>Dear Donald,
>Many thanks for your most interesting e-mail on Colditz. My apologies for
>not replying before.
>Please find attached the relevant Word document.
>Best wishes
>Antony Anderson


Antony,

Thank you very much for the Word Document. It is most nteresting and
informative. Also thank you for the additional information on Colditz which
it contained that I do not yet have, ie, that Colditz was a mint, and more
details about the Land of Saxony's ownership of Colditz and some 20 other
castles.

I am compiling a history of Colditz castle and town, and have about 50 pages
of text and bibliography so far. Much of the information is from the escape
books, especially Pat Reid's, but I am using any and every source that I can
find. I will gladly attach and e-mail you a copy of it so far.

Am in the process of building a scale model of the castle, which at this
point consists of the guard house, whispering gate, terrace, orhard, and a
start on the cellar house.

I plan to send photos of the model so far, as well as a set of the 250
photographs that I took of the castle when I first visited it in May, 1998.
I have promised a set to Michael Booker, but have not sent them yet.

Will enclose a copy of the 50-page research project, a labor of love, also.

Perhaps it is best if I send all my materials to the November 21, 1998
meeting site in London.

One statement you make in your Word Document that I'm not clear about is:

        "Over the castle gate are the arms of Saxony and Denmeark, a
reminder         that for 23 years (1603-1622) Colditz was the home of the
Electress          Sophie, widow of Christian I of Saxony, and that she
brought up              her family there."

Subtracting 1603 from 1622 is 19 years, and not 23 years. I puzzled over
this also when trying to translate the relevant sentences in A. Peter
Bräuer's Colditz book. Where 23 years matches up is taking Sophie's birth
year of 1568 and adding 23 years, which equals Christian's death year of
1591, making her a 23 year old widow when he died in Dresden.

What do you think?

Sending e-mail to your e-mail address always seems to bounce. I'll try again
here. If it fails I'll send this to the museum listserv like I did before.
It bounced again, so I'll try the museum site.

Don Bruce 
Don Bruce at [log in to unmask]