Photographer Karel Křemel

Libušín 2011

Various effects, a thousand elephants... ehm performers and much more spectators, a historical camp and an almost historical market. Battle units from different time periods attend the Battle of Libušín – this means it isn't as much historical battle, rather than a battle of historical troops, and it's mostly about meeting your friends who prefer to reenact a different era than you do.

When not in the battle, most of the swordsmen spent their time in the historical camp. The camps were divided according to the historical period which they tried to reenact, the entrance to each camp was guarded and no one was permitted to enter, unless he was in an adequate costume. However, each encampment was small enough, so that you could see almost everything from the outside.

The battle alone began with a delay of approximately thirty minutes and this fact probable didn't add to anyone's mood. As if that wasn't enough, the whole battle was full of pauses and the story was kind of tedious, although the idea was interesting. It began with a rulers' duel followed by the first encounter of armies, then the Swiss arrived, were bought subsequently by each of the sides and destroyed at the end. Unfortunately, the story didn't count with the real size of each of the armies, which also spoiled the experience, along with the commentaries of the narrator.