Germany itself has a rich history of castles and beautiful spectacular palaces.
However during the Second World War, a number of these were used or were passed into the
hands of prominent Nazis.
They were used for many different purposes, and some became infamous sites of imprisonment
and detainment.
Castles we associate with being strongholds with dungeons, and many of these were brought
back into use in that way.
But today we look at 10 Notorious Castles used by the Nazis.
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Wewelsburg Castle is a castle today that is synonymous with the SS and Nazi occultism.
It was built during the early 17th century, and was later renovated in 1925 when it had
fallen into ruin.
During the 1930s, Heinrich Himmler, the Head of the SS had been looking for a castle to
use as a retreat for SS members.
Himmler then decided to buy or lease Wewelsburg Castle, and it became an SS leadership school,
and a centre for the ideological training of there SS leadership.
Himmler viewed it as a centre for the SS order, and the castle was remodelled with some of
the symbolism that we associate with the evil SS.
On the ground floor of a tower, a hall with 12 columns was renovated for use by high ranking
SS generals, and it was described as to have been like a meeting of the round table.
The runic symbols were etched onto the floor, with a swastika in the ceiling also.
The castle was also the place where rituals and bizarre behaviour would occur, with mystic
ceremonies being carried out.
When a member of the SS died, his deaths head ring would be taken too the castle, and placed
in a casket and its rumoured that 11500 SS rings were buried on a nearby mountain.
Himmler ordered that the castle should be destroyed at the end of the Second World War,
but it was only partly destroyed and was then looted.
Today it’s a museum and youth hostel.
A remarkable and beautiful palace and castle, Neuschwanstein Castle is a building out of
a fairytale.
It was intended to be used as a residence for the King, and today its visited by millions.
However during the Second World War, the Nazis used it in a number of ways.
As it was secluded and hidden away in a rather low key area, it was used as a place to hide
Nazi looted gold and treasure.
It became a depot for treasure taken from France, after the Nazis seized huge amounts
of property from Jews and other people.
The castle was used to catalogue incredibly valuable works of art and masterpieces.
The huge scale of the art thefts made Neuschwanstein Castle incredibly busy, but in April 1945,
the SS were contemplating blowing up the beautiful palace, to prevent it and the artwork falling
into the hands of the allies.
The plan however was not carried out, and the palace was surrendered to the Allies.
Eventually the allies returned the palace to the Bavarian government, after all the
stolen loot was catalogued and returned as best as it could be.
Castle Itter was built in the 19th century, however it became the site of a Nazi Prison
during World War 2, and also the site where one of the most bizarre battles of the conflict
took place.
The Nazi government after the Anschluss of Austria leased the castle, and it was later
seized under Himmler’s orders.
It was then established as a prominent place to house French prisoners deemed valuable
to the Nazis, and it fell under the administration of Dachau.
Many important prisoners were housed there, for example former French Prime Ministers,
and even a tennis champion was held there and the son of Georges Clemenceau.
However the strangest use for Castle Itter, was where the US and the German Wehrmacht
together fought alongside each other, against the Waffen SS.
The Battle of Castle Itter, saw the US and some renegade German Soldiers turn back a
Waffen SS assault where elite French Prisoners were being held.
The Americans and some Wehrmacht soldiers defended the castle against the SS assault,
and some of the prisoners even wielded some small arms and pistols left by the guards
who had fled.
The castles walls were damaged, however the US were backed up and the SS were forced to
flee.
Schloss Fuschl is a castle in Salzburg in western Austria.
It stands on a peninsula and on the western edge of a lake, and it’s rather picturesque.
It was built around the year 1450, and fell into disrepair during the 1800s however was
then repaired.
It was owned by Gustav Edler von Remiz and his wife, who lived there in the 1930s.
However he was a supporter of the Fatherland Front, and for this was arrested and imprisoned
by the Nazis in Dachau.
Because of this, his castle was seized and it then was taken over by Joachim von Ribbentrop.
He was Hitler’s Foreign Minister, and was a prominent member of the inner circle, however
at some point Ribbentrop became in the possession of large amounts of treasure and gold.
What happened to this gold and wealth as the Second World War came to an end remains a
mystery, and von Ribbentrop was sentenced to death and executed following the Nuremberg
Trials.
However there are rumours that Ribbentrop’s Lost Gold remains hidden and buried around
the location of Castle Fuschl, his former summer residence.
Konigstein fortress is one of the largest hilltop fortifications found in Europe, and
it’s a huge site.
It was used for centuries as a state prison, and it developed a reputation before the Nazis
were in power as a formidable state prison.
In the First World War, it was used as a prisoner of war camp for French and Russian officers,
but during the Second World War it became a POW camp again.
