Tuesday 8 December 2009

hogan's heroes

Over the weekend, H and I visited the village of Colditz with its imposing castle.  During the war, it was used to house incorigible allied prisoners of war, since thinking the fortess impenetrable, those who had successfully escaped from other prisons could be kept secure and isolated.  Due to the nature of the prisoners with their established histories of escape, this place had one of the highest records of flight of any jail.  H told me a lot of the history about the village, but it's strange to think of such a monolithic place as this not really being known in its own right.  With tourism, the castle and the camp became sort of a parody of itself, a mash-up of a dozen different mythical places and intrigues.  Sometimes these places need to be rediscovered, and then can be awe-inspiring in their own rights.