All language subtitles for Castelos - Segredos, Mistérios e Lendas - S01E02 - Germany

NARRATOR: Fortress.

Prisons.

Towers.

The castles have witnessed
our history for centuries.

In Europe, over 100,000
are still standing,

thousand years later.

Let's visit the most spectacular
and most mysterious castles.

We will discover the secrets
that are hidden behind their walls.

And we will relive
their long-lasting legends.

Can a marvel like this cost
a king his life?

June 13th, 1886.

In Lake Starnberg, Bavaria,

two bodies appear floating
on the water.

One of them is the psychiatrist
Bernhard von Gudden.

The other is patient King Ludvig II
of Bavaria,

also known as the Mad King.

The official cause of death -
suicide.

But was it really suicide?

Or a murder?

September 2020.

Every year, thousands of people turn
this marvellous location

into Germany's most visited tourist
attraction, Neuschwanstein Castle.

What is the mystery that links
this huge castle and the two corpses

floating on a lake?

Ludvig II was the last king

of the small independent
state of Bavaria.

He was an eccentric character
obsessed with beauty

and a lover of art,
and of some artists.

One of them was the composer and poet
Richard Wagner, who became a friend.

For Ludvig, this friendship is a bit
like a replacement of a father.

Wagner was older than him, and so
he was looking for a father-figure

in this great composer whose work
he admired, and he saw him

as a companion who he would recreate
this medieval world with.

Ludvig II was captivated
at the age of 16

when he attended one of
Wagner's operas for the first time.

The opera was Lohengrin,

a fairytale forming part
of the Swan trilogy.

And this may have been the case
because a few years later,

he dedicated all his effort
and the kingdom's money

to building Neuschwanstein,
which means 'New Stone Swan'.

Neuschwanstein was billed
specifically as a place

where he wanted Wagner to come.

He built this as a monument
to Wagner's operas

and to their friendship.

And the tragedy is that Wagner never
set foot in that castle.

Neuschwanstein is not music,

but many consider it a work of art.

Its composition of walls and towers
seeks harmony

with the rivers and mountains
that surround it.

Its construction adheres
to the canons

of the Romantic current
in architecture.

Perhaps this is why the building
has no defensive installations,

but it does have 200
ornately decorated rooms.

Frescoes depicting prowess
in war and Nibelung legends.

And royal halls fit for the role.

Although the golden throne
was never actually installed.

The royal bedroom alone needed
the work of 14 carpenters

for four years.

MAN: He wanted to be that prince
who...

..slaying dragons
and rescuing princesses, you know.

The circumstances of his life,

the times in which he lived in
really didn't allow for that.

Ludvig II personally
directed the decoration

and spared no expense.

He had abandoned his responsibilities
to focus on his Romantic work.

Apparently, he wanted to go
down in history as the creator

of an enormously transcendent work
of art, with the kingdom's money.

He was an extremely wealthy
nobleman,

but even that was too much.

He was so obsessed with the castle
that the doctors diagnosed him

with schizophrenia.

He started borrowing money
and that became a problem.

And so he was
a parliamentary monarch.

He wasn't an absolute monarch
who could just decide what to do.

He had to ask parliament for money.

So he asked them for a loan
and they refused.

And as a matter of fact,
they decided to declare him insane.

He was never seen by a doctor
and the whole report

has this very dubious background
to it.

A few days later, a group of men
loyal to the Munich government

arrested him and took him
to a stately home

on the shores of a lake

where he appeared drowned
the following day.

Was it suicide as officially stated

or were their vested interests
in killing him

and placing a successor
on the throne?

But the fact to be believed that,
they would tell people this,

shows you that immediately
after his death,

people just couldn't accept
that he drowned.

If he drowned,

it is quite likely that it was
not accidental because he was

a very strong swimmer,
had been since childhood.

So either it was a suicide or it was
a murder or maybe a mix of both.

Ludvig II never saw
his great work finished.

Although it was open to the public
a few months later,

the design was so complicated that
it took almost 20 years to finish.

Whether mad or a genius,

Ludvig II left this unique
picture postcard as his legacy.

