Austerlitz (Netherlands)
Encyclopedia
Austerlitz is a town in the Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 province of Utrecht
Utrecht (province)
Utrecht is the smallest province of the Netherlands in terms of area, and is located in the centre of the country. It is bordered by the Eemmeer in the north, Gelderland in the east, the river Rhine in the south, South Holland in the west, and North Holland in the northwest...

. It is a part of the municipality of Zeist
Zeist
Zeist is a municipality and a town in the central Netherlands, located east of the city of Utrecht.-Population centres :*Austerlitz*Bosch en Duin*Den Dolder*Huis ter Heide*Zeist- The town of Zeist :...

, and lies about 6 km east of Zeist.

In 2001, the town of Austerlitz had 1254 inhabitants. The built-up area of the town was 0.23 km², and contained 481 residences. Including both the village itself and the surrounding area, the neighbourhood of Austerlitz has about 1580 inhabitants.

History

The town was founded on 17 August 1806 on the location of a French army camp. It was given its name by King Louis Napoleon
Louis Bonaparte
Louis Napoléon Bonaparte, Prince Français, Comte de Saint-Leu , King of Holland , was the fifth surviving child and the fourth surviving son of Carlo Buonaparte and Letizia Ramolino...

 of Holland
Kingdom of Holland
The Kingdom of Holland 1806–1810 was set up by Napoleon Bonaparte as a puppet kingdom for his third brother, Louis Bonaparte, in order to better control the Netherlands. The name of the leading province, Holland, was now taken for the whole country...

 in honour of the victory of his brother, emperor Napoleon
Napoleon I of France
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...

 in the Battle of Austerlitz
Battle of Austerlitz
The Battle of Austerlitz, also known as the Battle of the Three Emperors, was one of Napoleon's greatest victories, where the French Empire effectively crushed the Third Coalition...

.

Close to the town, there is an artificial hill called the Pyramid of Austerlitz, actually part of the municipality Woudenberg
Woudenberg
Woudenberg is a municipality and a town in the central Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht.There are still forests in the western part of the municipality. The Pyramid of Austerlitz is located here.-The town Woudenberg :...

. It was built in 1804 by the soldiers of general Auguste Marmont
Auguste Marmont
Auguste Frédéric Louis Viesse de Marmont, 1st Duke of Ragusa was a French General, nobleman and Marshal of France.-Biography:...

. It used to be a popular day out to climb the watch tower on top of the pyramid, but nowadays the tower is open to the public only at weekends, due to instability of the slopes. (The monument has now been restored.)

The pyramid is still open to the public, but there is a small entrance fee to pay. This fee is used to restore the monument, which is not completely restored yet.

External links

  • http://www.austerlitz.nl/
  • Map of Austerlitz
  • http://www.pyramidevanausterlitz.nl/monument.htm
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