Colditz on the River Mulde might be pretty unknown in Germany, but almost every Englishman knows this small town in Saxony for its greatest attraction, Colditz Castle, the location of the famous World War II POW camp for Allied officers which rises high above the town and the river. Colditz itself is a rather quiet place with some beautiful half-timbered houses situated in the lovely valley of the River Mulde and surrounded by forests, rolling hills and more medieval castles.
Geography
The town of Colditz in the federal state of Saxony in former East Germany is situated in the centre of a triangle formed by the three cities of Leipzig, Dresden and Chemnitz. It stretches on both sides of the Mulde River and has a population of approximately 5000 inhabitants. The medieval town was founded on the eastern side of the river where the steeply rising terrain provided the ideal place to build a castle. The area around Colditz is characterized by a delightful mixture of hills and valleys, rivers and forests, villages and towns. Colditz forest is one of the largest forest areas in Saxony, covering some 1,800 hectares. Colditz is surrounded by villages
Grossbothen,
Zschadrass,
Zettlitz and
Königsfeld in the county
Mittweida and the city
Bad Lausick. Districts are Lastau, Hohnbach and Möseln. The city, including all districts, has a population of approximately 5000 inhabitants.
History
In the early Stone Age the area was populated by some German tribes, later by Slavs who lived here as fishermen, farmers and hunters. The first record of Colditz, which was then called Cholidistcha, is from the year 1046 in a Chronicle of Thietmar, the Bishop of Merseburg. During the reign of King Barbarossa, Colditz became an imperial estate and in 1265 it was granted town rights.
During 1414 Colditz became part of the Mark Meissen County. In 1504 the town was destroyed by a great fire and subsequently Colditz Castle was rebuilt to become the temporary residence of Saxon electors and their court who came to Colditz for the pleasure of hunting in the adjacent forest
Tiergarten. Until the middle of the 16th century the city reached important attributes as a medieval city wall and jurisdiction. Predominant crafts in the 16th century were linen weavers and clay quarrying. During the reign of the famous Saxon Elector August the Strong, the clay was delivered to the
Meissen Porcelain Manufactory which was founded in 1710. In 1804 the first pottery factory was founded in Colditz and Colditz became well known for its pottery and porcelain that was exported all over the world. However, after the reunification of Germany the large china factory, as well as many other small enterprises, were closed down and therefore Colditz is now a rather tranquil place where people work in trade, tourism and service companies.
Sights
The
Town Council has the most remarkable building on the market place, dating from the late 16th century. After it was burnt down by Swedish troops in 1637 it was rebuilt in the Renaissance style and has since housed the municipal government. Take a look at the strongly profiled gable with its gorgeous lattice decorated balcony in the roof gables and the clock with two golden goats, which strikes each quarter. The interior with beautiful vaulted ceilings and Renaissance decorations is worth seeing too. The building also accommodates the registry office, the town archives and the Colditz Tourist Information Centre which provides information on accommodations, attractions and leisure facilities.
Sankt Aegidien town church on the castle hill is named after Saint Giles. It was first mentioned in 1286. A fire set by Hussite troops nearly destroyed the whole building in 1430, but it was rebuilt in the 16th century in its present form. The late Gothic choir with its vaulted ceiling made of porphyry from the Rochlitz quarries was, however, preserved. The central piece of the high altar “The Resurrection of Christ” by Zacharias Wehme was a present from the Electress Sophie von Sachsen. St. Aegidien is the main Evangelical church of Colditz and also stages concerts of the town choir and other musicians. A memorial stone in the vestibule commemorates the theologian Wenceslaus Linck who was born in Colditz and who was a close friend of Luther when the reformer worked in the nearby town of Altenburg.
Directly adjacent to the church is
Johann David Koehler house, named after the scholar who was born here in 1684. Koehler founded Numismatics as a science in Germany. The restored house was inaugurated as a memorial on his 300th birthday and serves as a venue for exhibitions, one of which is dedicated to the life and work of Johann David Koehler.
