Karl Maria Wiligut

A veteran of the First World War from Vienna, Karl Maria Wiligut would come to be known by many aliases, including Karl Weisthor, Jarl Widar and his artist pseudonym Lobesam.   Claiming to be from a long line of secret Germanic nobility, with gifts for clairvoyance and secret knowledge of Germany’s true roots, Wiligut was an overt occultist.  After being introduced to Heinrich Himmler by a mutual friend at a conference, Wiligut was soon put in charge of the Department for Pre- and Early History, a section of the Race and Settlement Office within the SS.  Wiligut worked closely with Himmler and his assistants, participating directly in the design of the SS honor ring, or Totenkopfring, as well as the design of Wewelsburg Castle as a historical and pseudo-religious center for SS ceremonies.  When it was later revealed that Wiligut had spent time in a mental institution, he quickly retired.