Military review at Zeithain and Mühlberg, 1730

A set of 51 diagrams representing the military review and manoeuvres of the Saxon army at the Camp at Zeithain, from 31 May to 28 June 1730, under the command of Field Marshal August Christoph von Wackerbarth (1662-1734), in the presence of Frederick I of Prussia and many members of European royalty. Oriented with north-east to top.

The military exercises represented in these diagrams took place during what was apparently the largest military review in Europe at that time – the ‘spectacle of the century’. Its location is sometimes described as at Mühlberg, which lies to the north-west of Zeithain. The Zeithainer Lustlager (Zeithainer pleasure camp), as it was generally known, was organised by Friedrich August the Strong, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, to demonstrate the power of the newly reorganised Saxon army. The whole army of about 27,000 men in 30 battalions of infantry and 50 squadrons of cavalry, took part in the manoeuvres. The audience included many invited members of the European principalities, including Friedrich Wilhelm I of Prussia and his son, the future Frederick the Great. The military exercises were followed by revelries and diverse entertainments, the whole event lasting from 31 May to 28 June, 1730.

The exercises and the camp took place on about 1,000 hectares of land between the villages of Radewitz 51°19ʹ59ʺN 13°23ʹ36ʺE, Glaubitz 51°19ʹ30ʺN 13°22ʹ41ʺE, Lichtensee 51°22ʹ50ʺN 13°22ʹ29ʺE, Tiefenau 51°23ʹ24ʺN 13°23ʹ48ʺE and Streumen 51°21ʹ24ʺN 13°24ʹ13ʺE, all of which form the boundaries of the first map in this set. The first map is the only one to show all the topographical details of the area, within which the extent of the land used for the military exercises is marked by the outer dashed lines.

The subsequent maps/diagrams are all drawn to a similar scale but lack the topographical detail. They are arranged in six sets to correspond with the six days of military exercises: 1) Tag von der Revüe [4 plans]; 2) tag des Exercice des Infanterie [4 plans]; 3) Tag der Colonnen [13 plans]; 4) Tag der Linien [14 plans]; 5) Tag des Quarrés [11 plans]; 6) Tag des Combats [5 plans].