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34-707: The river is formed by the confluence, near Colditz , of the Zwickauer Mulde (running through Zwickau ) and the Freiberger Mulde (with Freiberg on its banks), both rising from the Ore Mountains . From here the river runs northwards through Saxony ( Grimma , Wurzen , Eilenburg , Bad Düben ) and Saxony-Anhalt ( Jeßnitz and Dessau , the old capital of Anhalt ). The Mulde flows into the Elbe 3 kilometres (2 mi) north of Dessau. In August 2002

68-518: A computer game in 1991. Margravate of Meissen The Margravate or Margraviate of Meissen ( German : Markgrafschaft Meißen ) was a medieval principality in the area of the modern German state of Saxony . It originally was a frontier march of the Holy Roman Empire , created out of the vast Marca Geronis ( Saxon Eastern March ) in 965. Under the rule of the Wettin dynasty ,

102-554: A flood caused severe damage, that even endangered the UNESCO World Heritage Site "Dessau-Wörlitzer Gartenreich" and the city Dessau. Its name could be derived from Old German (possibly Gothic ) "Mulda" (𐌼ᚢ𐌻ᛞᚨ), meaning "dust" and a cognate of English " mould "). But more possibly it is related to the German "mahlen" which means "to mill". Therefore, Mulde probably means "the milling river" and corresponds to

136-534: A marketplace below the castle and St. Nicholas' Church was built. In 1265, the Colditz citizens were granted town privileges by the ruler. In 1243, the former Imperial estates were pledged to the Wettin margrave Henry III of Meissen . His grandson, Margrave Frederick I of Meissen occupied Colditz Castle in 1309. The whole lordship was finally incorporated into the Margravate of Meissen by 1404. Merged into

170-420: A result, Colditz and the entire state of Saxony became part of East Germany . In 1958, the publicly owned porcelain factory was established. It produced a major part of the dishes used by Mitropa , as evident by the manufacturer's logo "cp". Both porcelain and chamotte industry went into decline after 1990. Since German reunification in 1990, efforts have been made to increase visits by tourists. The castle

204-651: Is best known for Colditz Castle , the site of the Oflag IV-C POW camp for officers in World War II . Colditz is situated in the Leipzig Bay , southeast of the city of Leipzig . The town centre is located on the banks of Zwickau Mulde river, south of its confluence with the Freiberg Mulde . The municipality had a population of 8,374 in 2020. The town Colditz consists of Colditz proper and

238-516: Is possibly of Slavic origin. In 1083, Henry's son and successor Henry IV recommended that his follower Count Wiprecht of Groitzsch build a castle on the cliff above the river. From 1158, under the rule of Emperor Frederick Barbarossa , the fortress became the residence of the noble House of Colditz , a dynasty of ministeriales in the Imperial Pleissnerland territory. In the 12th century, merchant houses were built around

272-401: Is provided by buses, with services to Grimma , Leisnig , Hartha , Rochlitz , and Bad Lausick , as well as to several villages in the vicinity. The story of the wartime prisoners at Oflag IV-C was documented by Patrick Robert ("Pat") Reid in his books The Colditz Story and The Latter Days At Colditz , and the former was used as the basis for a 1955 film directed by Guy Hamilton . In

306-593: The Annales Fuldenses . His title is rendered as dux Sorabici limitis , "duke of the Sorbian frontier", but he and his East Frankish successors were commonly known as duces Thuringorum , "dukes of the Thuringians", as they set about establishing their power over the older Duchy of Thuringia in the west. The Sorbian march had already lost its importance around 900 AD; the last known margrave Poppo

340-464: The Electorate of Saxony from 1423, Colditz was held by Elector Ernest upon the 1485 Treaty of Leipzig . In 1504, the local baker accidentally set Colditz on fire, and the city hall, church, castle and a large part of the town went up in flames. In 1506, reconstruction began and new buildings were raised around the rear castle courtyard. After the defeat of Elector John Frederick I of Saxony in

374-806: The Great Slav Rising . The newly established bishoprics of Havelberg and Brandenburg as well as the March of Zeitz were overrun by Lutici tribes. Margrave Rikdag joined forces with the Margraves of Lusatia and the Northern March , the Bishop of Halberstadt , and the Archbishop of Magdeburg and defeated the Slavs in the gau of Balsamgau near Stendal . Nevertheless, large territories of

