Wewelsburg - Kreismuseum Wewelsburg from 1933 to 1945, place of cult and terror Studying room in the castle In 1934 the S.S. rented the castle from the District of Büren for the symbolic fee of one Reichsmark per annum. The S.S. had over 50.000 members within the few years and saw itself as a "military order". It planned a centre here in Wewelsburg, a centre which was to combine the tasks of giving Nazi ideology a pseudo-scientific foundation and of training the S.S. leadership with the task of establishing a pseudo-ecclesiastical shrine. The final drawing (dating from 1944) Since the aim of developing a "Germanic" science soon had to be abandonned, "instruction" had to bedropped as well. Consequently, all energy was now devoted to the architectural plans, which had meanwhile been exaggerated to truly monumental proportions. Finally, the design of a cult centre arose which went far beyond the confines of the castle. The materialisation of these plans would have ultimately meant the complete disappearance of the village of Wewelsburg, too. The heart of the project, whose real purpose was never clearly defined, was the North tower, which was to be completely redesigned. However, nothing came of the plans to erect a multistory domed hall in their place. In 1939 a concentration camp was established in Wewelsburg to ensure a source of cheap slaves for the planned construction work. For financial reasons, the concentration camp was made independent as "KZ Niederhagen" (derived from the name of the plain bordering Wewelsburg) in 1941, thus becoming the smallest camp in Germany. The S.S. referred to it as a labour camp, a term whose meaning first becomes clear from the S.S. principle of "extermination through work" Of the approximately 3.900 prisoners brought to Niederhagen at least 1.290 died. They died whilst working, or as a result of undermourishment, they were tortured and beaten to death, whilst others were hanged or shot. View on the former concentration camp (after war) In 1943 work was stopped on the "civil" building project in Wewelsburg, the concentration camp was dissolved and the survivors transferred to other camps. A "surviving unit" of 42 prisoners was liberated by the advancing U.S. forces on 2nd April 1945. Two days earlier a special task force of the S.S. had travelled to the castle to blow it up. The S.S. left death and destruction in Wewelsburg, too. Wewelsburg castle after the explosion on 31st March 1945. The fire destroyed the roof structure and the interior furnishings. However, the two rooms that the SS had ordered to be constructed in the North Tower were hardly damaged at all and can still be seen in their original condition today. Contact details | Webmaster | Imprint | References