Kobylnice (Czech Republic)

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Kobylnice municipality flag

The town was founded along a very important communications route, leading from Šlapanice to Prace. Kobylnice's village green is of an irregular and somewhat long shape, and there are many streets framing it. In the middle of the village green, there is a chapel belfry, creating its most dominant feature. This building was built in 1824. There never has been, and still is not, a church in the town.

The first written mention of the town dates back to 1306. In the time period between 1407 and 1576, other sources state that there was a fortified settlement here. A corner stone from this settlement can be found in the wall of the town's present-day fire station. In the past, there were several houses inhabited by impoverished residents, which belonged to the fortified settlement. A mill was one of the bigger local estates. In 1890, there were 79 buildings, 552 inhabitants, a two-class school house, farmland, and the aforementioned mill in this town.

A very turbulent period in the history of the landscape around Pracký Hill is the year 1805, when a battle took place that would later enter into the annals of history as the "Battle of the Three Emperors." The French emperor, Napoleon, the Russian Czar Alexander I, and the Austrian emperor, František I all participated in this battle. The clash took place on the one year anniversary of Napoleon's coronation on Monday, 2 December, St. Bibiana Day. Despite the fact that the French were fewer in numbers, they went on to win the battle and caused tremendous losses for the alliance. This bloody drama was the cause of the disintegration of the 3rd Anti-French Coalition, and brought very significant changes to the face of Europe's political map in 1806.

Due to the fact that the "Battle of the Three Emperors" is a very important event in the history of Europe, the Czech government has decided to protect this area. On 10 September 1992, the Czech Ministry of Culture dclared that the battlefield of the "Battle of the Three Emperors" at Slavkov should be deemed a national historical site. The value of the site is created by its historical significance, the historical relationships amongst the manors, and the view of the varied landscape itself. Kobylnice is considered to be part of this protected zone.

In those days, the village had very few buildings. Today's asphalt roads, which connect the smaller, individual towns, were once just dirt paths. The landscape was once very rich with water and covered with ponds, although not one of these remain today. The ponds were predominantly shallow, with fairly flat, muddy, and very lush banks. Kobylnice's ponds were located at Zlatý potok, between Sokolnice and Kobylnice. There used to be a dam located several meters away from the point where Zlatý potok enters the Bažantnice chateau game park. This pond could be found along the north side of Kobylnice's road, and it ended at the marsh lands between Kobylnice and Ponětovice. Zlatý potok, which is directed into only a narrow ditch today, used to meander through the landscape with its muddy banks that were speckled with willows and reeds. During the time of the battle, Kobylnice was not one of the places where combat was fought, although a very important part of the battle took place at the wide frontline between Kobylnice and Telnice. Sokolnice and the Bažantice game park, in particular, became strategic points in the fight between the allied and French armies.

There was constant relocation and movement of the armies in Kobylnice and its surrounding areas. At the time when there was fighting in Sokolnice, Lavasseur's brigade - Legrand Division, could be found in this area, as it tried to maintain connections with its French center. When the battle was nearly finished, and the Russian column led by General Przybyszewski tried to escape along Kobylnice's pond towards Dvorska, it was in Kobylnice where French soldiers unexpectedly ambushed them and took three allied generals prisoner - Przybyszewski, Strik, and Selechov. Over 5,000 men surrendered their weapons to the French here. Reportedly, many soldiers and horses became mired in the muddy banks of the pond, and some of them are said to have even drowned there.

Today, there is no pond in Kobylnice. There are no individual reminders preserved that would testify to the events of the bloody battle. The paths in the fields of these places today bear the name Rybníky. According to those who remember, it used to be possible to discover uniform buttons or lost coins in the area, but today only small shells from the bottom of the former pond can be occasionally found.
Source: pupils of the Slapanice gymnasium.
Jarig Bakker, 29 Mar 2004