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408-674: The Investiture Controversy in 1089. Emperor Henry IV then granted Meissen to Count Henry of Eilenburg of the Wettin dynasty. The margravate would remain under Wettin rule for the rest of its existence. Under Wiprecht von Groitzsch in the 1120s, Meissen underwent a process of Germanisation. He was succeeded by Conrad the Great (1123–56), Otto the Rich (1156–91), and Dietrich the Hard-Pressed (1191–1221), under whom

442-582: The Ortsteile (divisions) Bockwitz, Collmen, Commichau, Erlbach, Erlln, Hausdorf, Hohnbach, Kaltenborn, Koltzschen, Lastau , Leisenau, Maaschwitz, Meuselwitz, Möseln, Podelwitz, Raschütz, Schönbach, Sermuth, Skoplau, Tanndorf, Terpitzsch, Zollwitz, Zschadraß , Zschetzsch and Zschirla. The first record of a burgward on the Mulde river, called Cholidistcha , dates to the year 1046, when Emperor Henry III dedicated it to his consort Agnes of Poitou . The name

476-603: The Schmalkaldic War of 1546–47, the town passed to his cousin Maurice . His descendants continued to rebuild Colditz Castle as a hunting lodge. From 1602 to 1622, it served as the residence of Dowager Electress Sophie , widow of Elector Christian I . In the 17th century, the cloth and linen manufacture developed. In the 18th century, clay from the Colditz area started to be used in the Meissen porcelain factory that

510-403: The 15th century. A town soon developed around the castle. King Henry, however, made no attempts to Germanise the Slavs or to create a chain of burgwards around his fortress. Sat alone, like Brandenburg , with few defenses or towns around it; Meissen probably was temporarily occupied by Bohemian forces from 936 onwards. The town beneath the fortress grew, however, eventually becoming one of

544-553: The Northern March were lost, and the German forces were pushed back west of the Elbe. Margrave Eckard I from Thuringia succeeded Rikdag as Margrave of Meissen in 985. His descendants of the Ekkeharding noble family would keep the margravial title until 1046. Upon his appointment, Eckard allied with Duke Mieszko I of Poland in order to reconquer Meissen Castle from Duke Boleslaus II of Bohemia whose forces occupied it

578-682: The Saxon electorate , in which they ultimately merged their margravial lands abandoning Meissen's status as an independent principality; though they retained the margravial title. In the late 15th century, the dynasty held a large contiguous territory between the Werra and Oder rivers. By the 1485 Treaty of Leipzig , however, the Upper Saxon lands were again divided between Frederick's grandsons Ernest ruling in Wittenberg and Albert , who took

612-972: The Slavic Glomacze ( Talaminzi ) tribes beyond the Mulde river, identified as eastern neighbours of the Sorbs by the Bavarian Geographer about 850. These territories were under constant attacks by the East Frankish rulers; in 908 they were first campaigned by the Saxon prince Henry the Fowler , son of Duke Otto the Illustrious . By 928/29, the main Glomacze fortress on the Jahna river

646-589: The death of Margrave Gero , Meissen became the center of a new march with the goal of controlling the local Slavic population. The first Meissen margrave, Wigbert , is mentioned in a 968 charter of the Archdiocese of Magdeburg . That same year, the Meissen fortress also became the see of the newly created Bishopric of Meissen . In 978, the Saxon count Rikdag became the Margrave of Meissen , and incorporated

680-546: The division of the march, however it would reunite soon after each time. Meissen was often enlarged by marriage, purchase, or conquest, which is how it gained the rights to the burgraviate in 1426. In 1423, Margrave Frederick IV was assigned the heirless Duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg , formerly held by the House of Ascania , by Emperor Sigismund in turn for his support against the Hussites . The Wettin rulers thereby entered into

714-504: The early 1970s the BBC broadcast a series, Colditz , created by Brian Degas and Gerard Glaister , with Reid as technical advisor. In 1973 the TV comedy series The Two Ronnies shot a sketch "Colditz" featuring Ronnie Corbett in the role of the new detainee and Ronnie Barker as camp commandant. Beginning in 1973 a board game Escape from Colditz was marketed by Parker Brothers , followed by

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748-554: The great number of water mills driven by the river in former times. This article related to a river in Saxony is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article related to a river in Saxony-Anhalt is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Colditz Colditz ( German pronunciation: [ˈkɔldɪts] ) is a small town in the district of Leipzig , in Saxony , Germany . It

782-614: The intermediate Pleisseland around Altenburg in pawn. In 1307, the attempt by the Luxembourg king Henry VII to once again subdue the Margraves of Meissen failed with his defeat at the Battle of Lucka . By that time the margravate was de facto independent of any sovereign authority. In the following years, there would be joint rule of Meissen by multiple members of the Wettin dynasty at any given time. In 1382 and 1445, this even led to

