Was it True the Nazi's were trying to find the Holy Grail?

Question

ok you can stop bringing up indiana jones.

as i said before im not talking about indiana jones. i never even saw raiders of the lost ark. i just read something that made me wonder if the Nazi's were trying to find the Holy Grail or other religious artifacts

Answer 1

The "Holy Grail" you refer to is the silver chalice used by Jesus at the Last Supper. Heinrich Himmler thought the the "Grail' was located near Barcelona Spain due to an opera written by Richard Wagner called "Parsifal" (inspired by 13th century writings that say the chalice being a 'mystical font of life' and located in the area near the abbey) and his opera mentions the "Holy Grail being kept in a marvelous castle near the Pyrennes." When Hitler went to Spain in October 1940 to attempt the Spanish leader Franco to join the German side, Himmler and his SS troopers ransacked the Abbey looking for it but to no avail. Himmler thought getting the chalice would help Germany win the war.

As to date, as far as I know the chalice or "Holy Grail' still hasn't been found.

Answer 2

Heinrich Himmler spent most of his time searching to recreate a mystical Germanic history such as the Knights Templar, in which Himmler's SS elite officers would form the basis of a new Germanic state. Himmler even had a large round table in the Wewelsburg castle headquaters of the SS where he could dream of the Germanic past and try to re-create a romanticised vision for the future.

However, Hitler was much more awake to the realities of power than Himmler was - and Hitler often joked behind Himmler's back of Himmler's Germanic romanticism as a complete joke. Other Important Nazis such as Albert Speer have written that while Himmler would tell Hitler of his grand plans of a romanticised Germanic nation, that Hitler would laugh after Himmler left and wonder if Himmler had not gone insane.

While Hitler may have indulged Himmler in his Germanic romanticism, Hitler was much more driven by the pursuit of power and the rebuilding of Germany to allow Himmler or any other of his henchmen to waste time on the occult.

Answer 3

Why all the sarcastic answers? The truth is, Hitler was very superstitious. He read a lot and was fascinated by anything that had spiritual significance. He was also obsessed with occult things. Hitler felt that if he obtained a powerful spiritual object, it would give him more power. He definitely searched for the Holly Grail.

Answer 4

To some degree. Hitler and several of his henchmen had some interest in the occult; supposedly, they had agents scouring the conquered territories for varios artifacts that were said to possess supernatural properties. As to the story behind 'Raiders'...a good tale, well-told, but fiction.

Answer 5

Yes. According to the movie "Raiders of the Lost Arc" the Nazi's had a whole situation going on to try to find the grail.

Answer 6

Yeah. Just like in Indiana Jones.

Answer 7

Yes, they were also trying to find the spear of destiny which supposedly pierced Christ. They were into all that jazz as a way to mystify and legitimize the Reich.

Answer 8

Depend's on what you mean by "trying"

Half the stuff they "tried" was totally crazy. I've seen journals that suggest it was on their "to-do" list, as it were, but it was right under going to the moon and digging to the center of the earth, so yeah.

Answer 9

I have come across several references to that. They spent years in numerous locations mainly in Syria I believe.

Answer 10

They searched for it in a fortress in France.

They were into all sorts of mysticism, Himmler (Hitler's second in command) especially.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi_mysticism