Colditz

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For other uses, see Colditz (disambiguation).

Colditz



Country	Germany
State	Saxony
Administrative region	Leipzig
District	Muldentalkreis
Population	5,188 (December 31, 2005)
Area	33.50 km²
Population density	155 /km²
Elevation	156 m
Coordinates	51°07′ N 12°49′ E
Postal code	04680
Area code	034381
Licence plate code	MTL
Mayor	Manfreid Heinz (FDP)
Website	www.colditz.eu

Colditz is a city in the Free State of Saxony, Germany, near Dresden, located on the banks of the river Mulde. The city has a population of 5,188 (2005).

The Colditz coat of arms over the gate to the outer courtyard.

The city is most famous because of Colditz Castle, which has been used as a workhouse, mental health institution, a prisoner-of-war camp camp during World War I and as Oflag IV-C in World War II.

1 History
2 Colditz Castle
3 References
4 External links

[edit] History

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[edit] Colditz Castle

Main article: Colditz Castle

[edit] The original castle

In 1046 Henry III of the Holy Roman Empire gave the burgher of Colditz permission to build the first documented settlement at the site. In 1083, Henry IV recommended Markgraf Wiprecht of Groitzsch to develop the castle site, which Colditz accepted. In 1158, Emperor Frederick Barbarossa appointed Thimo I "Lord of Colditz", and major building works began. Around 1200, the actual city around the market was established. Forests, empty meadows, and farmland were settled and organized next to the pre-existing slavic villages Zschetzsch, Zschadraß, Zollwitz, Terpitzsch and Koltzschen. Around that time the larger villages Hohnbach, Thierbaum, Ebersbach and Tautenhain also emerged.

In the Middle Ages, the castle played an important role as a watchtower for the German Emperors and therefore was the center of the Reich territories of the Pleißenland (anti-Meißen Pleiße-lands). Around 1404, the nearly 250-year-old dynasty of the Lords of Colditz ended when Thimo VIII sold Colditz Castle for 15,000 silver marks into the possession of the Wettin family dynasty.

As a result of territorial politics in Saxony, the city and state of Colditz was officially established in the Margravate (county) of Meißen. In 1430, the Hussites attacked Colditz and set city and castle on fire. Around 1464, renovation and new building work on the Castle was carried out by Prince Ernst, who died in Colditz Castle in 1486. Under Frederick the Wise and Johann the Gentle, Colditz was a royal residence of the Electors of Saxony.

[edit] The rebuilt castle

The porphyry mannerist portal of the church house carved by Andreas Walther II in 1584.

In 1504, the servant Clemens the baker accidentally set Colditz on fire, and the city hall, church, castle and a large part of the city went up in flames. In 1506, reconstruction began and new buildings were raised around the rear castle courtyard. In 1523 the castle park was turned into one of the largest zoos in Europe. In 1524, rebuilding of the upper floors of the castle began. The castle was reconstructed in a fashion that corresponded to the way it was divided up — into the cellar, the royal house and the banquet hall building. There is nothing more to be seen of the original fortified castle, where the present rear castle is located, but it is still possible to make out where the original divisions were (the Old or Lower House, the Upper House and the Great House).

The structure of the castle was changed under the long reign of the elector Augustus of Saxony (1553 to 1586), and the complex was reconstructed into a Renaissance style castle from 1577 to 1591, including the portions that were still in the gothic architectural style. Architects Hans Irmisch and Peter Kummer supervised the further restoration and rebuilding. Later, Lucas Cranach the Younger was commissioned as an artist in the castle.

During this period the portal at what is known as the church house was created in 1584, made of porphyry and richly decorated in the mannerist style by Andreas Walther II. It was at this time that both the interior and the exterior of "the Holy Trinity" castle chapel that links the cellar and royal house with one another were redesigned. Shortly thereafter, the castle became an administrative centre for the Office of Colditz and a hunting lodge. In 1694, its then-current holder, Augustus the Strong, began to expand it, resulting in a second courtyard and a total of 700 rooms.

[edit] The modern castle

Colditz bridge in April 1945 after the town had been occupied by the US Army

In 2005, the scaffolding was visible from town.

In the 19th century, the church space was rebuilt in the neo-classic architectural style, but its condition was allowed to deteriorate. The castle was used by Frederick Augustus III, Elector of Saxony as a workhouse to feed the poor, the ill, and persons under arrest. It served this purpose from 1803 to 1829, when its workhouse function was taken over by an institution in Zwickau. In 1829 the castle became a mental hospital for the "incurably insane" from Waldheim. In 1864, a new hospital building was erected in the Gothic Revival style, on the ground where the stables and working quarters were previously located. It remained a mental institution until 1924.

During World War I, the castle was used as a Prisoner-of-war camp. No escapes were made at this time. When the Nazis came to power in 1933, they turned the castle into a political prison for communists, homosexuals, Jews, and other "undesirables". In 1939 it was turned into a camp for allied officers as Oflag IV-C.^[1] In April 1945, US troops entered Colditz town and, after a two-day fight, conquered the castle on April 16. This camp and the many escape attempts have been the subject of many books and films.

In May 1945, the Soviet occupation of Colditz began. Following the Yalta Conference it then became a part of East Germany. The Soviets turned Colditz castle into a prison camp for local burghers and non-communists. Later the castle was a home for the aged and nursing home, as well as a hospital and psychiatric clinic. For many years after the War, forgotten hiding spots and tunnels were found by repairmen.

[edit] The current castle

Today the castle and the church space require a significant amount of refurbishment and restoration. The last users moved out on August 1, 1996, and since then the castle has been almost empty except for the occasional visitor. The "Gesellschaft Schloss Colditz e.V." (the Castle Colditz historical society), founded in 1996, has its offices in a portion of the administration building in the front castle court.

As of 2005 portions of the castle are closed off to tourists due to renovation. In particular the chapel, portions of the attic, much of the interior, the tunnels, and at least one exterior face are undergoing refinishing.

[edit] Colditz Castle as a mental institution

For nearly a hundred years, between 1829 and 1924, Colditz was a sanitarium, generally reserved for the wealthy and the nobility of Germany. The castle thus functioned as a hospital during a long stretch of massive upheaval in Germany, from slightly after the Napoleonic Wars destroyed the Holy Roman Empire and created the German Confederation, throughout the lifespan of the North German Confederation, the complete reign of the German Empire, throughout the First World War, and until the beginnings of the Weimar Republic. Between 1914 and 1918, the castle was home to both psychiatric and tuberculosis patients, 912 of whom died of malnutrition.

Colditz Castle was also home to several notable figures during its time as a mental institution, including Ludwig Schumann, the second youngest son of the famous composer Robert Schumann, and Ernst Georg August Baumgarten, one of the original inventors of the airship.

[edit] See also

Oflag IV-C
Colditz Castle in popular culture - books and films
For a comprehensive list of books about Colditz Castle and the escapes from Oflag IV-C, see reading list

[edit] References

Michael Booker, Collecting Colditz and Its Secrets, page 32.
Eric J. Narveson, Prison Citadel, pp. 36-37.
Patrick Reid, Colditz: The Full Story, pp. 124, 259-263.
Georg Martin Schädlich, Tales from Colditz Castle, pp. 4-6, 27, 61, 63, 91-101.