The Unholiest Place on Earth

Wewelsburg Castle, Paderborn District, Germany.

In its current form it was built in the Renaissance syle from 1603 to 1609, near what was then believed to be the site of the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, 9 AD.

In 1934, Heinrich Himmler appropriated it for Nazism. It was to be the center of a gigantic complex dedicated to the cult of the SS, its worship of fascism, and general occultism.

The dungeon and Generals' Hall is the green tower. No one was ever allowed in after Himmler took control of the castle except high-ranking SS officers.

The entire proposed site, as planned by Himmler. Had Nazi Germany won the War, he anticipated the entire site would cost about 250 million Reichmarks. Wewelsburg Castle is the tiny black arrowhead in the center of the circle, forming the point of a spear. None of the other buildings were ever constructed.

The townspeople of Wewelsburg would have been relocated so the valley below the castle could be flooded as a manmade reservoir.

In 1945, with the Americans closing in, Himmler ordered the castle destroyed to cover up the pure evil he had been trying to create. Parts of the castle were blown up, but most survived and the rest was reconstructed according to the original.

The ceiling of the basement or dungeon, used as a military prison during the Seven Years' War in the 1700s. The swastika in the capstone was added in 1938. This is the lowest floor fo the central, largest tower of the castle. Himmler envisioned it as "the center of the world."

One floor directly above is the SS Generals' Hall, with a black sun in the center of the floor, exactly on the opposite side of the floor from the capstone. It is not known for certain what the black sun was supposed to represent, if anything. It may simply have been a shape Himmler liked. It originated during Nazi Germany.

There are twelve windows in this hall, each meant to seat an SS General of Himmler's own choosing. He was inspired by the stories of the Knights of the Roundtable and imagined himself as the next King Arthur.

The black sun is extremely popular with Neo-Nazis, fascism, and racism.

The center of the dungeon floor was to contain an eternal flame in the name of Nazism. Himmler didn't worship any character or supernatural entity from any bible or religion. He despised Christianity as much as he despised Judaism. He worshiped the concept of the "master race" or "Aryan race." He also believed himself to be the reincarnation of Heinrich I, the founder of medieval Germany.

Himmler liked to spread the lie that Heinrich I was buried under Wewelsburg castle, but this is not true. In the above picture, Himmler, along with other SS officers, lays a wreath at Heinrich's grave in the crypt of Quedlinburg Abbey, over 150 miles from Wewelsburg.

Heinrich, also called Henry the Fowler (he loved bird-hunting), and his wife's graves.

Paderborn, Himmler and his obsession with the occult, and Heinrich I were all used as plot devices in the 2001 video game "Return to Castle Wolfenstein." Heinrich I is resurrected to become the final boss.

Himmler had special Honor Rings created, and he personally awarded them to members of the SS who had distinguished themselves to his satisfaction. It was the most highly prized award among the Nazis. Each one had the recipient's name engraved on the inside, along with the date of bestowance and Himmler's signature. It was to be worn only on the ring finger of the left hand as proof that the SS were married to their evil ideologies of eugenics and genocide.

They are nicknamed "Death's Head Rings" and feature runes taken from Germanic mysticism, as well a skull and a swastika. Any awardee who died or retired or was removed from the SS had to return his ring, and they were kept in a chest somewhere in Wewelsburg Castle. That chest has never been found and was probably destroyed before the Allies could reach the area. By October 1944, Himmler ordered all the rings returned and sealed up in a cave in a hillside somewhere near the castle. The cave's whereabouts are unknown.

The rings were so highly prized that many knockoffs were made. Very few of the actual rings have survived today. They are 90% silver, 10% copper.

Interior courtyard. Today the castle is a museum dedicated to medieval Germany and also to Nazi occultism and how the SS was able to rise to power from 1933 to 1945.

Happy Spooktober! Now go kick a Nazi in the balls!