Wewelsburg is a Renaissance castle located in the village of Wewelsburg. This village is part of the town of Büren in Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the Landkreis of Paderborn, in the northeast of North Rhine-Westphalia. The castle has a triangular shape, with three round towers connected by thick walls. After 1934, the SS used the castle under Heinrich Himmler. They planned to expand it into a complex that would serve as the central SS cult-site.
In 1941, plans were made to enlarge the castle to become the so-called "Centre of the World." In 1950, the castle reopened as a museum and youth hostel. The youth hostel is one of the largest in Germany. Today, the castle houses the Historical Museum of the Prince Bishopric of Paderborn and the Wewelsburg 1933–1945 Memorial Museum.
History
Earlier buildings existed on the site. One of these, called Wifilisburg, was fought against by the Hungarians during the 9th and 10th centuries.
Count Friedrich (Arnsberg) built another earlier fortification. After his death in 1123 or 1124, peasants who had been mistreated by him destroyed the building. In 1301, the Count of Waldeck sold the Wewelsburg to the Prince-Bishop of Paderborn.
A document about this sale shows that two fortress-like buildings stood on the hill: the Bürensches Haus and the Waldecksches Haus.
From 1301 to 1589, the prince-bishops of Paderborn assigned the estate to different lords who were loyal to them.
The stone construction of both earlier buildings was used in the current triangular Renaissance castle. The Wewelsburg, in its present form, was built between 1603 and 1609 as a secondary home for the prince-bishops of Paderborn, at that time Dietrich von Fürstenberg. It was located near what was believed to be the site of the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in 9 CE.
The Wewelsburg was captured several times during the Thirty Years' War. In 1646, it was taken and destroyed by Swedish troops led by General Carl Gustav Wrangel. After 1650, the mostly ruined castle was rebuilt by Prince-Bishop Theodor Adolf von der Recke and his successor, Ferdinand von Fürstenberg. He made some changes to the design, adding baroque domes to the three towers of the castle.
From 1589 to 1821, the castle was the home of a bursary officer (or steward). Two witch trials happened at the Wewelsburg in 1631. (There was a room used for trials in the basement near the east tower.)
During the Seven Years' War (1756–1763), the basement rooms were likely used as a military prison.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, the castle gradually fell into disrepair. In 1802, during German mediatisation, the castle became the property of the Prussian state. On January 11, 1815, the North Tower was burned out by a fire caused by lightning; only the outer walls remained. From 1832 to 1934, a rectory was located in the eastern part of the south wing of the castle.
In 1924, the castle became the property of the district of Büren and was converted into a cultural center. By 1925, the castle had become a local museum, banqueting hall, restaurant, and youth hostel.
At the end of the 1920s, the North Tower again became a weak point in the structure and needed support with guy wires during the winter of 1932–1933. The preservation of the castle was supported by the Association for the Preservation of the Wewelsburg (Verein zur Erhaltung der Wewelsburg). After 1925, renovation efforts decreased.
Nazi era
In 1932, the local leader of the district ordered about seventy members of the Freiwilliger Arbeitsdienst (FAD) (voluntary labor service) to live at Wewelsburg Castle. These people were unemployed and received support from the state as Notstandsarbeiter ("crisis workers"). The district of Büren hoped to use the rent from their stay to help cover the costs of maintaining the castle. However, in early 1933, plans to create a full-sized camp for 214 FAD participants did not succeed.
Before the Nazi Party gained power, Heinrich Himmler, as Reichsführer-SS, decided the SS needed a retreat at a castle located "in the heartland of Hermann der Cherusker" (Armin the Cheruscian). Initially, Himmler was interested in Burg Schwalenberg but negotiations failed in early 1933. Later, he visited Wewelsburg at the suggestion of a local Nazi leader, Adolf von Oeynhausen (1877–1953).
Himmler decided to buy or rent the castle during his first visit on November 3, 1933. His architect, Hermann Bartels, used existing plans for the FAD camp to design the Reichsführerschule SS (SS Leadership School). This school aimed to provide unified ideological training for SS leaders and would be managed by the Rasseamt of the SS.
Negotiations were difficult because the Landrat of Büren refused to give up control of the castle. In early 1934, a 100-year lease was agreed upon for a symbolic annual rent of ℛℳ 1. Work on the school by the FAD began in January 1934. That August, Manfred von Knobelsdorf, a brother-in-law of Walther Darré and a former soldier, moved into the castle with his family as Burghauptmann. Himmler officially took control of Wewelsburg in a ceremony on September 22, 1934. The Völkischer Beobachter, a Nazi newspaper, reported on the event, highlighting the region’s Germanic and historic past and the educational purpose of the castle.
In 1935, Himmler announced the castle would be officially named SS-Schule Haus Wewelsburg (SS School, House Wewelsburg). The school’s focus was on "Germanic pre- and early history, folklore studies, and other subjects to support ideological-political training." Knobelsdorf envisioned the castle as a type of Nordic academy.
Some believe Karl Maria Wiligut influenced Himmler to use the castle not only as a school but also as a religious site. Wiligut reportedly drew inspiration from the Westphalian legend of the Battle at the Birch Tree (Schlacht am Birkenbaum). This story describes a future "last battle at the birch tree" where a "huge army from the East" is defeated by the "West." In 1935, Wiligut reportedly told Himmler that the Wewelsburg would be a "bastion." Himmler believed a major conflict would occur between Asia and Europe.