Neuschwanstein is Germany's most
famous and recognised castle.

Nevertheless, the mystery
surrounding the death

of the king of Bavaria lives on
more than a century later.

That mystery will always remain.

And perhaps that's what Ludvig II
would have wanted for himself.

One of the sayings attributed to him
was that he wanted

to be the greatest enigma
for himself and to others.

And that's how he has ended his life
and remains today -

a great enigma to us all.

Authorisation has never been given
to exhume the body to find out

the real cause of his death.

Mysteries surrounding
magic footprints.

Legends of witches.

Secrets concealed in giant barrels.

Everything, absolutely everything
comes together in Heidelberg,

one of the most venerated castles
by the German people.

Whether because of its
unusual red colour

or because it is a fine example
of Romantic architecture,

Heidelberg is a monumental palace

that maintains its elegance,

despite a large part of it
being in ruins.

It was built in 1214 and grew
in size for 300 years

until a bolt of lightning destroyed
the upper part of the building

for the first time.

Two centuries later, another bolt
of lightning caused another fire,

leaving the palace practically
burned to the ground.

Bad luck?

Dark forces?

(FAINT WHISPERING)

Spirits?

The name of the city, Heidelberg,
there is a reference to the mountain

behind the modern city,
the Heidelberg,

which was a sacred site to the Celts
and people who lived in the area

in the centuries before the birth
of Christ.

So there have been many
archaeological discoveries made
on that hill.

It was a place of great power
to them.

And in fact, later on the hills
around Heidelberg

in the time of the Nazis
were used as so-called sacred sites

for their big rallies
that they were going to have.

There's a place called
the Thingstatte nearby,

which was a Nazi...
parade ground/sacred site.

Its stones harbour 700 years
of stories and legends.

Heidelberg was the capital of
the Palatinate, a bustling city.

Farmers, merchants, knights -

the castle was a meeting point
for everyone.

The entrance to the palace
has a small door which opens up

an unanswered mystery.

What is this tiny door for?

Or who is it for?

The entrance has an iron doorknocker,

a ring typical of the period,
but it has something strange.

An unusual cleft.

Legend has it that if anyone managed
to bite through the metal knocker,

Heidelberg Palace would
become their property.

Hundreds of powerful men tried it,
breaking their teeth in the attempt.

But then a little old lady
turned up and she said,

"Oh, I would like to have a go
at that because I would really
like to have the castle."

And they thought, well, how could
she destroy this metal ring

with just her pure strength?

So they said, "Yeah, go ahead,
try it."

And then she didn't try
to tear it apart.

She bit into the metal and her teeth
sank through the iron

as if it was butter,

because that was not an ordinary
little old lady.

It was a witch.

Apparently she tried it
with all her supernatural strength,

but only managed to make a cleft,
a visible mark in the cast iron,

which has remained intact
until today.

The story goes that her failed
attempt so annoyed the sorceress

that she laid a curse on it
as she left.

In the ensuing centuries, three
fires and a war left Heidelberg

a castle in ruins.

On the castle's great terrace,
a deep footprint on the floor

is the source of another mystery.

Whose footprint is this?

It is said that a handsome knight
was trying to seduce a married lady

when they were caught in flagrante
in a room whose balcony

overlooked this terrace.

The legend has it that the knight
leapt from a height

of several metres.

And left this deep impression
not only on the lady,

but also in the sandstone floor.

There's a legend that any man
whose foot fits

into that footprint is just
as great a lover as he was.

Another Heidelberg legend relates
to this barrel of wine,

which has a capacity
of 220,000 litres.

It is the world's largest barrel.

It was built to restore
interest in the city,

which had lost its status
as capital shortly before.

It is seven metres high,
three metres wide

and eight and a half metres deep.

A stage was even built on top

so that an orchestra
could play there.

And this is Perkeo,
the court jester, and a dwarf.

Legend has it that he was capable
of drinking the whole barrel

in a single gulp.

In fact, he only drank eight litres
a day,

which gave him particular motivation
to entertain in the court.

It is said that Perkeo
had only ever drunk wine.

And at the age of 80, he tried water
for the first time.

He died the very next day.