The Colditz Museum of Local History was founded in 1874 by Colditz mayor Johannes Müller. It houses parts of the former art collection of the town as well as valuable craft collections and collections from the Colditz stoneware factories. The exhibition was initially displayed in a room in the town hall until 1930 when the museum moved to Colditz Castle. In 1937, however, the castle became an asylum for the mentally ill and the museum had to be relocated again. Now it is housed in an older Baroque building dating from 1730, a former cigar factory, and currently the museum also includes a library and reading room.
South of Colditz on the Toepelsberg hill near the village of Terpitzsch you will find the so called
homeland tower (
Heimatturm). It is a very popular destination. The stone tower was erected in 1901 in only 10 weeks as a celebration of the town and local traditions. Originally its height was 18.7 meter but after being partially destroyed by lightning it was repaired and raised to 20 meters. From the tower platform, which can be climbed for a small fee, you have an excellent view on Colditz, Lastau, the Mulde valley and the surrounding countryside. The restaurant in the tower's base is open in summer and offers small alcoves inside and numerous seats outside. Moreover, the Toepelsberg with its long hill towards Lastau is an ideal place for paragliders who come from all over Saxony to enjoy the up-draft and the view.
The
Waldbad of Colditz is a public pool surrounded by a forest which is named
Tiergarten and extends from Colditz Castle to Zschadraß. It offers a float pool, a fun and playing pool with a slide and a children's pool. The terrain of the natural spa also has a modern building with locker rooms, sanitary and shower rooms, disabled access to the edge of the pools and a large lawn. The pool is heated by solar panels so that swimming can be guaranteed even on cloudy days. Adjacent there is a 4-star campsite providing sites for tents, caravans and recreation vehicles, rental bungalows, children’s play area, sports facilities and a sauna .
A big attraction for visitors is the
Colditz forest, one of the largest forest areas in Saxony. Together with the Glastener forest it covers an area of about 2,700 hectares, or 7 square kilometers. A part of the Colditz forest and the Kohlbachtal was declared a nature reserve. Hiking to the spring of the small river Parthe or to the Altteich pond is very attractive. Furthermore there are several memorial stones such as the Schneider stone or the Drechsler stone.
The hiking trail through the
Kohlbach Valley is named after Helmut Drechsler, an animal photographer and author born in Colditz in 1916. He spent many years in Africa and died in an accident during a photo expedition in 1960. There is a memorial stone to Helmut Drechsler in the centre of the valley. The Kohlbach Valley is home to numerous butterflies and attractive wetland plants like the Marsh Marigold, the Yellow Flag genus and the Wood Cow-wheat. Wooden shelters along the trail allow hikers to stop for a rest and a picnic.
The most important sight of the town is
Colditz Castle. It dates from the 11th Century - the
builder was Wiprecht of Groitzsch. In 1158 Emperor Friedrich I. (known as Barbarossa) declared Colditz an imperial property and appointed Thimo I. as Imperial Governor of the castle and twenty smaller Slavic villages. Thimo I. was the first of the dynasty of "Lords of Colditz" who reigned over the region for almost 250 years. Colditz was the object of a long term dispute between the Wettin family and the Marquises of Meissen at the time and eventually, in 1404, the Wettin familiy lost the quarrel and Colditz became part of the Meissen county. As from 1553 the Elector August and his wife Anna, Princess of Denmark, lived here. Later August the Strong used it as as a lodge while hunting in the adjacent forest. In the early 17th century Sophie, the widow of Elector Christian I, made the castle her residence for almost 20 years. After 1753 it fell into disrepair and in the 19th Century it served as a poorhouse, workhouse, psychiatric asylum and as a hospital for mentally ill people. During World War II the castle was a prisoner-of-war-camp for Allied officers.
Oflag IVC Colditz
Most of the visitors to Colditz come from afar, from France, Belgium or Great Britain. They all want to visit the infamous fortress on the rocky crags above the town - the Colditz Castle. Every child in England today knows the stories about the outbreaks of the so-called Bad Boys of Colditz. Not so in Germany.
