Day 7: Riding Europe: Visiting Colditz Castle & the WWII Prisoner Glider

On my BMW R1250 GS, I ride through Germany to the legendary Colditz Castle — a place steeped in history and daring escape stories. Famous as a WWII high-security prison for Allied officers, Colditz was home to one of the most incredible escape plans ever: a secret glider built in the attic by prisoners. Join me as I explore the castle, walk through its historic halls, and soak up the atmosphere of this iconic landmark on my European motorcycle adventure.

🏍️ Route: Scenic roads through Germany
📍 Highlight: Colditz Castle

Hotel: Schloss Diedersdorf – May Rating out of 10 = 7

#BMWR1250GS #MotorcycleTravel #EuropeByBike #ColditzCastle #WWIIHistory #MotorbikeAdventure #GermanyTravel #HistoricalSites #MotorcycleTouring #BikerLife #AdventureMotorcycling #MotorcycleVlog #WWIIStories #BMWMotorrad #TravelGermany

Morning [Music] family, friends, and the internet. Today is a bit of a cooler day already. Um hopefully the weather’s going to be kind to me again. We’re off to Cold Castle, which is about 2 hours away. It’s 9:00 now, opens at 10:00, and then we’re straight to the hotel. We’ve got some 327 kilometers to do assuming I don’t get lost anywhere and make a wrong turn. Um, Sunday everywhere is pretty much sund shut on Sunday. So, got my cheese and my bread roll, some orange juice. I can make a cup of tea cuz I’ve got milk and all that. So, yeah, I’m pretty much set to go. So, I’m hoping the rain gods will be kind to me today. Right, let’s get going. [Music] All right, folks. Time to go. Hotel last night. My room in my journal and a laptop. Found where the next hotel is going to be. Bye-bye. You must take a full Richmond. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Hey, heat. Hey, heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] So, Pilance Castle was built in the 1200s. I never realized it was that old. But what fascinates me about this castle and the reason I visited it was um in 1940 it was converted to hold um allied prisoners of war who kept escaping. And they thought the Coldest Castle would be a good place for him to be um held captive cuz it was built on the rock and pretty much escape proof. But if you watched the film and read the books, whatever, you would know that wasn’t true. They built tunnels. to disguise themselves. They even built a glider, which I’ll show at the end. Um, unfortunately, no one knows what happens to the glider. Uh, they don’t know if it was burnt, taken, or it still exists today. But, uh, yeah, it’s a really fascinating walk around the uh, castle. So, uh, enjoy the few clips. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] And I don’t know if you remember, in 1999, I think it was, Channel 4 did a program on the glider to prove if a glider they built could actually fly. And yes, it actually flew. And the controls you’re seeing that now sort of demonstrated that. Uh but there was a video clip earlier when in the castle showing the actual footage of Channel 4 flying that aircraft or that glider angle. So yeah, really interesting. [Music] So that’s all this castle’s done, folks. Really enjoyable. Walk in the same courtyard, you know, as you seen in the film. Another 3 Y3 together. [Music] Hey Heat up [Music] here. Heat. Heat. Where should we park? All right, here we are. 368 km left later. Now, no clear way, is it? I can’t see. Done there. [Music] Where should we park if here. Yeah. Oh god, don’t drop it. [Music] So, we’re all checked in. There’s no reception here. They give you a envelope with your card in the details what you need to do. But I’m in. I’m showered. We are here. If you can see it on my phone. I can’t even begin to pronounce it. And we should be. [Music] There you go. Berlin’s just north. Tomorrow’s plan is to go around and head up towards Pina Monday where all the V2 stuff is, but I got to organize that for tonight. So, here’s my view at the window. See the park. [Music] This is my room. Not quite trust it yet. Huge bed. Even got a bath. So yeah, I think this was €73 for the night. So not too bad. Uh restaurant bar. So probably just don’t have something to eat cuz I’m starving. Right. Until tomorrow, folks. Hope you like the video. Give us a thumbs up. If you’re not a subscriber, subscribe. Till then, bye-bye. [Music]