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Wednesday, June 1, 2011

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:



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21 comments:

  1. Ray RousellJune 1, 2011 at 5:48 PM

    Great photos!! Love the uniforms, is it me or do they all look very small?

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  2. CoryJune 1, 2011 at 7:19 PM

    One of the advantages of living in Germany and being close to a lot of battlefields. Great pics!

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  3. Zombie AdJune 2, 2011 at 12:30 AM

    Looks like a great museum to visit. Thanks for sharing.

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  4. RodgerJune 2, 2011 at 1:28 AM

    What an excellent museum. Love the photos.

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  5. The Angry LurkerJune 2, 2011 at 1:38 AM

    Really great photos, would love to see all of that diorama, nice work sir.

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  6. Christopher(aka Axebreaker)June 2, 2011 at 4:45 AM

    Thanks everyone!

    @Ray
    Well, I suppose the pics make them appear to be really small, but they are not quite that small. Setting aside they are much thinner then I presently am I'd say most came close to my height at 5'8 inches or little under which is a bit below average by modern standards. So, yes they are small, but not super small.

    @Angry
    My pictures of the diorama didn't come out so well and decided the panoramic link was better.

    Cheers
    Christopher

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  7. MeowlissaJune 2, 2011 at 6:38 AM

    Ooo very cool =)

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  8. llllollllllJune 2, 2011 at 8:21 AM

    I really like weaponry and guns from that era. They look cool.

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  9. Anibal InvictusJune 2, 2011 at 10:43 AM

    Good photos and very interesting indeed. I had no idea about this museum.

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  10. AndyJune 2, 2011 at 12:19 PM

    Awesome!! One of these days...

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  11. CarloAntonioJune 3, 2011 at 12:36 AM

    Wow !! I like this , many thanks for share !!

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  12. MiniMikeJune 3, 2011 at 1:38 AM

    Good post. Interesting museum, thx for sharing.

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  13. Iowa GrognardJune 3, 2011 at 5:15 AM

    Inspiration for me to finsih the collecting plans for napoleonics.

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  14. SharkuJune 3, 2011 at 6:01 AM

    the city called LEIPZIG, not ie!^^
    right is EI, lieb is the german term for love!^^

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  15. Christopher(aka Axebreaker)June 3, 2011 at 4:18 PM

    Ooops, thank you!:-) I corrected it all and as one can see spelling is not strongest point!#

    Christopher

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  16. AnonymousJune 4, 2011 at 1:49 PM

    Love the photos of the uniforms, are they all authentic?

    Noel

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  17. Christopher(aka Axebreaker)June 4, 2011 at 3:36 PM

    Hi Noel,

    That's correct they are all authentic to include the weapons and uniforms or at least to my knowledge.

    Cheers
    Christopher

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  18. Blk JesusJune 8, 2011 at 7:36 AM

    this all looks awesome!

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  19. GaryAJune 9, 2011 at 12:02 AM

    Interesting mixture of items there. The Russian stuff is much better made than I thought it would have been. The uniforms are certainly for the slim types amongst us and the height/stature is typical for the period. They didn't have the temptations of MacDonald's and Cadbury's in those days eh?

    G.

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  20. Red13June 9, 2011 at 1:00 PM

    great pics, following!

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  21. Jack of DiamondsJune 10, 2011 at 4:46 AM

    Brilliant stuff man, love all the details

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