# Hitler drew on Germanic mythology? Tell me more. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 12, 2006, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitler-drew-on-germanic-mythology-tell-me-more/380152 "2006-11-12T21:51:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2006, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitler-drew-on-germanic-mythology-tell-me-more/380152/1 "2006-11-12T21:51:35Z")
I must admit that my knowledge of the Nazi party and its domestic policies (excluding the obvious) are pretty limited. On Thursday, my history professor mentioned how a lot of Nazi imagery was drawn from Scandinavian and German mythology. I didn’t get a chance to talk to him after class, so I turn to you guys. If I wanted to find out more, are there any defining books on the subject? I’m curious to see how it was used. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2006, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitler-drew-on-germanic-mythology-tell-me-more/380152/2 "2006-11-12T23:25:51Z")
Hitler wasn’t really into the mythology but a lot of other high ranking Nazis were. Check into the history of the [Thule Society](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thule_Society). ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2006, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitler-drew-on-germanic-mythology-tell-me-more/380152/3 "2006-11-12T23:32:24Z")
The most obvious perhaps was the use of the [swastika](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swastika), an ancient symbol the Nazis used to link themselves to the Aryans. ---
**Author:** ![Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alive_At_Both_Ends)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2006, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitler-drew-on-germanic-mythology-tell-me-more/380152/4 "2006-11-12T23:39:06Z")
[QUOTE=Colibri] The most obvious perhaps was the use of the [swastika](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swastika), an ancient symbol the Nazis used to link themselves to the Aryans. [/QUOTE] The swastika was (and is) a Hindu symbol, not Scandinavian or Germanic. The OP specifically talked about Nordic mythology. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2006, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitler-drew-on-germanic-mythology-tell-me-more/380152/5 "2006-11-12T23:48:57Z")
[QUOTE=Alive At Both Ends] The swastika was (and is) a Hindu symbol, not Scandinavian or Germanic. The OP specifically talked about Nordic mythology. [/QUOTE] Did you even read the article I linked to? The symbol has been widely used throughout Eurasia, and goes back to prehistoric times in Europe. It is far from being merely a “Hindu” sign; and its presence in India is linked to the Aryans as well. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2006, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitler-drew-on-germanic-mythology-tell-me-more/380152/6 "2006-11-12T23:52:30Z")
From the link: > [@](#): > > In the Western world, the symbol experienced a resurgence following the archaeological work in the late nineteenth century of Heinrich Schliemann, who discovered the symbol in the site of ancient Troy and associated it with the ancient migrations of Proto-Indo-Europeans (“Aryan” people). He connected it with **similar shapes found on ancient pots in Germany** , and theorised that the swastika was a “significant religious symbol of our remote ancestors,” linking Germanic, Greek and Indo-Iranian cultures. Bolding mine; the swastika was a part of ancient German religious iconography. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2006, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitler-drew-on-germanic-mythology-tell-me-more/380152/7 "2006-11-13T00:16:57Z")
[QUOTE=Little Nemo] Hitler wasn’t really into the mythology but a lot of other high ranking Nazis were. Check into the history of the [Thule Society](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thule_Society). [/QUOTE] One might also note the use of the swastika as a symbol by the Thule Society itself; see the link. ---
**Author:** ![Alien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/57b2e6/32.png) [@Alien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alien)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2006, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitler-drew-on-germanic-mythology-tell-me-more/380152/8 "2006-11-13T00:31:11Z")
This might help you: > **[Master race](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_race)** > > The master race (German: Herrenrasse) is a pseudoscientific concept in Nazi ideology in which the putative "Aryan race" is deemed the pinnacle of human racial hierarchy. Members were referred to as "Herrenmenschen" ("master humans"). > The Nazi theorist Alfred Rosenberg believed that the "Nordic race" was descended from Proto-Indo-Europeans, who he believed had pre-historically dwelt on the North German Plain and may have ultimately originated on the lost island of Atlantis. The Nazis declared t... ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2006, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitler-drew-on-germanic-mythology-tell-me-more/380152/9 "2006-11-13T00:35:57Z")
And here’s more on [Nazi mysticism.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_race) ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2006, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitler-drew-on-germanic-mythology-tell-me-more/380152/10 "2006-11-13T01:53:21Z")
Danke shoen to all of you! What a great start. I think this’ll really whet my appetite. ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2006, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitler-drew-on-germanic-mythology-tell-me-more/380152/11 "2006-11-13T02:48:57Z")
I just found this by accident: [http://www.skepticreport.com/mystics/urgermania.htm](http://www.skepticreport.com/mystics/urgermania.htm) > [@](#): > > The Nazi dream of a Great Germania had roots in pseudo-scientific notions of a Teutonic empire in ancient times, and was fed by the Roman historian Tacitus’ description of the Teutons in his work “Germania” from 98 A.D. In it, Tacitus praised the Teuton barbarians for their undaunted struggle against the Roman occupation force. He described them as “noble savages” as a counter-image to the “moral corruption” that was predominant in his own contemporary decadent Rome. More at the link above. ---
**Author:** ![Alien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/57b2e6/32.png) [@Alien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alien)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2006, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitler-drew-on-germanic-mythology-tell-me-more/380152/12 "2006-11-13T03:59:18Z")
Maybe **Colibri** meant to guide you [here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi_mysticism). Anyway, you might wanna drop by the [Axis History board](http://forum.axishistory.com) - lots of details, and there’s a subforum for Nazi propaganda and culture. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2006, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitler-drew-on-germanic-mythology-tell-me-more/380152/13 "2006-11-13T04:47:14Z")
[QUOTE=Alien] Maybe **Colibri** meant to guide you [here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi_mysticism). [/QUOTE] Sorry about that; thanks for fixing it.