Purpose and History of the Colditz Gateway to Saxony Website
Purpose of the Site
The site tries to avoid duplicating what is better done elsewhere.
The main purposes of the website are
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To present Colditz to the world and to act as an attractive Gateway
to other sites in Saxony and Muldental.
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To encourage website visitors to visit the real Colditz, to get to
know Saxony and thereby tomake a contribution to bringing new economic
life back into the region.
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To strengthen the 'Colditz Connection' between the the families of those
of many nations who were imprisoned in the Castle during World War II and
who wish to make contact with the town.
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To encourage the descendants of Saxons who have emigrated to rediscover
their family roots. See extracts
from guestbook.
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To assist the Colditz Castle Community in its
work of bringing life back into the Castle.
Nobody who has not experienced many nations crammed in cheek by jowl, who
has not tried to tunnel their way out or who has not used the materials
found in the castle to construct something so fantastic as a glider
can possibly understand the unique future CAPABILITY of this place and
its CREATIVE POTENTIAL.
The dream, as expressed tentatively by one ex-POW, is that the
Castle will become a centre for music and the arts, the vibrant hub
of the town's life, with all of its six hundred rooms put to some constructive
purpose or other. A unique internation centre perhaps, bringing the
nations together..A place for Adult Education, Computing, for unaccompanied
Bach, for model railways in the attics, for Summer
Festivals and Poetry Readings and Christmas Music and all that makes
light the heart of man...We may dream on.. This site will encourage this
dream in any way it can.
Some parts of the site are in both English and German. Other parts are
only in English or only in German. It would be preferable that the whole
site was in both languages, and French for good measure, but time and resources
have not so far allowed this, for which we hope our visitors will forgive
us.
When Colditz is fully using the Internet to exploit its strategic
location in the triangle between the Cities of Dresden, Leipzig and Chemnitz;
when the town is really on the map, and visitors use the town as a base
to explore Saxony; when there is work for the young in the town :then
the Colditz Gateway to Saxony Website will have achieved its aims and will
no longer be necessary. In summary then, the aim of the site
is to work itself out of a job!.
Antony Anderson
History of the Website
March 8th 1996 - The idea of a Colditz Website was first presented
by Dr Antony Anderson, son of Colditz ex-POW William
Anderson, at a public meeting in Colditz to discuss the future of the
Castle. He based his presentation on personal experience gained in providing
consultancy for the six pilot telecottages on remote sites in the Highlands
and Islands of Scotland during the early 1990s.
March 18th 1996 - As a result of a meeting with Hermann Foerster
on the Saxony stand at the CeBit exhibition in Hannover, the CIM
Technology Transfer Centre Chemnitz (CIMTTZ) offered to host a website
on its server at http://ww.cimttz.tu-chemnitz.de.
Hermann Foerster converted the ideas contained in original overheads
produced by Antony Anderson for the March 8th 1996 meeting into outline
web pages which were first visible on March 18th 1996.
August 1996 - A Virtual Tour
of Colditz, with text and photos by Jens Mahlmann, was placed on
the site.
Aug/Sept 1996 Web site presented in the offices of the Colditz
Castle Community in the White Tower during the Schlossfest to hundreds
of visitors. Considerable regional press interest. Schlossfest
pictures were added to the site.
September 1996. The Royal Automobile Club, which was organising
a UK parliamentary delegation on Road Transport to Germany, including a
visit to Colditz, was briefed through the web site. The result of the delegation's
meeting with German Minister of Transport was that the Minister agreed
to arrange that Colditz would be signposted on
the Autobahn.
November 1996 Web Site presented on the Saxony Stand at the World
Travel Fair at Earls Court, London, with a number of British Colditz ex-POWs
present.
March 1997 Motorway signs for Colditz
appear on the Autobahn.
1997 - 1998 Growing interest in Colditz for the Internet. The
first websites for Colditz firms start to appear - Local printers Swingdruck
goes on line and becomes a focal point for internet developments in the
town.
March 1999 Town of Colditz creates its own official website
at www.colditz.de
May/June 1999 Re-vamping of Colditz Gateway to Saxony site.
January - February 2000 Considerable increase in number
of daily visitors as a result of UK Channel 4 TV Documentary Series about
Colditz. Peak of 142 page views on 15th February the day after the last
programme.
March 2000 Four years of generous hosting by CIMTTZ comes
to an end. 43,963 visitors (6857 on Nedstat counter) up until Monday 6th
March 2000.
March 2000 The site acquires its own dot.com domain name
of www.colditz-4c.com.
August 2001 Article "A Website for Colditz" appears in
the IEE Engineering Management Journal pp 185 - 192.
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Updated July 2002
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