Virtual walkaround the battlefield

Spherical 360° panoramas across Raszyn and Falenty — the Falenty causeway, the alder grove, the village of Raszyn, Godebski's shrine, the 1909 battle monument. Hotspots lead between twenty geographically calibrated stations. The walk is hosted on raszyn1809.pl — 3DVista Tour Pro engine, WebGL 2.0, VR-compatible (Oculus / Meta Quest).

3DVista Tour Pro · WebGL 2.0 · VR ready

360° gigapanorama

Uniforms and weaponry

A portrait of the era's army — navy-blue coats with amaranth facings, czapka caps, model 1777 flintlock muskets, and lancer uhlans under General Rożniecki.

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II.

360° aerial panorama

The architecture of the conflict

The origins of the War of the Fifth Coalition — Austria seeks revenge for Ulm and Austerlitz, Napoleon is bogged down in Spain, and the Polish front is stripped of its best regiments.

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III.

360° gigapanorama

The palace at Falenty

An early-Baroque seat of the Opacki family (1637) that hosted the Vasa kings and Stanisław August. Remodelled by Szymon Bogumił Zug for the Tepper bankers (1787).

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IV.

360° aerial panorama

Analysis of forces and command

The Austrian VII Corps of ~30,000 men vs the Polish–Saxon allies of ~15,800 — a 1:2 disproportion offset by the terrain, Fiszer's staff and Poniatowski's authority.

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360° gigapanorama

The palace's role in the battle

Falenty as a natural bastion before Warsaw — the palace, park and causeways as the site of the bloodiest clashes, and later a field hospital.

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VI.

360° aerial panorama

Topography and the defensive system

The Mrowa river spreads into a marshy valley; the narrow causeways force the Austrians to attack in frontal columns — terrain as a force multiplier.

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VII.

360° aerial panorama

Opening phase · Nadarzyn

The first morning clashes of 19 April — Schauroth's 16 squadrons vs the Polish cavalry. The 2nd Uhlan Regiment puts up stiff resistance and screens the army's concentration.

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VIII.

360° aerial panorama

The drama at Falenty

2:00 p.m. — Archduke Ferdinand's main force strikes at Falenty. Polish artillery batters the Austrian horse bogged down in the marshes at Jaworowo. Cyprian Godebski is mortally wounded.

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IX.

360° gigapanorama

The causeway — breaking point

4:00 p.m. on the causeway — bayonets, canister and blood. The fiercest moment of the battle, when the commander personally leads the infantry and the poet-colonel falls beside the colours.

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360° gigapanorama

The death of Colonel Godebski

Poet, prose writer, editor, commander of the 8th Infantry Regiment — "a commander's place is by the colours as long as the regiment's heart beats." He falls to an Austrian bullet on the Falenty causeway.

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XI.

360° gigapanorama

The causeway — the tactical "bottleneck"

The central axis of the Polish defensive system seen from a soldier's eye level — a deadly trap for the Austrian columns pressing towards Raszyn.

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XII.

360° aerial panorama

Prince Józef's counterattack

4:00 p.m., the situation critical — Poniatowski dismounts, takes up a musket and, pipe in mouth, leads the infantry in a bayonet charge. A moment that entered the legend of Polish arms.

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XIII.

360° aerial panorama

Night fighting for the bridges and mill

The evening of 19 April — the weight of the fighting shifts into Raszyn. General Polentz's Saxons defend the streets and orchards while Polish artillery fires by the glow of burning buildings.

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XIV.

360° aerial panorama

Tactical balance and losses

Tactically undecided, leaning towards the Poles — Austrian losses nearly twice the Polish ones. The baptism of fire of the army of the Duchy of Warsaw.

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XV.

360° aerial panorama

The convention at Rakowiec

20 April — a war council at night. Poniatowski makes a bold decision: he gives up Warsaw and saves the army. A convention with Archduke Ferdinand.

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XVI.

360° aerial panorama

Political and strategic consequences

The Austrian momentum broken, the Galician offensive, and the Peace of Schönbrunn (1809) enlarges the Duchy of Warsaw by nearly 50,000 km² of West Galicia.

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XVII.

360° gigapanorama

The Austeria inn at Raszyn

A late-18th-century Neoclassical coaching inn — symmetry, a portico, austere elegance. The heart of old Raszyn on the Kraków–Warsaw highway.

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XVIII.

360° gigapanorama

The Austeria — headquarters and field hospital

A rallying point for Prince Józef's staff officers and a place of councils. After the battle, a field hospital — the marks of gunfire on its façade survive to this day.

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XIX.

360° gigapanorama

The Church of St Stephen and St Anne

A rise dominating the causeways — an observation point and a target for Austrian artillery. The defensive cemetery wall served Polish fusiliers as a line of cover.

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XX.

360° gigapanorama

The legacy of Raszyn

The Prince with his pipe as an icon of the Polish style of command, Godebski as a symbol of a generation's tragedy. A triumph of strategic thought in Polish historical memory.

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