Tracing the Battle of Chlumec
The area around Chlumec near Ústí nad Labem was the site of a number of important battles in the past. Perhaps all war campaigns in Bohemia went through the Chlumec region. In 1004, 1040 and 1126 – battles under the rule of the Přemysl Dynasty, Hussite campaigns and the battle in 1426, campaigns of different armies in the 17th century during the Thirty Year’s War and the Seven Year’s War in the 18th century, the Napoleonic Wars in 1813, Prussian-Austrian clashes in 1866, as well as WW1 and WW2.
Austrian clashes in 1866, as well as WW1 and WW2. However, this region became the site of two important battles, in 1126 – the victory of Prince Soběslav I over King Lothar III, and then in 1813. On 29-30 August 1813, near Chlumec, Přestanov, Stradov, Žandov and Telnice villages, the most significant battle of the Napoleonic army on the territory of Bohemia took place, one of the bloodiest battles of those times. In two days, over 130,000 soldiers clashed there. Over 300 cannonballs were used by the French and Alliance armies. Over 20,000 soldiers were killed and were buried near Chlumec during the two-day battle. The subsequent disturbances culminated in a more intensive battle near Varvažov on 16-17 September 1813 when the army, governed by General H. Colloredo-Mansfeld, repulsed an attack by the French army, led by the Emperor Napoleon I himself.
Route
The war events of 1813 are commemorated by a number of memorials and a historical trail leads through these memorable places, marked in yellow and featuring 12 stops with information panels. If you wish to see the scene of the far-off battles, go ahead to trace the campaign of the Napoleonic army… Get on public transport bus line 12 in the centre of Ústí nad Labem and go to Přestanov, where the sightseeing tour begins.1. Russian Memorial - the memorial's foundation stone (a cast-iron pyramid with a statute of Niké, Goddess of Victory and lions along the pavement) was laid in 29 August 1835 in the presence of the heads of the countries that participated in the winning battle (Austrian Emperor Ferdinand, Russian Tsar Nikolas and Prussian King Frederick William III). The memorial was built according to a design by Pietr Nobile, the court's councillor, in memory of the regiments of A. I. Ostermann-Tolstoy (4,000 Russian soldiers died there).
2. Mass grave - a large-scale grave of the remains of almost 10,000 of the 20,000 fallen soldiers
3. French Memorial and Russian Leather (Yuchta) Chapel - the baroque chapel stands on the axis of the main battle line, where the Russian artillery with guards of infantry defeated the oncoming Frenchmen but with huge losses. The adjacent French Memorial was built in 1991. In neighbouring Stradov, there is one more memorial dated 1843.
4. The Chapel of Trinity at Hůrka - a triangular baroque chapel built in 1690-1691 to commemorate victory over the plague. General D. R. Vandamme took his stand here during the battle.
5. Jubilee Memorial - ceremonially opened in the presence of many heads of state in 29 August 1913 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the battle. Inside, there is a small battle exhibition.
6. Vandamme Memorial - designates the place where the superior commander of the French divisions, Dominique René Vandamme, was captured by Russian Cossacks.
7. Prussian Memorial - a New Gothic memorial built in 1817 in memory of the fallen Prussian soldiers of General Kliest (following the architectural design by Karl Friedrich Schinkel).
8. Austrian Memorial - a cast-iron obelisk with a sculpture of a lion, embossment of the bust of Austrian military leader Hieronym V. Colloredo-Mansfeld and an Austrian eagle wearing a regal garland at the top; dated to 1825. Created by Czech sculptor Václav Prachner and commemorating the repulsion of Napoleon' s attack on 17 September 1813.
9. Kleist Memorial in Nakléřov - built in 1913 on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Napoleonic battle of Chlumec and the awarding of the honorary predicate "von Nollendorf to Prussian General Fridrich Kliest. Here, Kliest crossed the mountains from Saxony when retreating to Dresden and with his soldiers he penetrated the rear of French General Vandamme's division.
10. Napoleon Stone - a stone in the ground and a nearby standing wooden cross resemble the baroque church of St. Wenceslas (demolished in 1975) whose tower was supposedly used by Napoleon on 17 September 1813 to oversee his attempt to invade Bohemia. On the nearby Nakléřov Uplands, the Emperor Lookout Tower was built on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the battle, but it collapsed on 29 January 1944 after a winter storm (a pile of ruins is all that remains there now).
