Once I knew that, it was easy enough to locate the village on a map, but then it got really tricky. The Polish name for the village is Stębark. First of all, the village of Tannenberg no longer exists on maps, since it is now located in Poland. Since there was no dedicated visitor center or x marks the spot historic site, I surmised that the battle’s location would be at or near the village it was named for. In other words, it was mobile warfare distilled to its essence. Instead it was a blundering, confused mess marked by chaos and confusion. This was not a Napoleonic set piece battle, with two armies staring each other down. There was nothing inherently dramatic about that. On the German side, tactical brilliance consisted of setting a trap and allowing the Russians to fall into it. Not exactly the type of activity that gets a history buff’s heart racing. The Russian forces ended up with 92,000 soldiers taken prisoner versus 78,000 killed and wounded. On the Russian side, there was more surrender than actual combat. Trying to pin down a specific place and date for the decisive events is all but impossible.
It took a total of five days from start to finish. The battle was fought across a sprawling expanse of countryside consisting of lakes and forests. The problem with locating the Battle of Tannenberg is mostly one of space and time. Lost In Space & Time – Finding Tannenberg The Battle of Tannenberg was fought over an area of hundreds of square kilometers
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