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The Ahnenerbe was an institute in Nazi Germany purposed to research the archaeological and cultural history of the Aryan race. Founded on July 1, 1935, by Heinrich Himmler, Herman Wirth, and Richard Walther Darré, the Ahnenerbe later conducted experiments and launched expeditions in an attempt to prove that mythological Nordic populations had once ruled the world. The name ''Ahnenerbe'' () means "inherited from the forefathers." Originally, the official mission of the Ahnenerbe was to find new evidence of the racial heritage of the Germanic people; however, due to Himmler's obsession with occultism it quickly became his own occult tool and started using pseudoscience. The group was formerly called the Study Society for Primordial Intellectual history, German Ancestral Heritage (''Studiengesellschaft für Geistesurgeschichte‚ Deutsches Ahnenerbe''), but it was renamed in 1937 as the Research and Teaching Community of the Ancestral Heritage (''Forschungs- und Lehrgemeinschaft des Ahnenerbe''). ==History and development== In January 1929, Heinrich Himmler was appointed the leader of the fledgling ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS). He launched a massive recruitment campaign that expanded the SS from fewer than 300 members in 1929 to 10,000 in 1931.〔.〕 Once the SS had grown, Himmler began its transformation into a "racial elite" of young Nordic males. This was to be accomplished by a new bureaucracy, the ''Rasse- und Siedlungshauptamt-SS'' (Race and Settlement Office of the SS), known as RuSHA. Himmler appointed SS-''Obergruppenführer'' Richard Walther Darré to lead the organisation, which determined if applicants were racially fit to be in the SS. This brought about a campaign meant to educate new applicants about their Nordic past through weekly classes taught by senior RuSHA graduates using the periodical ''SS-Leitheft''. Starting in 1934, Himmler began financially supporting and visiting excavations in Germany. This brought him into contact with archaeologists like , Hans Schleif, and , director of the ''Staatliches Museum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte'' in Berlin. Initially, there were two departments within the SS engaged in archaeology: the ''Abteilung Ausgrabungen'' of the ''Persönlicher Stab des Reichsführers der SS'' and the ''Abteilung für Vor- und Frühgeschichte'' at the RuSHA. The latter ("RA IIIB") was established in 1934 and was supposed to serve as a "general staff" for all SS activities related to prehistory. It was responsible for archaeological research and related propaganda and led by Rolf Höhne, a geologist. Höhne was eventually replaced by Peter Paulsen, an archaeologist, in October 1937. The department did not conduct any excavations itself, but was intended to extend the influence of the SS over other institutions, especially those responsible for education/research and monument preservation. In fact, Langsdorff did this in Himmler's personal staff. The department also tried to make use of pre-history in the training and indoctrination of SS members. When the RuSHA was restructured, the department was dissolved with its responsibilities passing to the ''Ahnenerbe''. The ''Abteilung Ausgrabung'' in Himmler's personal staff was established in 1935 on the initiative of Langsdorff. In March 1937, Höhne joined the leadership of this department. By 1937, it was responsible for SS excavations and maintained its own personnel for this activity. On July 1, 1935, at SS headquarters in Berlin, Himmler met with five racial experts representing Darré and with Herman Wirth, one of Germany’s most famous but also most controversial prehistorians. Together they established an organization called the "German Ancestral Heritage—Society for the Study of the History of Primeval Ideas" (''Deutsches Ahnenerbe—Studiengesellschaft für Geistesurgeschichte''), shortened to its better-known form in 1937. At the meeting they designated its official goal, “to promote the science of ancient intellectual history,” and appointed Himmler as its superintendent, with Wirth serving as its president. Himmler appointed Wolfram Sievers ''Generalsekretär'' (General Secretary) of the Ahnenerbe. Through 1937, the Ahnenerbe was essentially engaged in amateur ''völkisch'' research. Financial and academical pressure caused Himmler to start looking for an alternative to Wirth as early as the spring of 1936. In September, Hitler negatively referred to Wirth's beliefs regarding Atlantis and their influence on "Böttcherstrasse architecture" in a speech at the Reichsparteitag.〔 In March 1937, the Ahnenerbe was given a new statute, implementing the ''Führerprinzip'' and giving Himmler extensive powers. Wirth was deposed as president and appointed honorary president, a powerless position. Himmler's position as ''Kurator'' was given more power.〔 Walther Wüst was appointed the new president of the Ahnenerbe. Wüst was an expert on India and a dean at Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich, working on the side as a Vertrauensmann for the ''Sicherheitsdienst'' (SD, SS Security Service). Referred to as ''The Orientalist'' by Wolfram Sievers, Wüst had been recruited by him in May 1936 because of his ability to simplify science for the common man.〔 After being appointed president, Wüst began improving the Ahnenerbe, moving the offices to a new headquarters that cost 300,000 Reichsmark in the Dahlem neighborhood of Berlin. He also worked to limit the influence of “those he deemed scholarly upstarts,” which included cutting communication with the RuSHA office of Karl Maria Wiligut.〔 The ''Generalsekretariat'' led by Sievers was turned into the institution's ''Reichsgeschäftsführung''. The Ahnenerbe was renamed ''Forschungs- und Lehrgemeinschaft Das Ahnenerbe e.V.''. It was moved from the RuSHA to Himmlers's personal staff.〔 Wirth and Wilhelm Teudt lost their departments in Ahnenerbe in 1938. In 1939, the statutes were changed again and Wirth was deposed as honorary president. Himmler's and Wüsts' titles were switched—Himmler now became president. Next to Wüst, the academic with most influence in the institution after 1939 was Herbert Jankuhn, who in 1937 still had categorically rejected cooperation with the "unscientific" Ahnenerbe.〔 Ahnenerbe was a mix between an SS department and an ''Eingetragener Verein''. Membership was open to all natural and legal persons. Its staff were SS members, many also working in other SS positions, and thus subject to SS jurisdiction.〔 In late 1936, Ahnenerbe took over the publication of Teudt's magazine ''Germanien'', first in cooperation with Teudt, then without him. The monthly now became the official voice of Ahnenerbe and was aimed at a wider audience. From December 1936, the magazine was distributed free of charge to all SS leaders.〔 Cooperation with other SS departments was initially limited but improved after 1937. Contacts with the SD-HA and the editorial team of the SS weekly ''Das schwarze Korps'' intensified. Ahnenerbe eventually had the scientific responsibility for the ''SS-Leithefte'' and in conjunction with the SS-HA, Ahnenerbe established ''Germanische Leitstelle'' and ''Germanischer Wissenschaftseinsatz''.〔 In 1939, the Ahnenerbe held its first independent annual convention, at Kiel. The event's success contributed to the trend that archaeologists were increasingly turning to the Ahnenerbe and away from Alfred Rosenberg's rival '.〔 In fiscal year 1938/39, the budget for the excavations department was 65,000 Reichsmark, about 12% of the Ahnenerbe's total budget. More than a third of that went to the Haithabu activities. Under Jankuhn's direction four more archaeological departments were set up: in April 1938 the ''Forschungsstätte für naturwissenschaftliche Vorgeschichte'' (a laboratory for analyzing pollen) was established at Dahlem under the leadership of . The ''Forschungsstätte für Wurtenforschung'' at Wilhelmshaven led by , the ''Forschungsstätte für germanisches Bauwesen'' led by Martin Rudolph and the ''Forschungsstätte für Urgeschichte'' directed by followed in 1939.〔 The organization was incorporated into the Allgemeine SS (General SS) in January 1939. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Ahnenerbe」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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