Ulfhednar

Ulfhednar describes itself as one of the largest European reenactment groups (Ulfhednar, 2020); on a now-deleted entry on their website (www. ulfhednar.org [accessed 30 March 2007]), it claimed to consist of thirty “full” members from Germany, Poland, and the United Kingdom, with the majority coming from the German regions of Hessen and Thuringia.

In a statement on their Facebook page, the group’s self-conception is characterized as follows: “Ulfhednar is a reenactment group, i.e., we rep­resent history, in our case across different eras, authentically with clothing and equipment.

Moreover, their clothing, weapons, and other items used in reenactments are also employed in concerts, artwork, and video productions, since many of Ulfhednar’s performers are also active in various music groups that describe themselves as belonging to the pagan metal scene, including the Thuringian bands Menhir, Odroerir and Gernotshagen (Figure 5.1). With explicit reference to their reenactment activity with Ulfhednar, members of these bands claim an earnest, “fact-based” interest in history as one source of inspiration for their songs, as Odroerir related in an interview: “The lyr­ical ideas inevitably come from the inexhaustible conglomerate of Celtic/ Germanic mythology and legends or from European historiography about our forefathers and in this respect do not represent a ‘would-be fantasy con­struct’ of the old times, but only contain relevant facts and interpretations” (Odroerir, 2020).

By 2007, academic archaeologists had begun to voice disapproval of Ulfhednar’s reenactment performances (Molders and Hoppadietz, 2007, pp. 43-46). They criticized the romanticized presentation of the heroic warrior ideal and the rather one-dimensional image of gender roles. The overwhelming majority of Ulfhednar’s performances comprise depictions

Figure 5.1 Heiko Gerull performing in reenactment clothing with the pagan metal band Menhir at Heathen Rock Festival in Hamburg-Harburg, 18 February 2012.

Source: © Martin Langebach.

of warlike male groups while other areas of social life, like family, child­hood, and old age, as well as crafts, trade, and agriculture, were ignored.

The criticism of Ulfhednar reached a wider audience as a result of the above-described occurrence at the opening of the 2008 exhibition Eine Welt in Bewegung in Paderborn. The exhibition had attracted much attention throughout Germany, and it was held under the patronage of the German Minister of Economics and Technology and hence supported and largely financed by the German government (Paderborn, 2008). Ulfhednar had been booked by the museum for the opening event and was evidently given free rein in their presentations and explanations in that they acted with­out any accompanying discussions or moderation by the museum. Though the use and public display of the aforementioned SS-motto tattooed on the abdomen of Ulfhednar performer Andreas M. count as criminal offenses in Germany, neither Ziliox (the leader of the group) nor the museum officials took legal action, despite being tipped off by a visitor.

Following this incident, archaeology professor Albrecht Jockenhovel (2008) published a statement at the 6th German Archaeology Congress in Mannheim calling on archaeological institutions to learn lessons from this case.

An appeal for assistance published on the Spanish neo-Nazi internet platform europeNS shortly before the panel discussion provides an initial insight into the circumstances discussed below: “tomorrow night our friend and chief of www. ulfhednar. org [sic] in germany will have to go to a confer­ence were [sic] he has been acccused [sic] of neo nazi activities by many leftist academics, and christians.... if you have any pics of spanish historical swas­tikas, the basque symbol too, send them to [email address for Ulfhednar]. it will be us next...” (Godo, 2008). In the end, the accusations raised were not critically assessed by Ulfhednar. Instead, Ziliox repeatedly described himself and his group as victims of a political conspiracy. He claimed theIn Honor of the Forefathers 85 members of the conspiracy included all the academics and journalists who had been critical of Ulfhednar and insinuated that they were driven by per­sonal political interests, envy, and a sense of rivalry. Following the events in Paderborn, Ziliox initiated a slander campaign via email and later on a ded­icated website, in which he spread false allegations to discredit his critics.

Ulfhednar’s performances presented objects that were deliberately altered from models of genuine archaeological finds, presumably to create a specific image. The group’s flag, used in a number of reenactments as well as on one of Menhir’s album covers (Menhir, 2003b), is one such example (Figure 5.2a). According to Ulfhednar, the design of this flag was based on the motif of an animal whorl derived from a 6 cm-wide strap divider from a harness found at the early medieval Alemanni burial ground of Niederstotzingen (Paulsen, 1967, plate 46, Figures 5.1 and 5.2b). As a general point, transferring a metal object the size of a coin to a flag creates a completely new image which may have an entirely different meaning (Figure 5.2c). In addition, no flags of this

Figure 5.2 (a) Ulfhednar’s group flag presented on an album cover of Menhir.

