SS Reichsfuhrer Heinrich Himmler envisioned Wewelsburg Castle as an SS occult center when leased in 1934 – a place for marriage rites, celebrations and research. Writer Phillip Coppens in his article, “The Wewelsburg: The Nazi Grail Castle,” provides survey of present castle constructed in 1603 to 1609. Coppens writes, “…the Wewelsburg was going to be the “Grail Castle” of the Nazi regime, once it had established itself as rulers of the world.”

The Wewelsburg castle and surrounding grounds are described by Coppens:

“…the estate had the shape of a spear, underlining the unconfirmed belief that the site would become the location where the Spear of Destiny would be held. One story goes that Hitler saw his future when he visited the Museum in Vienna where the Spear was on display, and that he became convinced that whoever possessed it, controlled the fate of the world. That the Wewelsburg was going to be the New Jerusalem and the centre of Germany is in evidence as from 1941 onwards, the architects called the complex the “Centre of the World”. In line with sacred mythology, the design would sit on a mountain, surrounded by a lake, as there were plans to flood the valley.”

The grandiose plans for Wewelsburg, according to Coppens, were only planned and never completed:

“Though the crypt and the Obergruppenführersaal [hall] were completed, it is said that the rooms of the North Tower were never used. There were meant to be annual gatherings of the SS in the castle, but only one, in 1941, is known to have occurred. We already know that Himmler himself rarely visited the castle and, in retrospect, it should perhaps be seen as an ambition that would get his attention once Germany had indeed assumed the role of victor, as prophesized in the local legend – but for which he had little time until that victory was achieved. In the end, of course, he faced defeat.”

Today, the Wewelsburg is part museum, youth hostel, restaurant and bar after rebuilding castle in the late seventies. Wewelsburg was set ablaze at end of the war which had gutted its interior. Is Coppens minimizing the reality of Wevelsburg? A 2010 Der Spiegel article, “New Exhibition Explodes Myth of SS Castle Wewelsburg,” seems to be a similar containment effort – a possible rewrite of history? Do these articles represent efforts to cover up what really happened? A healthy skepticism seems in order.