Leipzig 1813 Museum

Hello everyone I just got back from a couple days at a family swim park with my family at a place called Tropical Island which is located in a huge dome structure that is in-closed and therefore can be used year round. It contains two very large pools, sauna's, restaurant, children's park plus much more. Here is more about it.

http://www.tropical-islands.de/en/visitors.html

On our way back we stopped by Leipzig so I could see some of the old 1813 battlefield

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Leipzig

and visit the Monument to the Battle of the Nations which is a memorial monument to the battle of Leipzig in 1813. The monument is huge and stands at 91meters and is made of concrete with a granite facing. It's the tallest monument in Europe and includes 500 steps to the top! Fortunately it now has a small elevator/lift that will take you up 75% of the way leaving you roughly only 25% of the way by stair which is still a work out.;-)

As to be expected the sculptures are impressive although outside in bad need of a good cleaning which is currently under way.  Restoration began in 2000 as massive clean up and repairs needed to take place and is expected to be finished in 2013 the 200th anniversary of the battle. Already the inside looks pretty darn good and the outside hopefully will look the same for the anniversary. More info here and better pics then mine turned out:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monument_to_the_Battle_of_the_Nations

The part I enjoyed the most was the 1813 museum with all the authentic Napoleonic apparel, weapons manuscripts and a very large diorama of the battle in 1/72mm. A panoramic view can be seen here of the diorama and some of the museum:

 http://www.stadtgeschichtliches-museum-leipzig.de/site_deutsch/forum1813/panoramaansicht.php 

Here are a few pics I took inside the Museum. Really fantastic genuine articles on display to see here and a must see for all you Nap buffs! I really wish I knew more about the age of Napoleon as I'm primarily into the ACW, but even I appreciated what I saw and was very fascinated. I plan on doing some Naps in the future and found this quite inspirational.

A cannon:

 Napoleons Death mask.

Some Pistols, Swords, Sabres and Muskets

Some great Helmets and Hats

Very nice Cuirassier armor:

uniforms:

saddle:

Napoleons statue where he stood during the heaviest of the fighting: