"Colditz : WWII Oflag IVC" Colditz by PeterVancouver

The castle was originally built in 1014 as a hunting lodge for the kings of Saxony. Throughout its history, it has been the centre of war and siege, and thus rebuilt many times. The castle was completely destroyed in the 15th century during the Hussite wars. It was then rebuilt and given as a wedding present to a Danish Princess in 1583. In 1634 Imperialists captured the castle only to lose it again to Sweden in 1706. Its role then changed to a prison in 1800 and then a hospital for the mentally ill in 1828. This is how the castle remained for over 100 years, until starting its relatively short span as a prisoner of war camp during the A Castle with an ancient and also infamous war time history as a prisoner of war camp Oflag IVC
The castle was visited by Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering early on in the war, and was declared to be "Escape Proof" - a prediction which, with hindsight, was rubbish. Throughout the five and a half years of war, over 300 escape attempts were made. This resulted in 120 ‘gone aways’ (escapers which got out of the castle but were later recaptured). At the fall of Colditz to the Americans in April 1945, 31 prisoners had successfully reached home - a figure unequalled by any prisoner of war camp during the Second World War.
The first British inmates arrived at Colditz on 6th November 1940. The sentiments of Capt Kenneth Lockwood were echoed all over the camp; “Uppermost of all we wondered how we were going to get out of the place”. Officers were under orders from their respective governments to escape wherever possible – and herein lay the Germans problem: put hundreds of escapees in one camp and you create an escape academy. There were locksmiths, linguists, forgers, tailors, engineers and spies. Everyone had a contribution to make. The ingenuity astounded the security officer Captain Reinhold Eggers, who later wrote: “We kept them in with rifles and machine guns. We searched them by day and night. And yet they got out.”
Anyone contemplating a visit during 2005, should check in advance with the castle as a number of areas are closed for refurbishment

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Main street looking up at the castle

On our visit in the winter of 2003 it was clear that Colditz had for many years been well in the Soviet dominated area of East Germany, as it was somewhat of a time warp from modern areas of the West, with few locals speaking English that we came across. It was however charming and the shops were very welcoming as indeed were the people of the town.

Trabant made by VEB Sachsenring Automobilwerke

Even in 2003 it was not uncommon to see a huge plume of smoke coming down the road under which was the two stroke sound of an ancient Trabant car. This very basic 600cc vehicle was made from 1957 right through to 1989 by the East German manufacturers VEB in Zwickau, Sachsen. Since gas stations no longer supply mixed two stroke fuel, the owners are obliged to carry around cans of two stoke oil to pour into the gasoline and which at a ratio of 33:1 can produce an effective smoke screen. Refuelling on the earlier models was even more hit and miss, as they didnt have luxuries such as fuel guages, and checking how much fuel was left was done with a simple dip stick directly into the 24L tank.

• Pros:A fascinating place to visit
• In a nutshell:Brings the film and books on Colditz Castle into reality