When looking at the SS, Karl Wiligut would have to be one of the most bizarre figures within Himmler's inner circle. Essentially an occultist and follower of Irminism both his early life and later life show a man with issues bought on by schizophrenia and alcohol abuse.

Born in 1866 and bought up as a Catholic he served during WWI on the southern and eastern fronts, after retiring in 1919 as a colonel he took on studies of the occult. Believing himself to be the bearer of a secret line of German Kingship. 

Using a newspaper he founded called Der Eiserne Besen he went about publishing pamphlets pointing to a world wide conspiracy of dark forces in the form of Catholics, Jews, and Masonic order. Married with two children, his wife moved to have him placed into a mental institution due to abuse and eccentric behavior. In 1924 after being diagnosed with schizophrenia and found incompetent he was placed into a Salzburg asylum where he remained until approximately 1927.

Leaving his family in 1932 he moved from Austria to Germany and through mutual contacts is introduced to Heinrich Himmler at a conference of Nordische Gesellschaft a group operating to strengthen German-Nordic cultural cooperation, and would later be taken over by Alfred Rosenberg. 

Wiligut was inducted into the SS and given a department within the Race and Settlement office for Pre and Early history. Promoted to Standartenfuhrer in 1934 on a fast track to Brigadefuhrer and member of Himmler's personal staff in 1936.

Wiligut believed that the Bible was written in Germanic and in a hypothetical Irminic religion established 12,500 BC and later ousted by Wotanism in 2500 BC. His God was "Krist" and believed Krist was bootlegged by what we know as "Christ" in the form of Christianity in later years. 

Truth be told, most times when looking at personalities of the 3rd Reich there is pretty much standardized information available in multiple forms and text, with Karl Wiligut and with most of the text being in German, and because of the complexities involved with his beliefs and how they intersect with actual history as well as hypothetical and mystical entities, attempting to cover it all is quite frustrating. He is just too complicated for a short bio and I will have to come back around.

But in the end this man was responsible for the design of the SS Honor ring, had a major role in the takeover and redesign of Wewelsburg castle which would be the epicenter of the SS ideology, and designed or at least amended the runic alphabet utilized during the period. 

In 1938 Wiligut was was again committed to a mental institution as an embarrassed Himmler arranged for his retirement on grounds of poor health and Wiligut's role within the SS ended in August 1939 just before the outbreak of WWII, the return of his SS Honor Ring and Honor Degen were requested as per SS regulations.

(Karl Maria Wiligut)