Colditz Castle is best known as a top security prisoner of war camp utilised by the Nazis all through World War II to house Allied prisoners of war who were considered to be "incorrigible". Nevertheless, the castle is around 800 years old so there is considerably more to its past than the six years when it was also known as Oflag IV-C.
Building work began in the mid 12th century on the imposing castle set on a hill overlooking Colditz in Saxony, Germany. Within a few years, habitations started to appear in the vicinity of the castle and after approximately 250 years, it was sold by the Lords of Coldtiz.
A big fire in the early 1500s resulted in significant sections of the castle needed to be rebuilt along with the city hall, church and large areas of the city. Over the years, renovation and rebuilding construction saw the shape of the castle transform and in the 19th century it was rebuilt yet again and made use of as a workhouse and later on a mental hospital till 1924.
In 1933, Hitler came to power and converted the castle to a prison for political prisoners of war. Immediately after the start of World War II in 1939, POWs were imprisoned here. It was used to contain top risk prisoners of war who were regarded as dangerous and certainly going to make an attempt to escape. Even though it was a top security pow camp, the nature of the inmates at Oflag IV-C (it's prison camp name), meant there were several imaginative escape efforts. There was even one plan where POWs plotted to make use of a glider even though it was never attempted as the Allies retook the castle before the escape attempt could be staged.
Colditz was a POW camp for officers and there were also several well known inmates including the British fighter ace, Douglas Bader, Patrick Reid who authored numerous books on Colditz after the war, Airey Neave who was the first officer to escape from the prison and was also eventually elected to the British Parliament, Sir David Stirling who founded the SAS and Charles Upham from New Zealand who was awarded the Victoria Cross and bar. One of the most notable of all was Giles Romilly who was the nephew of Winston Churchill's wife.
In recent years, Colditz Castle has been refurbished and is open to visitors to see this historic building for themselves.
Building work began in the mid 12th century on the imposing castle set on a hill overlooking Colditz in Saxony, Germany. Within a few years, habitations started to appear in the vicinity of the castle and after approximately 250 years, it was sold by the Lords of Coldtiz.
A big fire in the early 1500s resulted in significant sections of the castle needed to be rebuilt along with the city hall, church and large areas of the city. Over the years, renovation and rebuilding construction saw the shape of the castle transform and in the 19th century it was rebuilt yet again and made use of as a workhouse and later on a mental hospital till 1924.
In 1933, Hitler came to power and converted the castle to a prison for political prisoners of war. Immediately after the start of World War II in 1939, POWs were imprisoned here. It was used to contain top risk prisoners of war who were regarded as dangerous and certainly going to make an attempt to escape. Even though it was a top security pow camp, the nature of the inmates at Oflag IV-C (it's prison camp name), meant there were several imaginative escape efforts. There was even one plan where POWs plotted to make use of a glider even though it was never attempted as the Allies retook the castle before the escape attempt could be staged.
Colditz was a POW camp for officers and there were also several well known inmates including the British fighter ace, Douglas Bader, Patrick Reid who authored numerous books on Colditz after the war, Airey Neave who was the first officer to escape from the prison and was also eventually elected to the British Parliament, Sir David Stirling who founded the SAS and Charles Upham from New Zealand who was awarded the Victoria Cross and bar. One of the most notable of all was Giles Romilly who was the nephew of Winston Churchill's wife.
In recent years, Colditz Castle has been refurbished and is open to visitors to see this historic building for themselves.
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The historic Colditz Castle has given many of the most imaginative escape stories of the Second World War.. This article, Colditz - An Historic Castle has free reprint rights.