A death.

A mysterious footprint.

A curse.

We arrive at one of Germany's
most emblematic castles,

Lichtenstein Castle.

Its imposing tower standing
on a rocky escarpment

makes this castle quite a symbol,

defying the abyss overlooking
the city of Honau.

The rock on which it stands
forms part of its history

and of a little known legend
about the disappearance

of three young people.

Lichtenstein was built in just
two years at the end of the 1800s.

It was constructed
on an old walled fortress

using the light coloured stone
that makes it a singular castle.

One of Germany's most visited.

The architect of this spectacular
work was Duke Wilhelm von Urach.

The nephew of the king,
and quite a character.

And he was a real military expert.

He had ascended to the rank
of general even,

and he was especially well versed
in coordinating and fighting

with artillery, which was really
seeing a lot of developments

in that time of the 19th century.

He himself developed some new
methods for how to construct cannons

so that they wouldn't be as volatile
when you fired them,

that it wouldn't be as dangerous
to work with them,

that you could be more precise
and more effective with them.

(CANNON BLAST, GLASS SHATTERS)

He made a number of contributions,
such as reducing recoil in cannons,

as well as researching improvements
in munition.

His passion for arms

took the form of an extensive
collection that can be visited

on the first floor of the castle.

Together with a large collection
of paintings.

The knights hall is practically
an art gallery.

Hanging on one of its walls
is the famous painting

of the Archer of Lichtenstein.

Everything seems to be in order,
but when we look closely,

something catches our eye.

(GLASS SHATTERS)

Why is there a bullet hole
in a large mirror?

Who was that bullet intended for?

(BULLET STRIKES MIRROR)

In 1945, the French came through
this area.

They took the nearby town
of Reutlingen.

Nobody can say for sure
how it happened.

But knowing that there was quite
a lot of fighting in this area,

it's not surprising that, you know,
bullets might go flying

and hitting mirrors
within the castle.

The Allied soldiers discovered
a number of passageways

that could be used for escape
in case of emergency or siege.

Two of them end a few metres
beneath the gallery,

which gives access to the main door.

But there is a third gallery
which emerges in a rocky area

beneath the entry bridge.

An opening in the rock
partly concealed by the scrub.

During the Middle Ages,
it was very important

to have an escape route.

If your castle was under siege

or you were about to be taken
by enemy forces, having a tunnel

where you could send everybody out
was a really good investment.

These tunnels could also be used
as stores for food and supplies.

Lichtenstein's most secret legend,
one which is little known,

has it that three young people
disappeared through one

of these passageways
after being discovered

stealing precious objects.

Some even say that the stolen booty
was a royal crown.

According to the legend, the young
people never reappeared in the town.

And were swallowed up
by the Lichtenstein rock.

Discovering whether this is a legend
or an unanswered secret

continue to be a mystery locked
in the Lichtenstein tower

100 years later.

(SCRATCHY AUDIO RECORDING)

MAN: Help! Help, please, help!

(DISTANT GUNFIRE)
Please, can't you hear me?

Can't you hear me out there?

(GUNFIRE)

This is a recording from 1952

from the Armed Forces network
radio station

for American soldiers in Germany.

(LOUD EXPLOSION)

MAN: We have knocked over something
here that...

Excuse me just one second.

It was the night of Halloween,

broadcasting live
from the castle in Muhltal,

or to give it its other name,

the authentic and terrifying
Castle Frankenstein.

(AMERICAN SOLDIER
SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY)

Help! Help, please, help!

What started off as a macabre joke
ended up in panic,

the same panic that comes
from knowing

how the legend of Frankenstein
came about.

In 1818, the writer Mary Shelley

published Frankenstein:
The Modern Prometheus.

The story of Dr. Frankenstein
and his creature is considered

the first science fiction
horror novel.

Where did Shelley get her ideas from
to write such a story?

(LIGHTNING CRACKS)

She travelled Europe, she famously
spent a summer at Lake Geneva

where the weather was horrible,

and so they sat around telling ghost
stories where she had the idea

for her great novel, Frankenstein.

As a 17-year-old,

Mary Shelley appears to have visited
this castle...