816-694: The march would expand and develop. By then, Meissen had become a stronghold of the Wettin dynasty, suspiciously eyed by the Hohenstaufen emperors who nevertheless were not able to deprive the margraves of their power. In 1264, during the War of the Thuringian Succession , Margrave Henry III asserted himself in the Landgraviate of Thuringia, where his uncle Henry Raspe had died childless. Between 1243 and 1255, Henry III had also acquired

850-573: The marches of Merseburg and Zeitz into Meissen. By 982, the territory of the march had extended as far as the Kwisa river to the east and as far as the slopes of the Ore Mountains to the south, where it shared a border with the Přemyslid duchy of Bohemia. In 983, following the defeat of Emperor Otto II at the Battle of Stilo , the Slavic Lutici tribes bordering eastern Saxony rebelled in

884-594: The margravate finally merged with the former Duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg into the Saxon Electorate by 1423. In the mid 9th century, the area of the later margravate was part of an eastern frontier zone of the Carolingian Empire called Sorbian March ( Limes Sorabicus ), after Sorbian tribes of Polabian Slavs settling beyond the Saale river. In 849, a margrave named Thachulf was documented in

918-670: The most important cities in the vast Marca Geronis , covering the Slavic lands east of the Saxon stem duchy . King Henry, and later on his son and successor Otto I , continued the Slavic campaigns into the lands of the Polabian Milceni tribes around Bautzen ( Budissin ), with their gained territory being gradually incorporated into the Saxon Eastern March. When the Marca Geronis was divided in 965 upon

952-532: The year before. When Eckard was assassinated in 1002, however, Mieszko's son, the Polish king Bolesław I Chrobry , took the occasion to conquer the margravial lands east of the Elbe and demanded the surrender of Meissen. The following German–Polish War ended with the 1018 Peace of Bautzen , whereby Meissen had to cede the Milceni region (later Upper Lusatia ) to Poland. In 1031 however, King Conrad II of Germany

986-458: Was able to reconquer the Milceni lands, which were returned to Meissen. In 1046, Count Otto of Weimar-Orlamünde became margrave, followed by Egbert II of the Brunonids upon his death in 1067. Egbert II entered into a longstanding conflict with Emperor Henry IV , because of which he had to renounce the Milceni lands to Duke Vratislaus II of Bohemia in 1076, and was finally deposed during

1020-527: Was deposed by King Arnulf in 892 and replaced with Conrad who continued to appear as a "Duke of Thuringia". Conrad himself was replaced by Burchard , whose title in 903 was marchio Thuringionum , "margrave of the Thuringians". Due to scarce sources, the geographical extent of the Frankish march east of the Saale is a matter of ongoing debate among historians; it may have reached up to the settlement area of

1054-539: Was destroyed and their lands up to the Dresden Basin incorporated into the Marca Geronis . In 928 and 929, during the final campaign against the Glomacze tribes, Henry the Fowler, East Frankish king since 919, chose a rock above the confluence of the Elbe and Triebisch rivers to erect a new fortress, called Misni ( Meissen ) Castle after the nearby Meisa stream. The fortifications were renamed Albrechtsburg in

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1088-721: Was established in 1710 by Elector Augustus the Strong . In 1804 a ceramics factory was established in Colditz by Thomsberger & Hermann. In the Nazi era, Colditz Castle was temporarily used as a concentration camp by the SA and as a Reichsarbeitsdienst camp. During the Second World War, the town did not suffer any damage. In 1940, the town became the headquarters of the German military district Wehrkreis IV for personnel guarding an Oflag POW camp for officers, when Oflag IV-C

1122-600: Was established in the castle. It became widely known after the war, for both its notable inmates ( Prominente ), such as Giles Romilly or George Lascelles , and several escape attempts. On 14   April 1945, the U.S. Army entered the town and freed the prisoners. However, under agreements signed at the Yalta Conference , the Americans withdrew and were replaced by Soviet occupation forces late in June 1945. As

1156-489: Was restored and has become a much visited museum. The great flood of August 2002 as well as the flood of 2013 caused some damage to the old town, but it has since been restored. The nearest airports are Leipzig-Altenburg Airport (26 km) and Leipzig/Halle Airport (52 km). Traffic on the section of the Glauchau-Großbothen railway line , which ran through Colditz, ceased in 2000. Public transport

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