Heinrich Himmler

> This American, he has ruined everything!
>
> Heinich Himmler discussing B.J. at the end of *Return to Castle Wolfenstein*, Return to Castle Wolfenstein

## Heinrich Himmler

### Age

- 42 (RtCW)
- 44 (Wolfenstein)

### Occupation

Reichsführer SS, director of the SS Paranormal Division, director of the SS Special Projects Division

### Appearance(s)

- *Return to Castle Wolfenstein*
- *Wolfenstein*
- Wolfenstein: The Deep

***Reichsführer-SS*Heinrich Luitpold Himmler** (born October 7, 1900 - May 23, 1945) was Reichsführer (absolute chief) of the SS, a military commander, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. He is the overarching antagonist of *Return to Castle Wolfenstein*.

## Background

As Chief of the German Police and the Minister of the Interior from 1943, Himmler oversaw all internal and external police and security forces, including the infamous Gestapo.

Serving as Reichsführer and later as Commander of the Replacement Army and General Plenipotentiary for the entire Reich's administration, Himmler rose to become one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany as well as one of the persons most directly responsible for the Holocaust.

Heinrich Himmler was always interested in occultism and archaeology to research the German past in order to strengthen nationalism and discover paranormal powers which could be employed by the Third Reich. He founded the special SS Paranormal Division along side the SS Special Projects Division in order to perform those tasks and special experimentations.

In the final days of WWII Himmler upon realising that the war was lost, he attempted to open peace talks with the western Allies without Hitler's knowledge shortly before the war ended. Hearing of this, Hitler dismissed him from all his posts in April 1945 and ordered his arrest. Himmler attempted to go into hiding, but was detained and then arrested by British forces once his identity became known. While in British custody, he committed suicide on 23 May 1945.

## Personality

As with his real life counterpart, he is shown to be abrasive and temperamental, as seen by his brief Interaction with Wolfgang Statz in Return to Castle Wolfenstein.

## *Spear of Destiny*

Heinrich Himmler instituted the SS Death's Head Ring in 1934, and struck it in solid silver. IT was a symbol of recognition of loyality to Hitler and his ideals.

The rings were held in such reverene that when an SS soldier was killed in action the ring had to be retrieved from the body. Himmler kept these rings at his castle in Wewelsburg as a "Shrine to Holders of the Death's Head Ring".

To prevent the allies from capturing the rings, Himmler ordered that the rings from the Shrine be blast-sealed into the side of the mountain near his castle in the spring of 1945. They were never found.

## *Return to Castle Wolfenstein*

Main article: Return to Castle Wolfenstein
Heinrich Himmler is a high-ranking official in Hitler's Third Reich. He's an evil, soulless bureaucrat, architect of some of the worst atrocities of the Nazi regime, with an abrasive and temperamental disposition. Himmler has founded the SS Paranormal Division, a collection of Germany's most ardent occult followers, dedicated to finding preternatural ways to further their country's war of conquest. He also founded the SS Special Projects Division a collection of German's most brilliant scientific minds with the intent on developing new and greater weapons for the Third Reich to achieve total conquest of the world.

The Castle Wolfenstein is the property of Heinrich Himmler, located in the Harz mountains.

Himmler chases down a myth. A tale from centuries past has yielded a glimmer of light. It may be nothing, but Himmler and his cronies are bent on finding out. They've uncovered pieces and parts that, when brought together, could spell disaster for the free world. The OSA has caught wind of it, and is ready to pit their best against the slightest chance that the round-spectacled little man could unleash something ancient and horrible.

Himmler was involved in the Operation Resurrection. Despite being mentioned many times during the game, he only appears in a short cameo in the last cut-scene, watching from a distance as B.J. Blazkowicz defeats and kills Heinrich I. He expresses bitterness at the American agent's victory, saying: "This American... he has ruined everything!", to which a Nazi officer notifies the former that Himmler's private airplane was ready to transport him to Berlin. After a brief silence, the officer goes on to remind his superior that Adolf Hitler was expecting Himmler's arrival, to which Himmler acknowledges him in a rather hard-nosed, abrasive manner, before walking away to deliver his report.

In the game Himmler is given patches on his uniform that are of the rank SS-Obergruppenfuhrer when his rank is Reichsfuhrer-SS. This probably just a design flaw.

## *Wolfenstein* (Wolf2)

Main article: Wolfenstein
Although the failure of Operation Resurrection has affected the Third Reich, the SS Paranormal Division lead by Himmler has discovered the Black Sun Dimension and started using its powers (by 1945 or later), under the supervision of General Viktor Zetta. Later, Wilhelm Strasse took over the operation to enhancing into almost complete Veil weapons. However, it was foiled by B.J. Blazkowicz yet again.

## *The New Order*

Heinrich Himmler is still alive as of 1946 (in the Dark Alternate Future), and it is mentioned that his ancestral home was actually Castle Wewelsburg. It mentions that the Thulian symbol of the Black Sun marks the floor of his castle.

## Behind the scenes

Main article: Wolfenstein: The New Order
Despite playing a role in both history and the story of the previous games universe, Himmler does not appear and is not mentioned in MachineGames series (other than brief mention in the Titan comics which are said to be canonical to the series, but changes his history a bit). *The Old Blood* is a retelling of much of the events of *RTCW*, but Helga von Schabbs replaces Himmler as the ancestral owner of Castle Wolfenstein.

Therefore, it is unclear if he is alive or deceased. However, if he is alive, he would be 60 during the events of *The New Order*.

However, The Old Blood states that Castle Wolfenstein (inexplicably moved to the German Alps) is the ancestral property estate of Helga von Schabbs (she was related to Otto I) and has apparently owned it for some time (there are references that take her back to at least 1942, and further back even to her childhood). It also appears that Heinrich is not in control of the Paranormal Division in this universe, which is instead under Helga's charge. Note: RTCW doesn't appear to exist in this universe, having been replaced by the events of The Old Blood.

He does not seem to appear on the list of individuals on the Kreisau Circle kill list in The New Order, which could indicate his possibly non-existence at that point in time. It is possible that he already retired from his military career.

Another reason to avoid too many historical Nazi figures may lie in the censorship issues with countries such as Germany.

Heinrich Himmler and his castle of Wewelsburg, and the Black Sun symbol is referenced in Wolfenstein: The Deep comic in 1946.

## Trivia

* In the censored German version of RTCW, Himmler is called "Höller". This is a reversal of his surname, which roughly means "Heavener," while in the German version his name means "Heller."
* He has wrong insignia in the game (proper for Obergruppenführer than for Reichsführer-SS).
* Himmler is the only real-life character to appear in *Return to Castle Wolfenstein* (not counting the heavily fictionalized version of Henry the Fowler), although he never actually appears in-game but in a brief cutscene at the end.

## References

1. ↑ Ultimate Challenge Hintbook, pg 4
2. ↑ RTCW official guide, pg 6
3. ↑ The Deep