak tower in the Augarten
And another, Augarten is the oldest park in Vienna but nobody really knows what to do with the flak towers I guess one day in the future they will become dangerous and be removed ?
The Hofburg seat of the Habsburg dynasty started in 1300 but added to a lot over the years
The exceptional collection of Imperial armour in Vienna
The Austrian memorial at the battlefield of Kolin
The church in Krzeczhorz scene of fierce fighting at Kolin
The Battlefield at Lobositz from the top of the Lobosch volcano (it was a hot day and an uphill walk)
Hochkirch church with more cannon balls embedded in the walls
Close by Blutgasse (Blood street) in Hochkirch
Dresden War museum
The Black Duke of Brunswick’s uniform and kit he was killed at Quatre Bras
Lützen bones from the fairly recently excavated mass grave form the battlefield in the museum there together with a few of the musket balls recovered from the field
Lutzen battlefield the museum in the background the road to Leipzig runs along in the distance
The small but excellent Museum at Jena
Jena from Napoleons initial HQ the flat slightly raised ground behind in the middle distance is the Dornburg
The reconstructed windmill at Jena
The centre of Krippendorf
The coach house at Auerstedt where injured were treated
Auerstedt battlefield from the Prussian lines way in the distance, the Red roof behind me is the village of Gernstedt
Virus Museum in the Teutoburg forest
Reconstructed Germanic defences on what is now believed to be one of the key parts of the Battlefield, generally it is now thought the battle was over 2 or 3 days and quite spread out
Reconstructed Roman fort at Aliso on the Lippe River an excellent Museum where there is strong evidence that the Ambushed legion stayed before marching NE
Glider memorial at Wolfheze for the ill fated Arnhem battles
Breendonk WW1 fort south of Brussels, now preserved due to its infamous use by the Nazis as a prison camp during their occupation of Belgium.
Yes I did cover quite a lot of ground, the weather was great as was the scenery and the food. Hopefully my trip might just inspire somebody else to take the time to visit some of these locations I’d be more than happy to provide more details.
We are already planning next year and some more adventures along the way.
Hopefully when I have settled back home I will get some gaming and painting done
Thanks for taking the time to check in
Matt ❤️
That's an impressive whistle stop tour of European military sites,I think I need a sit down and a cup of tea!
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
Thanks Iain, and of course there is more to see ! But I also am just making a cup of tea 👍
DeleteThanks Matt super impressive itinerary , I think you have just described my boardgame collection :-)
ReplyDeleteMine too!
DeleteThanks Norm, you have a wide ranging collection then. Sadly of course it would be nice to see some stuff further east but I’m not sure this is on the cards at the moment. Too many current conflicts 🙁
DeleteOh, this was a Grand Adventure, indeed, Matt! I am amazed at the number of sites visited. Well done and thank you for the photo tour of your adventure. How many miles did you put into the van?
ReplyDeleteWhich of these recently visited battles will be first on your gaming table to recreate?
Thanks Jon, all sites familiar to you I’m sure even if you haven’t visited in person. I certainly learnt a lot along the way. In terms of mileage I think it was a bit over 3000 miles. The van didn’t move when we were in Vienna for 4 days, there was a little ground covered twice as I effectively drove from Vienna to Austerlitz twice due to my son’s flights. As for gaming well the eagle eyed will notice that my collections currently only cover a small number of the battles visited, Prussian vs Austrian SYW and Austerlitz when combined with Martins Russians. So unlike your and Norms board game collections the majority of these battle will have to stay in the to do list.
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