For Himmler the mystic, design was deliberate, and the runic symbols he selected to adorn his world held deep meaning for the Reichsfurer. Himmler’s use of the skull motif for SS regalia is well known. However, according to the conferral document, Himmler ascribed special significance to the skull’s use on the Totenkopf ring. According to […]

Heinrich Himmler was once memorably described by Albert Speer as, “half school master, half crackpot.” The schoolmasterly part is easy to explain, having been born in Munich on October 7, 1900 to Joseph Gebhard Himmler, a secondary-school teacher and principle. Himmler’s childhood was filled with the bookish pursuits of stamp collecting, chess, playing the harpsichord, […]

“The award of the ring is the visible sign of our community’s inner code and loyalty to the Fuhrer and his ideology, proven in years of struggle and duty. “ Heinrich Himmler, Totenkopf ring award regulations, 10.4.1933. Ring-Giver is an Anglo-Saxon metaphor often used to describe a King. both in fiction and throughout history. For […]