(Editor's Note: Honorary Member Christopher Duffy kindly prepared this article for our pleasure based on research undertaken while writing his latest work, The Military Life of Frederick the Great. lie is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of War Studies and International Affairs at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, England and has achieved a distinguished eminence in his research of the Seven Years War. Mr. Duffy has published nine scholarly works since 1964, seven of which deal with the SYW in all or in part. On behalf of the SYWA, let me thank you sir, for this additional contribution.)

With a few exceptions, the scenes of Frederick's battles and campaigns are substantially unchanged, and they well repay a visit. The theatre of Frederick's wars extended across present-day Fast Germany, northern Czechoslovakia and south-west Poland. However, for a traveler with a modicum of experience, the mechanics of getting around Eastern Europe are less daunting than might appear at first sight. Flights, car hire and hotel accommodation are arranged through the state tourist agencies, and the Fodor guides give detailed and up to (late information on travel conditions and the most suitable hotels.

Always go for the most expensive hotels, for you will find them the most convenient in the long run. Go by air, not train. It is essential to have a car at your disposal. and much better from every point of view to hire a local car than drive around in one with a Western registration. You will find that the country people are helpful and friendly, though I indicate [later] where the risks of touring particular battlefields seems to be unacceptably high.

It is difficult to avoid roadside spot checks by the police or the harrassment inflicted by notorious Czech traffic police (VD) on all motorists regardless of nationality. Don't argue. Have your documentation readily at hand, together with enough cash to pay any on the spot fines.

Key to symbols used describing visual impact and interest:

Poor: +
Fair: ++
Good: +++

Mollwitz, 10 April 1741 (Poland) +

The battle site is covered by an airfield and is inaccessible.

Chotusitz, 17 May 1742 (Czechoslovakia) +

Chotusitz is a major Czech air base and is inaccessible. It is some consolation that the battlefield was already reckoned to have changed beyond recognition by the end of the last century. I spent some time prowling around the fringes, to investigate Frederick's approach via St. Jacob, but I would not recommend anybody else do the same.

Hohenfriedeberg, 4 June 1745 (Poland) ++

All the features of the battlefield are intact and reward a detailed examination. The southern part of the field is open and level and obviously favors the employment of cavalry en masse, such as the Bayreuth Dragoons in their celebrated charge. Americans will note the contrast with most of the battlefields of the Revolution and the Civil War. The palace at nearby Rohnstock was one of Frederick's favorite resorts when on campaign. No apparent risk to the tourist.

Soor, 30 September 1745 (Czechoslovakia) +++

Situated in an undulating and agreeable countryside, Soor is another battlefield which has survived virtually unaltered. The Koniqreich Wald still borders the western edge of the field, and the swell of The Granner Koppe occupies a tactically dominating position on the north centre. No apparent risk for the tourist.

Lobositz, 1 October 1756 (Czechoslovakia) +++

A compact and quite spectacular battlefield. Since my first visit in 1959 a road has cut through the Norellen Bach marshes, but the western part of the field is unchanged and you can spend some happy hours clambering over the. Lobosch mountain and the Homolka hill. Lobositz town can be reached by rail from Prague. No apparent risk from the tourist.

Prague, 6 May 1757 (Czechoslovakia)+

The city of Prague has encroached on all the battlefield save the scene of Schwerin's combat around Sterbohol. This, however , deserves a brief visit. I'll are still patches of boggy ground beside the upper Roketnitzer-Bach, and you can easily imagine the Prussian infantry floundering there while the Austrian grenadiers advanced down the gentle slopes to the west. Here, on the low Homole-Berg, the site nf the Austrian 12-pounder battery is occupied by a Czech pillbox datlng from thc 1930s. An official from the Czech National Museum showed me the location of the vanished monument to Schwerein - it lies under bushes and rubble just outside Sterbohol. No apparent risk for the tourist.

Kolin, 18 June 1757 (Czechoslovakla) +++

A huge, open and virtually intact battlefield, best toured by car with excursions on foot. It would require a slim volume to enumerate all the details, and the only disappointment is that the inn of Slati Slunce was demolished in the nineteenth century. I have been there four times and intend to return. No apparent risk for the tourist.

Rosslaach. 5 November 1757 East Germ ny) ++

The landscape is workaday and rather featureless, but of first order historical interest. The Herrenhaus (Frederick's HQ) even now stands in Rossbach village, and you can still follow the path of the allied army from the Pettstadt heights down to its destruction near Tagewerben. The northern part of the field is being considerably altered by opencast mining, and the summit of the celebrated Janus Hill is now a hole in the ground! No apparent risk for the tourist on most of the field, though the Pettstadt heights adjoin a Warsaw Pact garrison area. Do not linger in the neighbourhood of Weissenfels or Nerseburg or take photographs there.

