Moritzburg, Kollwitz, (quiz???)

Schloss Moritzburg

Roughly 12 miles from Dresden is a little town out in the farmland called Moritzburg, named for the eponymous castle which was a hunting "lodge" for the 17th-18th century Dresden monarchs.  Took a little trip out there recently.  Absolutely idyllic, gorgeous castle in the middle of a lake, accessible over causeways.

Rüdenhof, where Käthe Kollwitz died, with Moritzburg Lake in the background.  She had a good view.

Across the street from the lake is a house named the Rüdenhof which is now a memorial and museum to the artist Käthe Kollwitz, who spent her last year there as a war refugee from Berlin, and died in her room there on 22 April 1945.  What I learned: I knew that she had a Dresden connection, as "Käthe Kollwitz Street" runs along the left bank of the Elbe for several miles, just a couple blocks away from my apartment.  But I didn't know the details--that she came to Moritzburg as a refugee after her apartment in Berlin was destroyed in bombings in 1943, and died there at age 77.

self portrait

She had lived a fairly good life as a well-respected artist, married to a doctor.  This in spite of official disapproval of her work by the Nazis.  But most of her best known work came earlier.  I don't know lots about her, but it seems my older image of her as a poor, starving woman comes more from her work, and less from her own life.  She did lose a son to WWI, however, and wartime loss and privation is certainly consistent with what I knew of her influences and aesthetic.

In 1934, the town containing the Moritzburg Castle was re-named "Moritzburg" to match the town's dominating landmark.  Here's the quiz:  What was its former name, the name it had carried for centuries?

     (a) Eisenberg
     (b) Freiburg
     (c) Herzberg
     (d) Pitzburg

For extra credit, WHY was it renamed?

Answer someday.