Austerlitz, it doesn't really sound Dutch, but being a part of Zeist, near Utrecht makes it totally Dutch.
Last spring i went here with my family to see the pyramid and playground after being here myself as a kid 30 years ago.
The town of Austerlitz is home to aprox 1700 inhabitants and part of Zeist since 1812. It's most famous for it's small funpark and it's pyramid.
Pyramid you say? Yes, it's small with an height of only 33 meters including the wooden obelisk on top, but it's still a pyramid. Build by Auguste de Marmont, a general of Napoleon Bonaparte build it as a camp for its army back in 1804. Back than it was named the "Marmont Mountain". But after Napoleon won the war against the Russians and Austria in the battle of Austerlitz in Moravie, Napoleon decide to rename the pyramid after the won battle.
After being used as a military camp, Napoleon decided to give the pyramid city rights, and gave instructions to build 12 farms around it. When they where completed, he forced 12 women from Zeist to live there with 12 selected military in order to make it grow into a city. Just like TV shows do nowadays.
But these 24 individuals didn't like it, and burned down the village after aprox. a year of living there.
81 stair steps to the top
Plaque at the bottom of the stairs, unfortunatly i don't understand Frence.!
In 2001 they started restoring the pyramid, and now it's open to the public and you can ascend 81 stairs to have a great view of the surroundings.
Plaque on the obelisk reading:
The pyramid is build in 1804. The wooden obelisk taken down in 1808 and in 1894 this stone obelisk replaced it.
Old plaque's with text on each side of the pyramid, but they are bearly readable
Before the pyramid, you will find a small playground with a fun-park. But unfortunately the funpark was still closed for winter.
The walk from the pyramid to the playground
The playground for the kids.
If you want to go there, the pyramid and its playground can be found here
| Location | Google maps |
| Pinmapple | [//]:# (!pinmapple 52.090208 lat 5.342719 long Pyramid of Austerlitz d3scr) |
I hope you enjoyed this post about our own Dutch Pyramid, and until next time, Thanks for stopping by.