Hermann Bartels

Hermann Bartels (14 April 1900, in Minden – 13 January 1989, in Essen) was a German architect and member of the Nazi Party and the SS.

Bartels was close to Heinrich Himmler, who put Bartels to work on his pet project of rebuilding castles, and as such the Reichsführer-SS gave Bartels in June 1942 the rank of SS-Standartenführer. In this capacity it was Bartels who redesigned Wewelsburg as both the SS school and host of meetings of the leadership. Bartels was attached to the Wewelsburg Office, headed by Standartenführer Siegfried Albert Taubert, from 1934 to 1937. Bartels designs made liberal use of the Black Sun occult symbol, specifically on the floor of the Marble Hall and as such helped to promote its later use by neo-Nazis and Nazi mystics. Slave laborers attached to Concentration camp Niederhagen built his villa there. He also redesigned the official residence of Joseph Goebbels after the propaganda minister had declared himself unsatisfied with the original plans designed by Albert Speer.

Bartels also filled the role of Gaukulturwart (Districy cultural leader) in Münster demonstrating a keen interest in conservation in this post.

References

Category:1900 births
Category:1989 deaths
Category:20th-century German architects
Category:Nazi architects
Category:SS-Standartenführer
Category:People from Minden
Category:People from the Province of Westphalia