What Wewelsburg Castle looks like, which the Nazis wanted to make the center of the world

THE castles They constituted a fundamental element of the history of Europe. What was once the residence of royalty and the scene of wars is today visited by millions of tourists.

only in Germany There are more than 25,000 such monuments. Among them there is one which is characterized not only by the fact that it is the only one to have the shape of a triangle, but also because During World War II, it was rented by a prominent Nazi leader to serve as a training and worship center for the Schutzstaffel (SS). the paramilitary organization of Nazi Party by Adolf Hitler.

This is the Wewelsburg Castle located in the north of the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Wewelsburg Castle was built on the foundations of previous buildings between 1604 and 1609 as the residence of the Prince-Bishop of Paderborn Dietrich von Fürstenberg.

Its history was turbulent from the start: during the Thirty Years’ War, the Swedish army decided to destroy the monument. The reconstruction process began in 1650 under Prince Theodor Adolf von der Reck and later his successor Ferdinand von Fürstenberg completed the repair, after which the palace was left with domes on its three towers.

The monument would have been used to imprison women accused of witchcraft, as well as prisoners during the Seven Years’ War, from 1756 to 1763, when the prince-bishop of Paderborn allied himself with the Prussians.

Natural phenomena have also contributed to its deterioration. In 1815, lightning struck the north tower, after which the roof beams burned and the interior of this tower collapsed.

In 1928, after intense negotiations, the Büren district became the owner of the castle. The idea was to give it a new life and that is what was done: inside the local history museum, a youth hostel, a restaurant and a men’s lounge were inaugurated, where people could conferences and cultural events take place.

However, at the end of this decade, the Büren district was seriously affected by a global event: the economic crisis. This led to maintenance work on the castle being considered an unnecessary expense.

The situation became even more complex in 1933, with the National Socialists coming to power in Germany.

Once Nazism came to power, Heinrich Himmler, the Reichsführer of the SS, the highest authority in the organization, began looking for a castle to turn into a school for SS leaders.

A baron from the district of Büren heard of Himmler’s quest and encouraged him to visit Wewelsburg Castle. As soon as he saw it, the Nazi leader was captivated.

In 1934, a year after the first visit, Himmler and the district of Büren signed a lease contract for 100 years, for the symbolic price of one Reichsmark per year.

As explained by BBC From the beginning, the aim was for Wewelsburg Castle to become a training center for the SS where their “elite status” in Germany could be strengthened.

This training, in fact, would include various disciplines that interested Himmler: genealogy, archaeology, prehistory and ancient history. All of this would help educate those who passed through the center.

However, that wasn’t the only thing. And Himmler, an occult fan, imagined creating a new German and pseudo-pagan religion this would destroy Christianity. The SS, for their part, played a crucial role in the indoctrination of German society into this religion.

According to British media, Wewelsburg Castle also had an important role in this process since it was the scene of festivals, rituals and ceremonies during which SS leaders were married.

On the other hand, it is believed that there was a determining factor in Himmler choosing Wewelsburg Castle. And this Renaissance monument is located near the Teutoburg Forest, where Germanic forces managed to overthrow the Roman army in 9 AD.

Himmler, who was not only a fan of the occult but also anything related to medieval times, thought it was important to have these kinds of connections to the past, Kristen John told the BBC. Stuke, director of the BBC. Kreismuseum Wewelsburg . And to give Wewelsburg a much more medieval appearance, modifications were necessary, including removing plaster from the walls and creating a moat around the palace. Then he called him “center of the world” .

Himmler’s plans to modify the German palace reached such a point that in 1940 a private concentration camp called Niederhagen .

This camp housed nearly 4,000 prisoners, forced to work as laborers. Half of them died because of the violence and abuse they were subjected to on a daily basis.

But three years after the camp’s inauguration, construction work was suspended, and with it, Himmler’s project.

In 1945, SS troops attempted to blow up Wewelsburg on orders from Himmler. Although the fire reached part of the building, others managed to remain standing, such as the north tower . At the same time, American troops managed to save 42 prisoners from the concentration camp.

John-Stuke explained that The north tower of the palace remains “original, as it was in the 1940s”.

Inside there are two important rooms, one of which corresponds to a crypt. It has 12 bases distributed near the walls. The lighting, acoustics and other details of the hall are believed to have been specially designed to create an enigmatic and majestic atmosphere.

Meanwhile, in what served as the castle chapel is the Hall of Supreme Rulers of the SS which has 12 columns, windows and church-style vaults. On the ground, there is Black sun a symbol that mixes the sun wheel, the swastika and the victory rune in the same place.