The Fate of the civilian population

The strategically important villages in the area surrounding the battlefield were fiercely contested and often set on fire – as portrayed in the village in the background of the painting. It could represent the town of Problus (Probluz) that lies on a hill some 10 km from Königgrätz. Occupied at the beginning of the battle by Saxon forces, it fell into the hands of the Prussians in the afternoon after intense house-to-house fighting. If it was to be expected that fighting would take place there, the inhabitants normally left their houses on time. But the war had an effect on the population even in the towns not immediately affected by the fighting, for the inhabitants had to accommodate soldiers in their homes and for a time had to feed the armies.