A place of historical memory is the imposing Monument to the Battle of the Nations, located in the southern district of Probstheida, which recalls the bitter fighting between the Allied soldiers and Napoleon’s troops on 18th October 1813.
The Battle of Leipzig (16th – 19th October 1813), also known as the Battle of the Nations (Völkerschlacht bei Leipzig), was the largest clash, in terms of forces engaged and losses suffered by the two sides, during the Napoleonic Wars and one of the decisive defeats suffered by Napoleon Bonaparte.
It brought about the defeat French in the German campaign, forced the emperor to a difficult retreat to France and caused the final collapse of the system of alliances organized by Napoleon in Europe. The battle, fought with great fury by the two sides, saw for the first time the simultaneous participation on the field of the mass of the armies of the anti-French continental European powers (Russia, Prussia, Austria and Sweden) and its outcome was determined above all by the clear numerical superiority of the coalesced.
Every year, on the same date, on the great battlefield south of the city, groups of figures in historical uniforms from all over Europe recall the clash in arms.
The monument, dedicated to peace, offers a terrace to admire the panorama of Leipzig.