..discovering the sinister work
of a shady character...

..called Konrad Dippel.

RUICKBIE: He had the reputation
as an alchemist,

but he was also something
of a wild intellect in his day,

arguing on the religious
controversies of the period,

even changing sides in the debates.

He was imprisoned for heresy
for a period of seven years.

He was also accused, for example,
of killing a man in a duel.

Another said that he robbed graves,
he experimented on corpses

and had even made a pact
with the devil.

Dippel returned to the castle
as an expert alchemist.

He had created the colour
known as Prussian Blue,

which brought him considerable income
at the time.

This allowed him to return
to devote himself obsessively

to experimenting with corpses.

His obsession?
Bringing the dead back to life.

What Dippel had, in fact,
discovered,

which was known as Dippel's oil,

was a tarry, smelly substance

formed from the destructive
distillation

of bones and animal skins.

Its only real value is
as an animal, an insect repellent.

He said that he had created
an elixir of life which could

reanimate dead bodies.

(WOLF HOWLS)

It was said that Dippel
had made a pact with the devil.

Fear began to take hold
of the local inhabitants

until they discovered him dead
in the basement of the castle,

surrounded by fragments
of mutilated bodies and with signs

of having poisoned himself
with one of his potions.

So Dippel was believed
to have died...

(MAN SCREAMS IN AGONY)
..during experiments
in his laboratory

and his body was found,
foam at his mouth,

and in a terrible contorted state.

Perhaps he had tried his own oil
in an attempt to live longer.

Several days later, his laboratory
went up in flames.

(FIRE BURNS, LIGHTNING CRACKS)

Castle Frankenstein was already
known through other legends

arising from the dark forest
in which it nestles.

Ghosts of lovestruck maidens,
dragons and the like,

but nothing comparable to visiting
the castle at Christmas.

It is said that Dippel's ghost
appears sitting on the chapel roof,

uttering heart rending cries
to the monster.

(WOLF HOWLS)

This tough, sturdy castle
is the longest in the world.

It is more than a kilometre long,

hence its appearance
in the Guinness Book of Records.

It also has a thousand years
of history, a treasure,

and a wealth of military secrets
that we're going to discover.

It stands on the border with Austria
and was built to withstand

the ferocious attacks of the Turkish
and Swedish armies.

As its fame as an impregnable
fortress grew,

so its defences
continued to increase.

The way the council developed
was the oldest part

was on the furthest end
of this rocky spur.

And over the centuries they built it
further and further out

until there were in total
six distinctive parts,

each with its own courtyard,
each with its own gate.

So this made it a very strong
position to defend.

But without doubt, its best
kept secret for its enemies

was something called Zwinger.

What was the Zwinger?

So the idea of a Zwinger is to
control where your enemy can go

when they attack the castle,

Zwinger comes from the German word
'zwingen' - to force.

So you're trying to force the enemy
into a small, confined space

that you control.

And then there it is a lot easier
for you to fight them,

especially if you have
the high ground.

You can throw things at them
or you can shoot them

or your defenders can easily
ward them off and kill them

when they are confined
in this small space.

The defenders of the castle waited
for the Zwinger to fill with enemies

and then bombarded them.

All those unaware of Burghausen's
secret would die like flies

in the fortress's
intricate labyrinth.

And what about the tower in the west
on the other side of the river?

What is its secret?

Its name, Powder Tower,
leaves no doubt about this.

This is where the arms
and the gunpowder were stored.

To ensure the supply of munitions
was not threatened during attacks,

a fortified walkway was built
across the river to the castle.

There was also a secret passage
hidden from the enemy's sight.

What was Burghausen guarding
so jealously in its interior

that it needed such a system
of defence?

An absolute treasure of gold
and silver coins.

Which the Duke of Bavaria,
known as Georg the Rich,

kept within its walls.

He had lots of very expensive
fabrics, lots of expensive items

made of precious metals
like silver goblets, gold plates.

His wedding with Hedwig,
heir to the throne of Poland,

was so spectacular that it is still
celebrated in the city today.

A lot of these things
have been acquired in the context

of his wedding, which was one of the
biggest celebrations of the time.

