Jena - Cospeda

Despite the terrible weather at Austerlitz, we booked a second tour with Midas Battlefield Tours. This one was called Napoleon in Germany, and would be seven days 15-22 August 1999.

The tour would visit the battlefields of Jena, Auerstadt, Dresden, Bautzen, Lutzen and Leipzig. It would also take us to Colditz castle, used to hold allied POW during WW2, and the Saxon fortress of Koenigstein.

We were due to fly to Leipzig, and then visit Rossbach battlefield on the way to our first night at Jena. It was not a good start that we actually flew to Prague, and had to wait more than two hours for our guide, Alan Rooney, to turn up. Apparently he had gone to Berlin to collect two members of the tour. However we did not find that out until he eventually arrived. Due to the change of airports we now had a long drive from Prague to Jena we had to miss Rossbach. Worst still, by the time we reached Jena it was raining. Not the best of starts.

Next morning any misgivings were soon forgotten in the excitement as we drove to Cospeda to start our exploration of the Jena battlefield. The weather has also improved, and though not yet sunny it was at least dry.

We had planned to visit the museum, but it was closed. Probably because it was a Monday, which is normal in Europe. It did not say much for the pre planning of the tour that our guide obviously did not expect it to be closed.

It was interesting to see how well signposted the battlefield is. In my experience this is very unusual. But Jena is, of course, a very important battle for Germans. Like Austerlitz, this area had been a military training area during the Cold War. Like our Salisbury Plain this had ensured that there was little building and the battlefield remains untouched by any sort of development.