Austerlitz, Netherlands

Austerlitz
Coordinates: 52°4′43″N 5°19′0″E / 52.07861°N 5.31667°ECoordinates: 52°4′43″N 5°19′0″E / 52.07861°N 5.31667°E
Country Netherlands
Province Utrecht
Municipality Zeist
Population 1,525

Austerlitz (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈʌu̯stərlɪts]) is a town in the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is a part of the municipality of Zeist, and lies about 6 km east of Zeist.

In 2001, the town of Austerlitz had 1254 inhabitants. The built-up area of the town was 0.23 km², and contained 481 residences.[1] Including both the village itself and the surrounding area, the neighbourhood of Austerlitz has about 1580 inhabitants.[2]

History

The town was founded on 17 August 1806 on the location of a French army camp. It was given its name by King Louis Napoleon of Holland in honour of the victory of his brother, emperor Napoleon in the Battle of Austerlitz.

Close to the town, there is an artificial hill called the Pyramid of Austerlitz (52°05′25″N 5°20′34″E / 52.0904°N 5.3428°E), actually part of the municipality Woudenberg. It was built in 1804 by the soldiers of general Auguste Marmont. It used to be a popular day out to climb the watch tower on top of the pyramid, but nowadays the tower is open to the public only at weekends, due to instability of the slopes. (The monument has now been restored.)

The pyramid is still open to the public, but there is a small entrance fee to pay. This fee is used to restore the monument, which is not completely restored yet.

References

  1. Statistics Netherlands (CBS), Bevolkingskernen in Nederland 2001 . Statistics are for the continuous built-up area.
  2. Statistics Netherlands, 2007. Figures are for the year 2006. Statistics are available in Google Earth format. Statistical areas "Austerlitz" and "Verspreide huizen Austerlitz".

External links