People came from all over Germany
to attend the turn in minster there.

Burghausen continued to expand

until it became the longest castle
in the world,

just over a kilometre
of fortifications

that still send shivers
down the spine today.

This medieval tower standing
on a small island in the Rhine

conceals one of the most
macabre stories in the area.

The Mouse Tower is an example
of tragedy and blood

based in the reality of a dark and
almost inhuman period of history.

The tale has been told since
the 10th century

and has as its protagonist
Archbishop Hatto II.

A cruel and tyrannical ruler,
he oppressed the local peasants

and demanded tributes from ships
sailing down the river,

threatening them with archers
and crossbowmen

from the top of the tower.

But the archbishop's wickedness,
it is said, could be diabolical.

(SINISTER LAUGHTER)

The year is 974.

The inhabitants
of the surrounding villages

were dying of famine.

The most desperate resorted to eating
cats and dogs.

(DOG YELPS)

Meanwhile, Hatto's grain store
was full.

In the 10th century, to be precise,
bishops wielded

an incredible amount of power.

They were basically feudal lords.

Hatto had a reputation
for being incredibly cruel, nasty,

greedy to his peasants.

The peasants attempted a rebellion
to gain access to the food,

but Hatto devised a cruel
and macabre plan.

He told them to go to an empty barn

under the pretext of distributing
cereals to all the families.

Once the barn was full,

the archbishop ordered the doors
to be locked and set fire to it.

(PEOPLE SCREAMING)
(SINISTER LAUGH)

(WOMAN SCREAMS)

The screams were heart-rending.

In a corn store and had it set
on fire, and as they was screaming,

as they were burning to death,

he allegedly said to one
of his entourage,

"Look how the mice are shrieking."

After the massacre, he returned
to his castle,

but he was besieged by an army,
and not just any army.

These were mice, thousands of mice.

The legend has it that the souls
of the murdered peasants

turned into rodents
in search of revenge.

The incredulous criminal
took refuge in the tower.

He thought the rodents would not
be able to follow him

across the river.

Then at night, they came
out of the woodwork again

and he heard their little feet
tapping and he felt the little teeth

nipping at him,
and he couldn't run anymore.

He was trapped in the tower
and there the mice ate him

while he was still alive.

(MICE SQUEAK)

(HATTO SCREAMS)

Documentary sources confirm the
existence of the Archbishop of Mainz,

a man named Hatto.

It is said that his cruelty was
remembered for decades in Saxony.

Did he really die
devoured by the rodents?

Were they the souls
of the murdered peasants?

Only this pretty little tower
still standing

in the middle of the river
knows the truth.

Reichenstein Castle
on the banks of the Rhine.

Built in the 11th century,
Reichenstein was inhabited

by a family line of knights,
apparently not the most honourable,

who devoted their time to robbing
the possessions

of passing travellers and imposing
the payment of tributes.

The head of the last
family generation

was Dietrich von Hohenfels.

They were what in German we call
raup ritter - marauding knights.

People who had certain rights
and privileges but who abused them.

STUCHBERY: These guys had castles
on the river.

What they would do is they would
have something,

a chain across the river,

or they'd have a tower on the river,
or they'd have something that meant

that boats going down the river
had to stop,

had to basically pull over
and pay a fee,

whether that be money
or a part of its cargo,

before they were allowed to go on.

Tired of the pillaging,
King Rudolf I of Habsburg

besieged Reichenstein
for four long years

after various unsuccessful attacks.

According to the legend,
Dietrich decided to surrender

in the knowledge that they would
cut off his head.

But he imposed a prior condition -
that his nine sons be pardoned.

And thus begins the best known
and most bloody legend

of the headless ghost
of Reichenstein.

The king agreed to his request,
but imposed an impossible condition.

He would only show mercy if,
once decapitated,

Dietrich was able to move his nine
sons from one point to another,

crossing a line traced on the ground.

The executioner's axe came
down on the robber's neck.

And then Dietrich's
decapitated body stood up.

And taking his nine sons,
one by one, managed to move them

to the other side of the line.

