Napoleon Day at Vyšehrad

This weekend on Saturday 12 August, you may look forward to Napoleon Day at Prague’s well-known place Vyšehrad. Come to the all-day programme which is organised by the Austerlitz Project since 2003 to mark the anniversary of Napoleon’s birth. After twenty years, they are being held in Prague for the first time.

Programme:
09:30 Opening of the French and Austrian camps to the public
One hundred soldiers of the French and Austrian armies of 1813, dozens of tents, camp equipment, weapons, uniforms, banners. You will see all this throughout the day in the area in front of the Purkrab.

10:00 – 11:00 Fort parade and parade in the camp
The French army will welcome Emperor Napoleon at the Tabor Gate and escort him to the camp, where a joint Franco-Austrian parade will take place. We are at the time of a fragile summer truce, the Austrian Empire is still formally neutral in the conflict.

11:00 – 12:00 French and Austrian infantry and artillery training demonstrations.
Infantry and artillery units of both participating armies, under the command of officers, will demonstrate selected elements of training and maneuvers that are the cornerstone of battlefield tactics. They will demonstrate infantry rifles and their handling, as well as the guns of the French Gribeauval system and the Austrian Liechtenstein system.

14:00 demonstration of falconry, Vandamme near Slavkov and near Chlumec
General Vandamme, one of Napoleon’s ablest, had a reputation as a “robber” and liked to indulge in luxury and frolic. He carried hunting equipment, among many other things, with him on his mining trips, and in the downtime of his guns or in the intervals between military actions, he devoted himself to hunting, including falconry. This was to take place, among other things, in 1805 on the Pratec Heights in the days before the Battle of Austerlitz. In 1813, the same general played a leading role on the French side in the third major Napoleonic battle on our territory. At the end of August 1813 he was captured at Chlumec and taken to Russia for about a year.

15:00 parade of forts
Units of the French and Austrian armies will perform a ceremonial parade of the Vyšehrad forts from the Tabor Gate to the Purkrabstvo.

15:30 Ceremonial parade on the occasion of St. Napoleon’s Day
Napoleon was born on 15 August 1769. According to an imperial decree of January 1806, this day became the national holiday of St. Napoleon in France. The army celebrated the day with roll-calls, parades, promotions and honours. Napoleon celebrated his 44th birthday, 15 August 1813, in Dresden, in the midst of preparations for the resumption of hostilities. On that day M. de Narbonne arrived from Prague, bearing Austria’s declaration of war.

16:00 – 17:00 Demonstrations of French and Austrian infantry and artillery training
Infantry and artillery units of both participating armies, under the command of officers, will demonstrate selected elements of training and manoeuvres that are the cornerstone of battlefield tactics. They will demonstrate infantry rifles and their handling, as well as the guns of the French Gribeauval system and the Austrian Liechtenstein system.

From 9:00 to 18:00 hourly guards at the Tabor (French army) and Brick (Austrian army) gates.

Venue: Prague Vyšehrad
Date: 12. 08. 2023
Admission: free

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