The Nazis considered Colditz Castle as impossible to escape from because of its location on a high rock above the city. At that time it was manned by a Wehrmacht garrison and they only sent their most dangerous enemies there. Most of them were allied officers who had already tried escaping from another prison. Here, they should be prevented from breaking out. Among the military, the castle was called Oflag IVC. Despite the most severe security measures, the first prisoners began to use every opportunity to escape shortly after their arrival in the winter of 1939. Among the officers from Poland, Britain, France, Belgium and the Netherlands were a few prominent persons who could be used as pawns by Hitler. Therefore it caused great excitement when one day Giles Romilly, the most important prisoner and a nephew of Winston Churchill, was picked up outside the castle. He had reached the railway station of Colditz hidden in a wooden box, but at the end he was discovered.
In the second courtyard of the castle (see the photo) the prisoners could move quite freely. They were even allowed to do sports and in the forest adjacent to the castle they could use a fenced area for football games. Due to international rules the prisoners could not be forced to work, and so they had much spare time that they spent with sports, playing music, reading, rehearsing and performing in plays and learning foreign languages. A small group of Englishmen led by Pat Reid were the first who made an attempt to escape through a tunnel under the canteen. They had bribed one of the Guards with 500 Reichsmark to look away at the right moment. However, on the night of the escape it was already anticipated. The first home run was by a Frenchman who could disappear on his way back from the sports ground. Another guy escaped with a back flip over the barbed wire fence of the sports ground, for which he and his fellows had exercised. Unlike most other camps, punishments for such outbursts were relatively harmless, since the prison management followed the Geneva Convention. In the end it was a real cat-and-mouse game: for the prisoners it was a duty to break out for the guards to stop them.
After two tunnel teams collided underground, a joint team of "Escape officers" of the various countries was established. The escape committee took over the co-ordination of the escape attempts. From a total of 330 escapees only one in eleven succeeded. In six years only 30 officers made a home run. One was dressed as a woman, another disguised as a well known Colditz craftsman, whilst others copied and even sewed uniforms which failed only in details. Each of the escapees brought back to the castle was photographed with his utensils, or in his disguise. The Germans archived everything and set up an escape museum for educational purposes.
The most spectacular escape attempt was planned with a home-made plane, the Colditz Cock Glider. The small aircraft was built of bed sheets and wood and intended to fly with two occupants from the roof of the castle. This almost insane plan was forbidden by the escape committee, in view of the approaching U.S. troops. When the Americans liberated Colditz on the 15 April 1945 they found the plane in an attic of the castle. All of this can now be seen in the Castle Museum.
Hospitality
Although Colditz is only a small town, there are some interesting sights for visitors to while away some time.
Places to stay
Right in the middle of the town, not far from the market place and the castle, you’ll find the Bed & Breakfast
Alte Stadtmauer characterized by its good location and family atmosphere. Another accommodation near the centre is the
Youth hostel with a large garden area and a zoo. Since April 2007 the
Europe-Hostel has opened with meeting rooms and multiple rooms in Colditz castle. The hotel
Waldhaus (see photo) is situated on the outskirts, only some meters away from Colditz forest. Apart from its rooms and bungalows, facilities include a restaurant and a ball room. During the summer guests can also stay on the
camping ground beside the open-air swimming pool. It not only offers space for tents and caravans but also has bungalows for a longer stay. The camping ground has a restaurant and a play ground, and they rent bicycles. Since 2009 one can also rent the lovely
Sonnenhof apartment from its English-speaking owner.
Dining
Even in this small town you can find some restaurants and cafés. The most popular site is the
Schlosscafé (see photo) at the market place, offering original Italian ice cream with a nice view to the church, the Town Council building and the Castle. Around the market place or in the vicinity you will also find the
Bistro am Markt or the
Marktstübl,
Sophienklause (traditional cuisine), the restaurant
Zur Post and the small restaurant
Waldschlösschen near the Castle. The largest restaurant is the
Waldhaus at Colditz forest and it has a winter garden and ballroom. Some more restaurants in the vicinity are the
Kutscherstube in the disctrict Thumirnicht and the
Rüsterhof in the district Lastau.
Useful links on trivago
Site of the Tourist Information
Colditz on Wikipedia
Private website on Colditz by Tony Cutcliffe
Private website on Colditz castle by Gavin Worrell
Private website on Colditz and the castle