The legend then has it that Rudolf
was furious

and ordered that Dietrich's nine sons
be hanged near St Clements Chapel

where their souls lie addressed.

Dietrich von Hohenfels,

the Robber Knight, found no peace
and remains a tortured soul.

Eight centuries later, a museum
and a hotel now stand

within the walls of Reichenstein.

But the headless ghost of the Robber
Knight, who tried to save his sons,

can still apparently be seen
wandering the battlements,

staring at the chapel.

Imposing.

And shrouded in the most epic legend
from Germanic mythology.

We are in Drachenburg Castle...

..whose stones are steeped
in the story of Siegfried,

the great Nordic hero, a legend
bathed in blood and death.

The mountain is called Drachenfels,
which means dragon's rock.

This is the starting point
for the story of Siegfried,

the legendary hero who managed
to slay the dragon

and bathe in its blood.

The well-known legend has it

that this blood made Siegfried
invincible,

but was this really the case?

What he does not realise, though,
is that a leaf from a linden tree

falls right between his shoulders.

So there's one spot that
the dragon's blood does not touch.

So there's one spot on his body
that is vulnerable.

And that weakness led to his death...

..when he was run through with a
lance just at that point.

At the foot of the mountain,
the Nibelungenhalle pays homage

to this legend which inspired
Wagner's great musical work,

The Ring of the Nibelung.

(THE RING OF THE NIBELUNG PLAYS)

It is said that it was here
in this exact spot

where the dragon died, where
everything happened - Drachenfels.

Can a medieval story impregnate
the walls of a 19th century castle?

Many centuries after Siegfried
and the dragon,

someone decided to lay the castle's
first stones.

It was in 1882 and it was given
the name of Drachenburg,

the Dragon's Castle, to keep
the legend alive and well.

Drachenburg is one of these castles
that was built in the 19th century.

It's not a medieval construction,
but it's built to sort of reflect

a German history
that really didn't exist.

It's kind of a very, very colourful,
very stylised,

very chivalrous view of the past.

This imposing construction
was built in just two years.

Who would want to build a monument
like this,

heavily influenced by the legend?

That man was Stephan von Sarter,
a baron, banker and millionaire.

Son of an innkeeper,
he made his fortune

exchanging and lending money,

but primarily by financing
the Suez Canal.

RUICKBIE: But that wasn't
enough for him.

He also wanted to establish his own
castle like any true knight,

and so he devised a plan
to build Drachenburg.

Von Sarter never lived there.

He devoted time and money to it,

but he only used it
to receive visits.

What made him take this decision?

Baron von Sarter appeared to be
a great success.

He had been made a baron,

he had built his own castle,
but then tragedy struck.

He had intended to move into his
castle with his childhood sweetheart.

But during the building process,
she had died

and the broken-hearted baron
did not move into the castle.

Three deaths.

A legend.

And a number of curious
secrets enclosed

within the walls of Drachenburg.

One of the most beautiful
constructions of this type

we can find.

A peculiar castle, without a doubt.

The state of Saxony is home
to the imposing Kriebstein Castle.

Its craggy outline overlooking
the river and its strong walls

conceal stories of war
and interminable sieges.

Kriebstein projects a powerful image

that clashes with the female
protagonist of its main legend,

a legend that relates
how a woman's intelligence

defeated a powerful army and made
its king a laughingstock.

Kriebstein Castle was built
before 1400.

And just a few years later,
the knight Dietrich von Staupitz

and his men conquered the castle.

The surprise assault offended
the sovereign prince,

Frederick the Belligerent.

Several months of siege left the
fortress's inhabitants without food.

And some of them could resist
no longer.

Kriebstein is a very strong castle,

but nobody can withstand
a siege forever.

And so the ladies of the castle
pleaded with him to allow them

to escape, carrying only
their most precious possessions.

Frederick, although belligerent,
was not entirely heartless.

So he allowed them to leave,

expecting them to come out carrying
boxes of jewellery

and other such items.

He could not believe his eyes.

The women were not carrying
their jewels.

They were carrying on their backs
what they considered

to be their most
precious belongings.

None other than their husbands.

The prince was so impressed
with the ladies' deception

that he spared von Staupitz's life.

