The Youth Hostel That Was Once A Nazi Castle

Himmler's interest in these legends dovetailed with his interest in the supernatural and the occult, a preoccupation many of the Nazis shared, including Hitler. Himmler's interest had begun at an early age, according to Heritage Daily. He managed to combine these ideas with his racist ideology. He created what Heritage Daily calls "a cult of ancestor worship and racial doctrines" at Wewelsburg, based on Germanic myths and mysticism.

He had chosen Wewelsburg Castle partially because of the prophecies of his own personal occultist, Karl Maria Wiligut. Wiligut worshiped the Germanic god Irmin and believed magical creatures had once roamed the earth. He also suffered from schizophrenia (via Big Think).

The Nazi belief in myths and the occult predated Wiligut's involvement, however. The Nazi Party was originally founded by members of the Thule Society, which believed the Aryan race had superpowers they lost by interbreeding with apes. This interbreeding created all other races, according to their ideology. They also believed in the mythical island of Thule, otherwise known as Atlantis, which was occupied by Aryans. Beliefs like these, as well as pseudo-science like astrology and fortune-telling, informed the Nazis' inhumane policies toward minority groups (via Big Think and HistoryNet).

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