It became known as Offlag 4-B, and it housed British, French Polish and other Allied officers.
It was said that life inside the fortress was not particular difficult, and was adequate
however was rather boring.
The living chambers for lower ranking prisoners were more difficult than the officers quarters,
who were also given freedom of the gardens.
There were regular rations for prisoners, and the German guards often bugged their rooms
in attempts to find out more information.
The camp was surrendered to the French at the end of the Second World War, and the prisoners
were freed.
Despite not being entirely a castle, Hitler’s vacation home in the Obersalzburg, the Berghof
was an impenetrable complex when the Fuhrer of Germany was in residence.
He spent more time inside the Berghof than any other place during his time as Dictator,
and it was his most favoured residence.
Incredibly building projects in the area such as the Eagles Nest made it a infamous retreat
for Hitler, and littered around the area were a number of other residences for key Nazi
staff and members of his government.
Hitler also used the residence as a prominent place to welcome dignitaries from other countries,
and he also housed parties and other occasions there.
Often members of his inner circle such as Joseph Goebbels and Hermann Goring were at
the Berghof, along with Martin Bormann who helped to construct the complex and oversee
its completion and Heinrich Himmler.
The Berghof was also fortified heavily, with many SS guard posts and bunkers patrolling
the area, ensuring that Hitler had complete safety during his time there.
There were huge renovations in the area, with many underground tunnels and networks established,
and much mystery surrounds the region.
Although not a castle or a palace, it was an rich and lavish residence, fit for a king
or a dictator.
Construction of Ksiaz Castle began in 1288, and its the largest castle in the Silesia
region of Poland.
It had a rich history throughout the centuries, being home to many incredibly rich people
and also royalty.
But during the Second World War, and in particular it was seized by the Nazis.
Much of its historic interior was torn down, and the Nazis began to build a bunker around
50 metres below the Castle.
The reason for this was to protect Hitler from Allied Bombs, as it was considered that
the castle could be used as a residence for Hitler.
A maze of tunnels and bunkers were built using forced labour from nearby concentration camps,
and the complex was left unfinished however much mystery surrounds it.
Some historians believed that the complex would have become the HQ for the Nazi high
command, and others believe that it housed nuclear weapons labs and also arms factories.
Many of the tunnels under the castle today remain unexplored, and there’s also legend
of the Nazi gold train that its believed was transported into the tunnels surrounding the
castle.
The true stories of this castle could still be untold.
Mautendorf Castle its alleged was built on the site of a Roman Fort, but the castle was
built around 1250.
However its remembered mostly for being a castle that became the home of Hermann Goring
and the Goring family.
Hermann Epenstein who purchased the castle was a friend with Heinrich Ernst Goring, the
father of Hermann and the family began to live inside of Mautendorf Castle.
Epenstein its claimed began to become the lover of Hermann Goring’s mother, whilst
the family were at the castle.
But Hermann Goring frequently stayed at the castle, and he stayed at the castle following
the failed Beer Hall Putsch to recuperate.
Goring himself never became the formal owner of the castle, however it was in word passed
to him.
At the end of the Second World War, he tried to flee to Mautendorf Castle to escape to
the castle of his youth, however he surrendered to the Americans nearby.
Hartheim Castle was found close to Linz Austria, where Hitler himself grew up.
However it became a dispicable site of mass execution and killing.
The castle built in 1600 became used for Hitler’s Action T4 euthanasia programme, and was one
of six centres.
Between 1940 and 1933, around 30,000 disabled people were killed at the castle by lethal
injection or by gassing.
This included 12000 prisoners from Dachau and Mauthausen concentration camps, and the
castle was regularly visited by SS doctors who deemed patients not worthy of life.
Some of these doctors, including High ranking SS doctor Karl Brandt was sentenced to death
following the war.
The castle became a horrific site of slaughter, and today a museum exists there dedicated
to the memory of those people murdered inside of its walls.
One of the most infamous castles used by the Nazis was of course Colditz Castle.
It’s a castle with an incredibly rich history, and for around 100 it became a sanatorium
for the rich and wealthy of German nobility.
However during the Second World War, this became the perfect place to create a prisoner
of war camp.
When the war broke out it was converted to a high security camp, and it was considered
high security and impossible to break out of.
The camp became home to prisoners from many different countries but then it was decided
in May 1943 to only house American and British POWs.
Despite being high security, there were many incredible escape attempting, including the
creation of a glider that was planned to be flown out the walls of the prison.
Most of the guards were First World War veterans and those not fit for front line action, and
inside prisoners had to make their own entertainment.
They even tried to hold their own olympics, and even brewed moonshine alcohol, but today
the castle lives in infamy as a castle synonymous with the Nazis and the Third Reich.
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