Kriebstein, however, has revealed
a much more recent secret.

1986 saw the discovery of a hidden
chamber containing treasure.

Various precious possessions
hidden there

by Heinrich Graf von Lehndorff,
a German army officer.

In the closing...the closing years
of World War II, in 1944,

the Graf von Lehndorff,
who had ownership of the castle,

moved a lot of his valuable objects.

We're talking paintings, statues,
very, very valuable books

that tell us a lot about the past,
and brought them to the castle.

With the German army
now in full retreat,

von Lehndorff formed
part of the group

that made an unsuccessful attempt
on Hitler's life in July 1944.

He was arrested the following day,
and although he escaped twice,

he was hanged six weeks later.

Very few places have as many secrets
as Colditz Castle in Saxony,

very close to Leipzig.

This medieval fortress dating
from the 11th century has witnessed

many moments of human desperation.

(SCREAMING)

Its enormous walls, some of them
seven metres thick,

stifled the cries of psychiatric
patients for 100 years.

(ANGUISHED SCREAMING)

And struck fear into anyone
held prisoner in its cells.

At that time,
legends began to develop.

In this case, legends
that were completely true.

In the 19th century,
Colditz was an insane asylum

for rich people and nobles.

In the 1930s,
the Nazis used the castle,

which had been converted
into a prison in the First World War,

to imprison communists,
homosexuals and Jews.

People were basically imprisoned
in asylums, as they were called,

and Colditz is no exception.

It was a castle, it was a fortified
structure, and it was repurposed

because it had thick walls,
it had defences,

it was difficult to get in,

but it was also very easy
to make it difficult to get out.

With that experience in mind,
in the Second World War,

Hitler's command decided to send

the most escape-prone Allied officers
there.

From 1940 onwards, Polish, French,
English and Dutch officers,

most of whom had already made
escape attempts, began to arrive.

(HITLER SPEAKING)

It is said that to control
so many potential escapees,

there were more German soldiers
than prisoners.

What they didn't take into account
was that these men were determined

to fight with their finest weapon -
their intelligence.

It really was where you sent
the worst of the worst of the worst

of POWs - the prisoners of war
who just couldn't sit still,

who really couldn't bear
to be anywhere.

Didn't matter whether you threatened
them with executing them

if they escaped,

didn't matter if, you know, what
kind of reprisals they promised.

There were those who still
were desperate to try to escape.

The first man to escape from Colditz
was the British officer, Peter Allan.

He hid in a mattress that
the Germans were taking out

to be replaced.

Obviously, if you've got a castle
that's made out of stone,

it's a lot harder to tunnel
out of a castle

than it is out of a normal
prisoner of war camp.

So people had to come up with
other ideas as to...

..as to how to escape.

The first successful escape was
perpetrated by the French lieutenant,

Alain Le Ray,
who hid in a garden shed,

taking advantage of the fact that
the Germans were distracted

by a football match.

He managed to reach Switzerland.

However, the most impressive feat,
without doubt,

was the work of engineering performed
by the prisoners

who dug several tunnels
underneath Colditz.

The most extraordinary of them
was the one dug by French officers

over a period of months.

The tunnel was 44 metres long
and eight metres deep.

Passing underneath several rooms
in the castle.

It had electric light, which was
also used for sending signals

if any Nazi officer approached.

The Germans discovered it
when it was just nine metres

short of freedom.

Although ingenious, this was not
the most spectacular escape attempt.

Jack Best and Bill Goldfinch, RAF
pilots, managed to build a glider.

Over time, they were able
to put together a glider

that would be able to fit,
I think, two or three men,

but this glider would...

The plan was that they were going to
use it during an air raid

and they were going to sort of
basically run off the top of

one of the roofs and glide across
the valley.

However, the war ended before
they had a chance to try it out.

In five years, the prisoners
had managed 30 successful escapes.

Many years after the end of the war,

hidden galleries and secret
compartments are still appearing

from this time in Colditz.

A castle-cum-prison which was
defeated from inside

by the yearning for freedom.

Captions by Red Bee Media
(c) SBS Australia 2021