Napoleon in Germany

Napoleon in Germany

The Campaigns of 1806 and 1813

Military History and Battlefield Tours

Napoleon in Germany

The Campaigns of 1806 and 1813

Military History and Battlefield Tours

Your Holiday Essentials

Summer 2026
(8 Days)

Activity Level: 2

Incl. travel from UK: N/A

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Tour Introduction

During eight days we will follow the events of 1806 and 1813 in a mostly chronological order, allowing us to appreciate the time, distance and geographical challenges that had to be overcome by armies fighting mainly in Saxony. Like Napoleon and his men, you will climb the Langrafenberg at Jena, walk the ground between the villages around Gross Gorschen, appreciate the obscured lines of sight which affected the outcome of Bautzen, see where Vandamme was captured, where Moreau was mortally wounded, ascend the massive Leipzig monument and ferry across the Elbe at Wartenberg. By the end of the tour, you will have gained a greater understanding of the complex 1813 campaign and in particular the impact of the successful application of the Allies’ Trachtenberg Plan.

Background

Napoleon had seen great success in Germany in 1806 with the twin victories of Jena and Auerstedt resulting in the complete subjugation of Prussia. Six years later he found himself back in Germany with a new but inexperienced army in an attempt to recover from his disastrous 1812 Russian campaign. His challenge was immense: his former Prussian allies had turned against him and were stoking the fires of German nationalism; his Austrian allies had abandoned him and withdrawn from the conflict; numerous French garrisons were isolated on the Vistula and Oder; and his recent Russian foe had had time to re-organise, reinforce and march to join their new Prussian partners. For a while, the Napoleon of old showed flashes of genius as he defeated the coalition forces in a series of pyrrhic victories which nevertheless won him an armistice. Meanwhile the Allies had learnt to avoid direct battle with Napoleon, defeating his subordinate commanders in a series of subsidiary actions instead. As his junior commanders were successively defeated, the Emperor found his enemies closing in on him from all directions and Napoleon’s last campaign in Germany came to its inevitable conclusion at the ‘Battle of Nations’ at Leipzig in October 1813.

Highlights

  • With leading Napoleonic scholar, Prof Mike Leggiere
  • Accompanied by TCE Director Alan Rooney
  • The twin battlefields of Jena and Auerstedt
  • Napoleon’s pyrrhic victories at Gross Gorchen and Bautzen
  • The Key battles of the Trachtenberg Plan
  • Visit the battlefield museum in Cospeda
  • Explore the wonderful cities and Leipzig and Dresden

What's Included

  • Expert historian throughout providing a daily variety of talks, presentations and Q&A
  • Dedicated Tour Manager
  • A three-course dinner party on 6 evenings hosted by your expert historian and tour manager
  • Two drinks i,e wine or beer at each dinner and a welcome drink on first evening
  • 4 Star Hotels
  • Buffet breakfast each morning
  • Entrance fees for sites included in itinerary
  • Modern, comfortable, air-conditioned coach
  • Tour information booklet
  • Helpful and friendly travel advice
  • Return flights from London (optional)
  • The company of like-minded travelers

"I am the successor, not of Louis XIV, but of Charlemagne"

Napoleon

Itinerary

Day 1 – Arrive Berlin
Drive to Osterfeld and check-in for two nights. Introductory talk and welcome drinks.

Day 2 - Jena/Auerstedt
The morning is spent exploring the battlefield of Jena: ascend the Landgrafenberg, discuss the French deployment, walk to Napoleon’s HQ at the Windknollen, visit the battlefield museum in Cospeda, and follow the route of the French cavalry assaults of the villages of Closewitz, Vierzehnheiligen and Isserstedt ending at the final Prussian stand at Kapellendorf. This afternoon tours the field of Auerstedt where an outnumbered Marshal Davout deployed to the west of the village and discuss how he repulsed the massive but uncoordinated Prussian attacks and then subsequently drove them back to win an incredible victory against the odds.

Day 3 - Gross Gorchen
Napoleon’s first victory of the 1813 campaign. Walk the terrain between the quadrilateral strong-point villages of Kaja, Rahna, Klein and Gross Gorschen and visit the small museum and monument to the first and influential Prussian chief of staff, Gerhard von Scharnhost, erected on the spot where he fell. Continue to the lovely historic town of Bautzen and check in to our hotel for two nights.

Day 4 - Bautzen and The Katzbach
Visit the massive battlefield of Bautzen where Napoleon got the better of 100,000 Russians and Prussians: see the ground over which the Russians were drawn in, follow the route of Ney’s Army and discuss how it was possible for them to have missed the obvious Hochkirch church. This afternoon cross the border in to Poland to visit the banks of the River Katzbach where Marshal MacDonald received a mauling from an eager Blucher on 26th August 1813.

Day 5 - Dresden
Travel to Dresden to explore the battle fought on 26th/ 27th August 1813. From the Bismarck tower gain a good view of the city, see where duplicitous Moreau was mortally wounded and walk through the bitterly fought over Grosser Garten. Check-in to central Dresden hotel for one night, after which the afternoon and evening will be free for personal exploration. No dinner this evening.

Day 6 – Dresden and Kulm
Explore Dresden’s massive Bundeswehr Military History Museum, its interpretation often regarded as controversial. Thence to the unspoilt field of Kulm in the Czech Republic where, on 30 August, the fiery Vandamme was forced to surrender to the Austrians. Continue to Leipzig for two nights.

Day 7 - Leipzig
Although very much built over, we visit some key locations from where we discuss this decisive battle: from the top of the massive ‘volkerschlactdenkmal’, gain a 360-degree panorama of the city and its battlefield (be warned, although there is a lift, it only goes so far up!); travel out to the suburbs of Wachau, Liebertwolkwitz, Probstheida in the south and Mokern in the north, the tour ending on the banks of the Elster.

Day 8 - The Trachtenberg Plan
Drive to Wartenberg, where Blucher forced his way across the Elbe prior to Leipzig and then to Dennewitz where Bernadotte and Bulow broke Ney on 5th September to relieve the pressure on Berlin. Continue to Brandenburg airport for return flights.

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