Tour of Colditz Castle
Page One

The main road into the small town of Colditz first crosses the river Mulde, and from this bridge arises the first real opportunity to appreciate the dominance which the castle holds over the streets below.

From the market square in the centre of the town, small cobbled streets lead up to the entrance to the castle. The castle is approached from the south, and entered via the first gate (surprisingly enough). From here, a small bridge crosses the dry moat, with the outer walls of the castle looming overhead.

It’s from a window on this face of the castle which a housewife in the town noticed a home-made rope hanging on 8th September 1942.Click here for more information.

At the end of the moat-crossing stands the main archway to the castle. Carved above this archway are the armorial bearings of the Dukes of Saxony and to the Royal House of Denmark.

This main archway passes through into a courtyard, surrounded on all four sides by high stone walls.

This was the Kommandantur (German garrison area) of the castle, which housed the German guard force and their families. Many parts of the Kommandantur were also used as store rooms. There are two exits from this courtyard. The first is in an easterly direction, and passes through the outer walls of the castle. This is the route which prisoners would be escorted along for their daily visit to the exercise park.