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closer contacts between Saxony-Bohemia, as well as
France.
“The Saxony-French-Bohemian-Society of Europe pursues goals that are
independent of the use of Schloss Kuckuckstein” emphasized the
board member, Rainer Hölzer. But in the search for a suitable object with
Saxony-Bohemian and also French traditions, the Liebstadt castle
literally offered itself. After all, it was the home of the Saxon
General, Carl Adolph von Carlowitz, who fought against Napoleon.
Actually, the Emperor wanted to destroy the home of his opponent, but
the beauty of this building enthused him such, that he temporarily made
it, in 1813, his headquarters. The Napoleonic tradition could, Hölzer hopes, free monies
from a European fund.
Independent of the society’s goal to change the castle into a meeting
place, the main aim remains to intensify the cultural connection between
Saxony and Bohemia. It would like, in addition, to keep the memory of
French influences in the region alive. This encompasses art and
culture in a narrower sense as well as education and international youth
meetings. They thought of Language-Courses, Youth-Exchange and
Excursions. A utilization concept will be worked out; in addition the
society works on the history of those three countries.
Outline of the main points:
Schloss Kuckuckstein
Kuckuckstein was most likely built as a Knights Castle in 930 under King
Henry I and was first mentioned documentary in 1286. It was owned
in succession
by the families Wedelbusch, Birkholz and Carlowitz.
The first restorations took place in 1962.
Since 1995 Schloss Kuckuckstein has been the property of the town of Liebstadt and
is used regularly as a cultural centre and museum. The castle is
open Wednesdays - Sundays, from 09:30 am to 04:00 pm
Freie Presse, 29.06.01
1813: Napoleon auf Schloss
Kuckuckstein
Traces noticeable even today - Emperor destroyed
painting of his former General Moreau.
By Karl - Peter Fleischer
In late summer of the year 1813 Napoleon I spent many nights at Schloss
Kuckuckstein, near Liebstadt in Saxony, expecting a military
confrontation with allied troops from Russia, Austria and Prussia.
In the library of the Schloss, the Emperor discovered a painting of the
French General Jean Victor Moreau, who served in the Russian Army.
Due to intrigues, the General had fallen out of favour with Napoleon, quite
innocently in 1804, and had to leave France. He took exile in the
USA. When the Russian Czar learned of this he submitted him the
offer to serve as General Adjutant in the Russian Army. Moreau accepted.
The new career of the General did not stay hidden from Napoleon.
And now, in front of him, the portrait of his former Comrade-in- arms.
The often emotionally acting Emperor, accompanied by the laughter of
the soldiers around him, cut the cockade with the blue-white-red tricolore out of the picture. Underneath he wrote:
“Ce traitre en etoit
indigne” (“This traitor was unworthy of it”).
This painting with Napoleon’s hand writing
hung in the Schloss until 1945. Then it disappeared. However, a photo of
the painting in original size, including the Emperor’s hand writing, can
be admired to this day during a visit round the museum.
It might not be well known, that on August 27, 1813, during a battle near Dresden,
General Moreau was so severely injured by a bullet from a
French gun, that he died six days later in Laun on the Eger (today Louny).
The Russian Prince, Repin Wolkonski, had a monument erected in1814 in
honour of the General, on the exact place where the bullet struck him
down. This honour-monument still stands at the Räckwitzhöhe in the
southend of Dresden. |
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