Walking the Ground – Bautzen’s Ortenburg Castle

The last stand of the Bautzen garrison

In April 1945, the Ortenburg Castle, which sits atop a rocky outcrop in the centre of Bautzen, overlooking the river Spree, was the headquarters for the city garrison during the battle of Bautzen.

From this castle, Oberst Dietrich Hoepke, commander of the garrison, led a ragtag group of Volkssturm, Wehrmacht, administrative personnel and Hitler Youth boys, in a desperate last stand against the Soviet shock troops threatening to overrun their positions and complete their capture of the city.

For three days and nights the Soviets besieged the German defenders who were holed-up in the grounds and cellars of the castle, subjecting them to a relentless wave of artillery fire and sniper fire, whilst also broadcasting Soviet propaganda and calls for their surrender on from loudspeakers outside the castle walls.

But the scenes played out within the castle weren’t all “guts and glory” of course, because during the siege, Hoepke commanded the garrison with an iron grip, authorising numerous executions of captured enemy soldiers, along with German troops who were accused of “cowardice” and “desertion”.

On the 24th of April, when German counter attacking forces finally linked-up with the castle defenders as part of their relief of Bautzen, they found only 400 men left within the castle grounds. – They had been expecting to find over 1200 men.

These photos show the castle today and I also took a video showing just how small the actual grounds of the castle were, to give you a better feel of the layout of the place.

To hear about the Soviet siege of the Ortenburg castle and the dogged German defence, check out the latest episode of the Europe At War Podcast!