In 1818, an American army veteran announced that Earth was hollow, habitable and accessible through enormous openings at the poles. Fifty years later, a British novelist placed an advanced civilisation beneath the surface. Then came Agarttha, hidden masters, Shambhala, polar entrances, Vril and eventually UFO bases. How did the inside of the Earth become so crowded?
Before the Nazi Party existed, a secretive Munich society was already combining Germanic ancestry, racial ideology, occult ritual, political agitation and the symbol of the swastika. It helped create the political environment from which the German Workers’ Party emerged, owned the newspaper that later became the Nazi Party’s main press organ and counted future Nazi figures among its members and guests. But how much of the later Third Reich actually grew out of Thule, and how much was added afterward?
Archaeology, runes, folklore, caves, ancient languages, Tibet, World Ice Theory and eventually human experimentation all passed through the same SS research organisation. What exactly was Heinrich Himmler trying to build with the Ahnenerbe?
Five German researchers entered Tibet in 1938–39 under Heinrich Himmler’s patronage. They collected animals and plants, measured human skulls, filmed religious ceremonies, studied ancient symbols and established contacts with the Tibetan government. Later accounts added Shambhala, hidden knowledge and the search for Aryan origins. How many different expeditions were taking place at once?
Nazi Germany really sent an expedition into Antarctica, mapped a territory it called New Swabia and considered establishing a permanent presence there. The underground fortress, secret U-boat harbour and “Base 211” came later.
