Colditz Castle
| Colditz Castle | |
|---|---|
| Schloss Colditz | |
Colditz Castle in 2011
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| General information | |
| Architectural style | Renaissance |
| Town or city | Colditz |
| Country | Germany |
| Coordinates | 51°07′52″N 12°48′25″E / 51.131°N 12.807°E |
| Client | Augustus of Saxony |
| Owner | State Palaces, Castles and Gardens of Saxony |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect |
Hans Irmisch Peter Kummer |
Colditz Castle (or Schloss Colditz in German) is a Renaissance castle in the town of Colditz near Leipzig, Dresden and Chemnitz in the state of Saxony in Germany. It gained international fame as Oflag IV-C, a prisoner-of-war camp during World War II for "incorrigible" Allied officers who had repeatedly escaped from other camps.
The castle lies between the towns of Hartha and Grimma on a hill spur over the Zwickauer Mulde. It had the first wildlife park in Germany when, in 1523, the castle park was turned into one of the largest zoos in Europe.
In 1046, Henry III of the Holy Roman Empire gave the burghers of Colditz permission to build the first documented settlement at the site. In 1083, Henry IV urged Margrave Wiprecht of Groitzsch to develop the castle site, which Colditz accepted. In 1158, Emperor Frederick Barbarossa made Thimo I "Lord of Colditz", and major building works began. By 1200, the town around the market was established. Forests, empty meadows, and farmland were settled 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.
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Wikipedia