Leuthen, S December 1757 (Poland) ++

As at Rossbach, the visual impact does not quite measure up to the historic significance. Not much has changed since 1757, and you can retrace the entire alignment of the Austrian army. Frederick's approach lay across open and only slightly undulating country, and only a skillful exploitation of the available cover can have preserved him from detection by the Austrians. The battery sites (like most of the kind) are on low swells of the ground. The modern village of Leuthen is straggling and dirty. but the older of the two churches in the centre is still surrounded by the rough stone wall which was defended by the Wurzburg troops at the height of the battle; a monument and a patch of newer masonry mark the breach effected by the Prussian artillery. No apparent risk for the tourist, though Polish Mig-21a fly low over the field from their base at Wroczlaw airport.

Zorndorf, 25 August 1758 (Poland) +++

Rivals, and possibly surpasses Kolin as a surviving example of the Frederician battlefield on the grand scale. Everything is there - the marshy Mietzel stream. Frederick's approach route through the woods, the sandy bluffs above the Warthe valley, Zorndorf village with its pond, the Zabern valley, and the much-contested centre of the field (looking very similar to Waterloo) Tourists should exercise a little caution, since Zorndorf is close to the East German border, and there is a radio station near Zicher.

Hochkirch, 14 October 1758 (East Germany)+++

An excellent field, with strongly marked features Hochkirch church is large and very well maintained, with its celebrated cemetary wall together with cannon balls stuck in the church walls and tower, a bullet-riddled door and the little monument to Field-Marshal Keith in the interior. The notorious Blutgasse is just outside, and you can readily track the approach of the Austrian columns far from the south and vest. The northern part of the field impinges on a Warsaw Pact garrison area, and exploration in this direction is inadvisable.

Kunersdorf, 12 August 1759 (Poland) +++

The reedy plain of the Hubner-Fliess runs all the way to the foot of the prominent sandy bluffs which were crowned by Saltykov's Army, The Kuh-Grund, though eroded and widened, is still an unmistakable feature. Cultivation and woods make it impassible to discover the sites of the Grosser-Spitzberg and the other strongpoints along the south-east face of the allied position, hut the great pond. At Kunersdorf village still survives and it clearly must have exercised a considerable influence on the course of the battle.

I toured Kunersdorf at leisure, ignoring some prominent notices in Polish (a language which I do not understand). I now learn from a correspondent that Kunersdorf is a prohibited area, and that he was intercepted by Polish soldiers while he was attempting to tour the field - and he is an East German lieutenant-colonel! Moral - Keep well away from Kunersdorf.

Flaxen, 20 November 1759 (East Germany) +++

This is not strictly a Frederician battle, since Old Fritz was not present in person. However Maxen is a compact and interesting field, lying Amid beautifully wooded countryside, and nn expedition to this spot ran be conveniently combined with one to the splendid fortress of Konigstein. No apparent danger for the tourist.

Liegnitz, 15 August 1760 (Poland) +

Liegnitz town (some miles from the battle site) is the base of a Soviet tank division, and owing to the very heavy military presence in the neighbourhood I was able to take only a cursory look at the ground. The Reh-Berg and the low hills are now heavily wooded and difficult of access, but the Katzbach meadows have changed little since the time of the battle. Tourists should stay clear.

Torgue, 3 November 1769 (East Germany) ++

The Suptitz Heights fell within a Warsaw Pact garrison area. and I did not have the time to gain permission for a visit, which is all the more annoying since I understand that the regimental positions are designated by marker stones, However, many of the other features of the field are accessible and unchanged. Neiden has the little church whither Frederick repaired towards the anti of the battle, and the caretaker (all the villagers know where she is) will be delighted to unlock the door and show you inside. The Torgau pond is now a sewage works, but the two Suptitz sheep ponds are intact and you can still follow the causeway across which Zieten's wing marched to deliver its decisive attack.

Camp of Bunzelwitz, August-September 1761 (Poland) +++

The entrenchments of this celebrated position were levelled by the Prussians after they removed their artillery. Everything else remains as it was, and fields of fire and battery sites can be located with absolute precision with the help of the excellent Tielke map. I spent only a single afternoon here, owing to the exigencies of my timetable, but I do not think that several days would be too much. Hohenfriedeberg and Burkersdorf lie close by, and this beautiful part of Silesia must be sacred ground for the devotees of Old Fritz. No apparent danger for the tourist.

Burkersdorf, 21 July 1762 Poland +++

The Austrian positions extended along the summit and slopes of the Waldenburg Hilis, rind from what I could see In the course of a day at least some of the works can still be traced on the ground. Burkeradorf castle is gone , but a perimeter of farm buildings stands on the spot, and from here you can make an excellent preliminary orientation of the Weistritz valley and other features of the ground. No apparent danger for the tourist.

(Editor's Note: Many of us have dreamt about touring various battlefields in Europe and for those of us with an interest in Frederick's battlefields, we now have a useful reference herein to use in selecting those sites which pose the least risk to tourists and the greatest gains from the standpoint of our interest in discovering what things were like in the middle of the eighteenth century. Thank you again Mr. Duffy).

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