Wewelsburg

About

Built in the 17th century for the Prince-Bishops of Paderborn, by the 19th century, the castle had fallen into disrepair. Upon seeing the castle in 1933, Heinrich Himmler decided to make it ‘the center of the world’. Here, Himmler established a concentration camp, and a SS school focused on Germanic history and folklore. SS members would come to the castle to practice a mixture of Germanic mysticism, an ancestor cult, and worship of runes, while high officers would meet the Round Table. Himmler developed an obsession with legendary artefacts such as the Spear of Destiny and the Holy Grail, and sought to fill the castle with them. As Allied forces advanced in 1945, the SS abandoned the castle and set it on fire. The castle has since been restored, and now houses a museum to remember the terror wrought by the Nazis, and Himmler’s plan for world domination.