Knobelsdorf led the SS School, House Wewelsburg, but the focus of activities quickly shifted from broad ideological training to narrower research in Germanic pre- and early history, medieval history, folklore, and genealogy (Sippenforschung). These studies supported the racial teachings of the SS. A scientific library was established, and early plans by Bartels showed small study rooms rather than large classrooms. Wilhelm Teudt was among those working at the castle.
Wewelsburg Castle also became a center for archaeological research in the region. Activities included studying prehistory and ancient history (led by Wilhelm Jordan), medieval history and folklife (led by Karlernst Lasch starting in March 1935), building the "Library of the Schutzstaffel in Wewelsburg" (led by Dr. Hans Peter des Coudres), and promoting National Socialist ideas in the village of Wewelsburg (led by Walter Franzius).
Franzius’s work included renovating a timbered house in the village center, called "Ottens Hof," between 1935 and 1937 to serve as a community center. He also completed other architectural projects.
The castle crew included members of all SS branches, such as the "General SS," police, and "Armed SS" ("Waffen-SS"). Workers also included those involved in SS esotericism, such as Germanic mysticism, ancestor worship, rune symbolism, and racial doctrines. Himmler, for example, adapted the idea of the Grail to create a heathen mystery for the SS.
No evidence shows Himmler wanted a Grail castle, but the SS redesigned the castle using characters from Grail legends. For example, one study room was named "Gral" ("Grail"), others were named "König Artus" ("King Arthur"), "König Heinrich" ("King Henry," referencing Henry the Fowler, to whom Himmler claimed a connection), "Heinrich der Löwe" ("Henry the Lion"), "Widukind," "Christoph Kolumbus" ("Christopher Columbus"), "Arier" ("Aryan"), "Jahrlauf" ("course of the seasons"), "Runen" ("runes"), "Westfalen" ("Westphalia"), "Deutscher Orden" ("Teutonic Order"), "Reichsführerzimmer" ("Room of the Empire’s Leader(s)"), "Fridericus" (likely referencing Frederick II of Prussia), "tolle Christian" ("Christian the Great," likely referring to Christian the Younger of Brunswick, Bishop of Halberstadt), and "Deutsche Sprache" ("German language"). Additional spaces included guest rooms, a dining room, an auditorium, a canteen kitchen, and a photographic laboratory with an archive.
Oak was used to panel and furnish these rooms, though sparingly, according to witnesses. Interior design reflected SS artistic and cultural preferences, emphasizing runes, swastikas, and Germanic Sinnzeichen (sense characters). Tableware decorated with runes and Germanic symbols was made specifically for the castle, and Himmler’s private weapon collection was stored there.
In 1934, the eastern castle bridge was built, and the moat was lowered to make the castle appear more historic. The following year, a smithy was established on the ground floor of the North Tower to produce wrought-iron decorations. The western and southern wings of the castle were rebuilt between 1934 and 1938, and the eastern wing between 1936 and 1938. The first new building, the guardhouse (Wachgebäude), was constructed next to the castle in 1937. An SS sentry post and a small circular area (Rondell) were added near the guardhouse, as was an SS staff building (SS-Stabsgebäude), which no longer exists. The North Tower was strengthened and rebuilt between 1938 and 19
Post-war
In 1948 and 1949, the castle was restored. On June 29, 1950, the castle was reopened as a museum and youth hostel. At the same time, the Niederhagen kitchen was renovated to become a village fire station.
In 1973, a two-year project began to restore the North Tower. Because of a local government reform, the Wewelsburg became the property of the district of Paderborn in 1975.
By 1977, it was decided to restore the entire site as a war monument. It opened on March 20, 1982, under the name Wewelsburg 1933-1945: Kult- und Terrorstätte der SS in the former SS guard house in the castle forecourt. Several Niederhagen camp survivors were present at the opening.
In 1996, the Historical Museum of the Bishopric of Paderborn (Historisches Museum des Hochstifts Paderborn) opened in the east and south wings. The museum documents the history of the Hochstift Paderborn, which was one of the territories of the Holy Roman Empire.
In 2000, a memorial was built to honor the deceased Niederhagen prisoners. Four years later, the Kreismuseum Wewelsburg received DM 29,400 to restore and move the remnants of the Niederhagen camp and to create an educational film about the Ukrainian and Russian prisoners who lived there. In 2006 and 2007, the museum hosted the annual Internacia Seminario, a meeting of Esperanto youth.
The Youth Hostel Wewelsburg, which has 218 beds, is located in the west wing of the castle. The Historical Museum of the Prince Bishopric of Paderborn is located in the south and east wings.
In 2010, the museum’s contemporary history department was reopened as the Wewelsburg 1933–1945 Memorial Museum. The new permanent exhibition, Ideology and Terror of the SS, presents the history of the Schutzstaffel’s activities in Wewelsburg within the broader context of the SS as a whole. A news item stated that the exhibition is called the world’s first one entirely focused on the SS, showing its growth from Hitler’s elite guard to a group of one million men who committed terrible crimes across Europe. A 2020 discussion on the Expedia website mentioned that visitors can see the Ideology and Terror of the SS exhibit in the former guardhouse in the castle forecourt. A fee is required to tour the castle.
The Kreismuseum Wewelsburg website stated that the exhibition uses a comprehensive media concept along with traditional images and text. Many high-quality, original exhibits, such as Heinrich Himmler’s pocket calendar, concentration camp barrack walls, and prisoners’ clothing, are on display.