Colditz

 Colditz, a beautiful town in Saxony was a stop off point on the drive to Dresden on our 2018 road trip. Following a visit to the famous castle which stands above the town it was nice to relax and explore a little before setting off.

In the main square there was a fabulous bakery and café where we bought some delicious cakes and then we ate them sat by the fountain. It was just as well that we did because on the next stage of our trip which should have taken about an hour, allowing us plenty of time to find our hotel, explore Dresden and find a nice restaurant, actually took us almost 7 hours. There was a terrific storm but this unfortunately caused a landslide which blocked the motorway leaving us stuck for 6 hours. This was certainly an unexpected adventure and by the time we reached our hotel in Dresden everything was closed and we went to bed hungry but grateful for the delicious cake we had eaten earlier in the day.

Fabulous Fledgling

Whilst taking a few quiet moments in the courtyard at Colditz castle I spotted this fledgling blackbird perched on the downpipe of some guttering. 

I was able to get pretty close as you can see and s/he was as curious about me as I was about him/her. 

I managed to get these few pictures but I could tell it was preparing to fly away in the final picture because it pooped so I stepped back to give it space and as expected s/he flew away.

Around The Castle Courtyard

These are all shots from around the courtyard of Colditz Castle in Saxony. It was a lovely sunny day and the sunlight reflecting off the castle walls filled the grounds. There were only a few shady spots and as you can see from the final shot a couple of old guys were taking full advantage while their partners were off exploring.

With the bright colours and with everything so calm and quiet it was hard to think of this place as it once was, an oppressive prisoner of war camp, and before that a psychiatric hospital.

There were some really interesting exhibitions inside and lots of good views to capture so we spent a good few hours here.

Renaissance

Canon EF24 - 105 mm F/4 L IS USM

ISO 125  50 mm F/14  1/250 sec

ISO 125  28 mm  F/14  1/250 sec

After three days in Sweden our roadtrip continued into Germany with Dresden being our main destination but on the way we stopped off in Colditz.

If wasn't for the TV series that I watched as a child or the book that I read about the prisoner of war camp located in the castle here it is more than likely that we would have just driven past but having seen that the town lay almost on our route I was keen to take the small detour and have a look at this renaissance town in Saxony. It was definitely worth it. The architecture was really beautiful, the castle was imposing and atmospheric and the cake we bought in the bakery in the square was really delicious.

These shots show the tower of the church which overlooked the square and was on the route up to the castle. It was quite a simple building but for the tower with its dome and spire.  If you are ever in Saxony I would definitely recommend visiting Colditz.

Olag IV C

So this evening we are in Dresden, eventually. I had planned on getting here late afternoon and thought I would get some good shots around the city in the evening sun. Unfortunately however we have spent the best part of 6 hours in a traffic jam as a result of flash floods so we arrived late to our hotel and we missed dinner too.

Earlier we broke up our journey by visiting Olag IV C or Colditz as it is better known.
The castle is now a youth hostel and museum but during the second world war it was a prison for allied officers who had escaped from other camps. It was supposed to be impossible to escape from Colditz but at least 30 successful escapes were made from around 300 attempts. There were lots of examples to read in the museum and it is worth reading up on some of them, like the Colditz Cock, which is not what you might think.

Prior to its use as a prison it had been a psychiatric hospital that had played a dark part in the T4 euthanasia program and there was a very fitting and moving memorial to the 84 people who died there.

I have only one picture to share today which is looking up through one of the arches into the courtyard and it is easy to forget the dramatic history when you look at the beautiful architecture. I'm glad we got to stop off here because the castle was well worth a visit and the slice of cake from one of the bakeries in the town square was an added bonus.