Battle reconstruction
The military history club – 42nd infantry organises annual ceremonies at the memorials and the mass graves in Chlumec, Přestanov and Varvažov, regularly held on the last Saturday in August or the first Saturday in September. The club hosts and co-organises memorial shows of the Battle of Chlumec - Kulm 1813 on important anniversaries. The Military History Club forms a part of the „Association of the Chlumec Region History“. The 42nd infantry was established in 1674. The town of Terezín still has its barracks. It was a regiment of the regular infantry of the Habsburg empire army, recruited from Bohemia, wearing white uniforms with orange-yellow rank-badges and silver buttons. Grenadiers of the 42nd infantry excelled in a two-day battle on 5th and 6th July 1809 in the battle of VAGRAM in the Napoleonic Wars. They were decorated by the emperor by allowing them as the only military unit to beat the typical “Grenadier’s March” for an unlimited time - GRANÁTNICKÝ POCHOD. The unit has an embroidered infantry flag of the size of the original one. The background is yellow with a female double eagle depicted on one side with the inscription „KULM 1813“, while the opposite side features the Virgin Mary with the inscription „K. u. k. 42nd infantry regiment“.Contact: Jaroslav Slavík – marshal of the 42nd infantry regiment and executive director of the Association of the Chlumec Region History, (registered with the Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic under reg. No.: VS/1-1/54885/03-R, Id. No.: 26641071) Executive Director: Jaroslav Slavík and Ladislav Benda, Vyklická 279, 403 39 Chlumec, Telephone 602 469 247, e-mail: jaroslavik@seznam.cz
Route length
Individual sightseeing route/tour – 6 kmDifficulty of the route
Suitable for both hikers and cyclists, difference in altitude 469 m (Chlumec 235 m a.s.l., Nakléřov 704 m a.s.l.)Places of interest on the route
Chlumec 235 metres above sea level - mentioned as early as in 993 when a customs house and a castle of Přemysl times stood on the crossing of the Serbian and Lusatian route to protect the northern gate. Sights of historical interest: St. Havel's Church from the mid 19th century with tombstones, propitiatory crosses and a Pieta, timbered house No. 23, ruins of the Chlumec chateau, Na Hůrce chapel, Jubilee Memorial and the grave of the unknown soldier of 1813, chapel at the cemetery, protected trees, etc.Chabařovice 175 metres above sea level - protected urban zone; you can visit The Virgin's Nativity Church, chapel of St. John the Baptist, hermitage of St. John the Baptist, the cemetery chapel of St. Michal, propitiatory crosses, a memorial to the Hussite battle of Na Běhání, the old town hall with museum, museum of coffee mills, the Mariánský Post on the square, the grave of Austrian lance corporal Antonín Gürtner, who died in 1813, while south of the town there is a former surface mine currently flooded with water and which covers 230-247 hectares, i.e. almost as large as Máchovo Lake (Máchovo jezero) (278 ha).
Stradov (232 metres above sea level - on the village square there is a chapel from 1780, the only building that survived the battle in the original village. By the chapel, there is a smaller memorial from 1843. In the pub "U Dostrašilů", a military history club was established in 1989, later renamed "the 42nd Foot Regiment of Earl Erbach" (Terezín fort). The club annually organizes events to commemorate the Battle of Chlumec in 1813. In the pub, there is a small exhibition of documents.
Publications
A description of the route with a plan is also available as a postcard of the Battle of Chlumec in 1813, from the Information centre of the city of Ústí nad Labem.Accommodation in the surroundings
Hotel Bonaparte****Ústecká ulice 10,
403 39 Chlumec
+420 475 224 344
+420 472 714 416
info@hotelbonaparte.cz
www.hotelbonaparte.cz
Guesthouse ŽANDOV
Žandov
403 39 Chlumec
+420 475 223 820
+420 475 103 132
p.chaloupka@quick.cz
www.chds.cz/chaloupka
Přestanov 11
403 17 Přestanov
+420 475 225 170
+420 777 246 157
korbel_josef@volny.cz
www.nabojisti.com Guesthouse STARÁ POŠTA
Varvažov 114
403 38 Varvažov
+420 475 223 092
ludek.sluka@volny.cz
www.sousluka.cz Guesthouse U ZELENÉHO STROMU
Telnice 10
403 38 Telnice
+420 475 224 151
Hotel TELNICKÝ DVŮR*
Zadní Telnice 24
403 38 Telnice
+420 475 223 084
telnickydvur@seznam.cz
www.skicentrumadolfov.cz
Shelter Hut VESTAS
Zadní Telnice 29
403 38 Telnice
+420 475 223 347
Guesthouse TEREZA
Zadní Telnice 30
403 38 Telnice
+420 475 223 811
+420 605 272 125
www.nasehory.cz/krusnehory/tereza
Hut U NOVÁČKA
Zadní Telnice
403 38 Telnice
+420 475 223 252
+420 603 479 145
chata.novacek@quick.cz
web.quick.cz/chata.novacek
For other options for accommodation please refer to the accommodation database
Catering in the surroundings
Restaurant Hotel BONAPARTE
Ústecká ulice,
403 39 Chlumec
Phone: +420 475 224 344
Alehouse KULTURNÍ DŮM
Muchova 267
403 39 Chlumec
Phone: +420 475 224 096
Pull-Up U VANDAMMA
Žandov 500
403 39 Chlumec
Phone: +420 475 223 036
Restaurant U NAPOLEONA
Nakléřov
403 37 Nakléřov
Phone: +420 475 226 317
Restaurant U HŘIŠTĚ
Přestanov 12
403 17 Přestanov
Phone: +420 475 225 644
Pull-Up NA BOJIŠTI
Přestanov 11,
403 17 Přestanov
Phone: +420 777 246 157, +420 475 225 170, +420 608 100 557
korbel_josef@volny.cz
www.nabojisti.com
Restaurant U DOSTRAŠILŮ
Strádov 1
403 39 Stradov
Phone: +420 475 223 271
Restaurant U ZELENÉHO STROMU
Telnice 10
403 38 Telnice
Phone: +420 475 224 151
www.restaurace.cz/uzelenehostromu
Pub U LIŠÁKA
Telnice
403 38 Telnice
Phone: +420 604 504 170
Restaurant TELNICKÝ DVŮR
Zadní Telnice 48
403 38 Telnice
Phone: +420 475 223 084
Restaurant VESTAS
Zadní Telnice
403 38 Telnice
Phone: +420 475 223 347
Restaurant TEREZA
Zadní Telnice 30
403 38 Telnice
Phone: +420 475 223 811
Restaurant STARÁ POŠTA
Varvažov 114
403 38 Varvažov
Phone: +420 475 223 092
Snack OPRÁM BAŽINA
Varvažov 171
403 38 Varvažov
Phone: +420 720 192 246
For other options for catering facilities see the catering database
Specialized guides
Emílie Bendová
Lecture: CZ, DE
Price: 100Kč/hour
Phone.: +420 475 224 059
Stanislav Petržílka
Lecture: CZ
Price: by agreement
Phone.: +420 606 165 241
Photos