(b) Archeological find of a strap divider from a harness excavated at the Early Medieval Alemanni burial ground of Niederstotzingen.

(c) Reconstruction drawing of the Niederstotzingen strap divider illus­trating its usage and scale.

Source: (a) © Menhir, Hildebrandslied, Perverted Taste 2007 (Re-released Trollzorn 2007). (b and c) P. Paulsen, Alamanische Adelsgraber von Niederstolzingen, Stuttgart 1967, pp. 5 & 45.type have ever been documented for the ancient groups represented by Ulfhednar. Moreover, the design had been enlarged and manipulated, eliminating the animals’ extremities. In this way, it conveyed a very dif­ferent visual message, becoming reminiscent of Nazi pennants or the emblem of the 5^th SS Panzer Division “Wiking” of the Waffen-SS. The assumption that the choice of motif was probably not a coincidence is borne out by another flag used by Ulfhednar in public displays, show­ing a round yellow swastika on a blue background (Ulfhednar, 2008).

At their above-mentioned appearances in Wolin in 2015, Ulfhednar used yet another group flag, on this occasion a lance flag, as was quite common in the early Middle Ages, even though the corresponding originals are not associated with the Slavs or Vikings represented in the Wolin Festival and in fact, are significantly older. It is quite obvious that they based their lance flag on the one shown in the publication of grave finds from Niederstotzingen mentioned above (Paulsen 1967, p. 114, Figure 58). On the archaeologi­cal examples presented in the book, the central motif is a Christian cross. Although Ulfhednar copied all the other details from the lance flag shown, they decided to replace the Christian cross with a different motif closer to a stylized swastika symbol (Figure 5.3). This motif was probably based on damascening on an iron belt buckle from the Niederstotzingen cemetery or a sword found in a grave at Landsberg-SpottingZLech (Christlein, 1978, p. 72, Figure 47). Yet, to design the flag, the 1 cm motif on both the origi­nal finds would have had to be enlarged and, in the case of the belt buckle, also mirrored to show the arms moving clockwise. Once again, there is no archaeological evidence to suggest the use of this motif on a historical flag. However, comparable symbols can be found on modern flags in the right­wing extremist sector, such as the flag used by the Russian neo-fascist move­ment Slavyansky Soyuz (Slavic Union), which has been banned since 2011, and in a similar form as part of the logo of the Polish neo-fascist organi­zation NS Zadruga. Proof that the Slavyansky Soyuz symbol is known to members of Ulfhednar, especially the musicians in Menhir, is provided by photos of a gig played by Menhir in Moscow in 2007 (Menhir, 2007b), where the stage was guarded by members of Slavyansky Soyuz dressed in T-shirts bearing the motif in question.

Figure 5.3 Performers of reenactment group Ulfhednar with group flag at the Festival of Slavs and Vikings Wolin, 31 July-2 August 2015.

Source: © Argumente & Kultur Bielefeld.

Similarly, questionable symbols without reliable archaeological or his­torical evidence are to be found on textile elements, like clothes used in a Merovingian period performance, with a trimming displaying interwo­ven swastikas (Menhir, 2012). As archaeological references for this trim­ming, Ulfhednar repeatedly cited textile fragments from an Iron Age burial mound in Eberdingen-Hochdorf dating back to about 550 BC (Biel, 1985) as well as from the tomb of Balthild, the wife of the 7th-century Franconian King Clovis II (Sauser, 2003). Both temporal and spatial distances between the archaeological original and the reenactment, as well as social positions and even gender, were ignored in order to display an obviously preferred motif (Figure 5.1).

A final example of the dubious creation of historical images is the paint­ings shown on the group’s shields. None of the designs used by Ulfhednar are backed up by archaeological or historical evidence. The most blatant case is a shield painted with a Gibor rune, also known as a Wolfsangel (Menhir, 2003a). This symbol does not appear in any prehistoric or early historical context; instead, it was invented in the 19th century by Guido von List and associated with early historical cultures in his “Armanen runes” (see below). In addition, this symbol is also known from more recent history, having been used by the 2nd SS Panzer Division “Das Reich” as well as the 4th SS Polizei Panzergrenadier Division of the Waffen-SS. The WolfSangel was also the symbol of various Werwolf guerrilla units set up by Heinrich Himmler in 1944, subsequently used by more contemporary neo-Nazi organizations like the German Junge Front (Young Front), banned in 1982, or the Swedish network Vitt Ariskt Motstand (White Aryan Resistance). Though this was pointed out to Ulfhednar during the panel discussion in Paderborn, the shield was still used afterwards (Gervina, 2013b). While these examples already suggest a certain affinity of Ulfhednar with a far-right neopagan mindset, the involvement of some of its members in the pagan metal subcul­ture makes this even more apparent.