Introduction
Colditz Castle was possibly the most famous of all Prisoner of War camps during the Second World War. During this period, its high grey granite walls, barred windows, steep roofs, ancient towers, archways and moat set the scene for the greatest chapter in escape history.
The castle is situated high up on a cliff top in the small town of Colditz, Saxony. Colditz sits on the bank of the river Mulde, surrounded by the three German cities of Leipzig, Dresden and Chemnitz. 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 Second World War.
The castle originally took on the role of a transit camp for Poles after the fall of Poland. This small group were relocated in the early summer of 1940, and were later replaced by 140 Polish prisoners. In November 1940 a handful of British RAF officers arrived, soon to be followed by 6 British Army officers, and later by some French. So, the castle became an international camp. More British, French, Belgians and Dutch soon added to the prisoner contingent which would reside in Colditz castle until its liberation on 16th April 1945.
Early on it was decided that Colditz Castle should become a ‘Sonderlager’ (a maximum security prison), only accepting prisoners who had escaped at least once from other camps throughout the Reich, or who were pronounced ‘Deutschfeindlich’. Consequently, the German High Command had kindly assembled an international array of talent that boasted an expert in almost every field from mechanical engineering to lock-picking and the manufacture of home made explosives.
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.
During the summer of ‘98, I travelled the 1100 Km from Malvern to Colditz with a group of elderly pensioners, a mad Frenchman, and a nice couple from Hull (an adjective which I use with some apprehension since days after our holiday, Hull were to knock Stockport County out of the Worthington Cup in its foetal stages).
I emerged from this adventure with the three things that my life had been crying out for since puberty - a ‘Schloss Colditz’ T-shirt, a crate of lager that only cost £9.99, and the ability to write a fully illustrated website about Colditz Castle during the Second World War.
These various sections of the website can also be accessed using the frame on the left:
Please visit this site again. Full descriptions of Pat Reid's successful escape, Airey Neave's successful escape, and Mike Sinclair & Jack Best's '60 second escape attempt' are planned for November/December 2000.