According to the plan of the Nazis, the Grail was supposed to give the German army an unknown mystical power, which would ensure the victory of the Nazis in the war. The search for the sacred artifact was personally led by one of the main leaders of the Third Reich - Heinrich Himmler.
The Holy Grail
The legend of the Holy Grail has existed for centuries in Western European literature and art.
The Grail, according to legend, is the cup from which Jesus Christ ate during the Last Supper and into which, after his crucifixion, his blood was collected. Later, the cup was brought to Great Britain by Joseph from Arimathea, where the Grail remained as a Christian symbol for many centuries.
The first mention of the Holy Grail is found in the written text of old French poems by the poetess Chretienne de Trois ("The Tale of the Grail"). Over the next 50 years, several more works will be written, both in poetry and prose, but the main characters in them will differ from one work to another. In France, five prose novels were completed, telling the story of the Grail from the crucifixion of Jesus Christ to the search for the cup by King Arthur and his death. Old French poems and novels have also been translated into other European languages.
After the Middle Ages, the Holy Grail was not heard until the 19th century, when the Grail legend reawakened the interest of public figures: the writers Scott and Tennyson, the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood artists, and music composers, in particular, Richard Wagner. The symbolism of the Grail as a mysterious artifact, an object of search as a source of mystical, or even physical power, persists in the current century in the novels of Charles Williams, C. S.
Jesus Christ at the Last Supper with a cup in his hands.
Promotional video:
The search for the Holy Grail by the Nazis
When the Nazis came to power in Germany in the thirties, the SS leader held a presentation meeting in Berlin. Heinrich Himmler could hardly contain his excitement. He claimed to be aware of the location of the mythical Atlantis, where the master race lived. Himmler claimed that the island perished after being swept by the sea. A handful of surviving Atlanteans fled and dispersed to the most remote corners of the planet, sowing the seeds of their civilization.
Hunt for shrines and artifacts
This theory was perfect for the Nazis. At the center of their faith was the belief that the Aryan race, from which, according to the Nazis, the Germans descended, was superior to all other races.
However, there was one difficulty. No one has ever been able to discover any temples, scriptures or artifacts that could prove the existence of this ancient civilization. The lack of facts was a serious stumbling block for the Nazis, since if they found evidence of the existence of the Aryans, they could create their own faith that would replace Christianity.
For the next decade, Himmler directed projects that were closed to the public about this strange theory. The SS unit, called the Ahnenerbe, included archaeologists and scientists who hunted around the world for evidence of the disappeared Aryans from Atlantis. One of the most important artifacts sought for by the Nazis was the Holy Grail.
Heinrich Himmler.
As the Second World War approached, many expeditions were sent to prove the Aryan origins of the Germans. Besides Tibet, SS expeditions were sent to Sweden, Scotland, Iceland and France.
Scientists in the service of the Nazis
In order to find the Holy Grail, Himmler turned to the historian Otto Rahn for help, who was fascinated by the legend of King Arthur. Ran was a very specific person who wore a black felt hat and was later described by historians themselves as the Nazi Indiana Jones. He really could have become the hero of a Steven Spielberg film, as he was literally obsessed with the search for the Holy Grail. After careful research, Rahn suggested that the last guardians of the bowl were the Cathars, who were destroyed in the 13th century.
Historian Otto Rahn.
Otto Rahn studied the legend of Arthur and came to the conclusion that the ruined castle of Montsegur in the French Pyrenees could also be the location of the sacred relic. He devoted his whole life to solving the secret of the Grail, but soon he ran out of funds. And so, in 1934, he was invited to a meeting with Himmler, where the historian agreed to join the ranks of the SS, if the Nazis agreed to allocate money for the search for the Grail.
Another supposed location of the Grail, according to Otto Rahn, could be the Montserrat Abbey, which the historian visited during the war in 1940.
Himmler believed that the Holy Grail would give him superhuman abilities and help Germany win the war. He was so confident of success that he even began to prepare the main SS castle - Wewelsburg in Westphalia - for his arrival. A special place was prepared in the basement where the Holy Grail was to be installed.
But after numerous searches, the Grail was never found.
Montserrat Abbey.
Himmler's frustration over the Annenerbe's failures grew, and he soon fired its leader, Hermann Wirth. But the unlucky historian Otto Rahn was even more unlucky. Later, his friends insisted that he was an honest man who joined the ranks of the SS only because it would allow him to continue his work to find the Grail. Realizing that he had made a pact with the devil, 35-year-old Otto tried to resign from the SS and immediately signed his own death warrant.
Enraged by this, Himmler was also disappointed at Rahn's inability to find the Holy Grail, and took revenge by offering him a post as a guard in one of the first Nazi concentration camps. One day Ran took a handful of sleeping pills and went to the Alps, where he sat down on the ground, fell asleep and subsequently froze.