Stiftung Nordhav
Encyclopedia
Reinhard Heydrich
founded the Stiftung Nordhav (Nordhav Foundation) in 1939 to obtain real estate for the SS.
. Heydrich established the Stiftung Nordhav on 30 July 1939. The State Secretary Wilhelm Stuckart
recognized the foundation 3 August 1939. The foundation’s official purpose was to obtain real estate to be used as rest and recreation centers for members of the SS, Reich Security Police, and their families. Besides this official function, Heydrich intended to make use of the organization to acquire real property for himself. Heydrich named five directors: Karl Wilhelm Albert, Herbert Mehlhorn, Werner Best
, Kurt Pomme and Walter Schellenberg
. The initial foundation endowment was 150,000 reichsmarks.
, a Baltic Sea
island and vacation spot. Heydrich intended to use this property as a vacation home, in addition to the Fehmarn summer home he already owned. The 11 hectare Katharinenhof had its own beachfront, archaeologically significant stone age graves, a beach house with a thatched roof, and stables. Schellenberg handled the entire transaction. The outbreak of the Second World War, on 1 September 1939, caused the foundation to become inactive for the next six months.
The most important financial transaction of the Stiftung Nordhav occurred in November 1940: the acquisition of the magnificent Wannsee Villa, Am Grossen Wannsee 56-58, in Berlin. The industrialist Friedrich Minoux
, owner of the Villa, had been jailed for defrauding the Berlin Gasworks, the largest financial crime of the Nazi era. From his jail cell in Berlin, Minoux sold the Villa to the Stiftung Nordhav for 1.95 million reichsmarks. Heydrich’s intention was to use the Villa as an SS guesthouse and vacation lodging, with part reserved for his own needs. On 20 January 1942, the Wannsee Villa became the venue for the Wannsee Conference
, the meeting Heydrich held with senior officials of the Nazi regime to announce the plans for the deportation and extermination of all Jews in German-occupied territory. This to be coordinated with the representatives from the Nazi state agencies present at the meeting.
Reinhard Heydrich
Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich , also known as The Hangman, was a high-ranking German Nazi official.He was SS-Obergruppenführer and General der Polizei, chief of the Reich Main Security Office and Stellvertretender Reichsprotektor of Bohemia and Moravia...
founded the Stiftung Nordhav (Nordhav Foundation) in 1939 to obtain real estate for the SS.
Founding and Purpose
The name Nordhav came from an old German term for the North SeaNorth Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
. Heydrich established the Stiftung Nordhav on 30 July 1939. The State Secretary Wilhelm Stuckart
Wilhelm Stuckart
Wilhelm Stuckart was a Nazi Party lawyer and official, a state secretary in the German Interior Ministry and later, a convicted war criminal.-Early life:...
recognized the foundation 3 August 1939. The foundation’s official purpose was to obtain real estate to be used as rest and recreation centers for members of the SS, Reich Security Police, and their families. Besides this official function, Heydrich intended to make use of the organization to acquire real property for himself. Heydrich named five directors: Karl Wilhelm Albert, Herbert Mehlhorn, Werner Best
Werner Best
Dr. Werner Best was a German Nazi, jurist, police chief, SS-Obergruppenführer and Nazi Party leader from Darmstadt, Hesse. He studied law and in 1927 obtained his doctorate degree at Heidelberg...
, Kurt Pomme and Walter Schellenberg
Walter Schellenberg
Walther Friedrich Schellenberg was a German SS-Brigadeführer who rose through the ranks of the SS to become the head of foreign intelligence following the abolition of the Abwehr in 1944.-Biography:...
. The initial foundation endowment was 150,000 reichsmarks.
First Acquisition
The first foundation acquisition was the Katharinenhof, a farm on FehmarnFehmarn
Fehmarn is an island and - since 2003 - a town on this island in the Baltic Sea, off the eastern coast of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, and ca. 18 kilometers south of the Danish island of Lolland...
, a Baltic Sea
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
island and vacation spot. Heydrich intended to use this property as a vacation home, in addition to the Fehmarn summer home he already owned. The 11 hectare Katharinenhof had its own beachfront, archaeologically significant stone age graves, a beach house with a thatched roof, and stables. Schellenberg handled the entire transaction. The outbreak of the Second World War, on 1 September 1939, caused the foundation to become inactive for the next six months.
Wannsee Villa
Friedrich Minoux
Friedrich Minoux was a German industrialist and financier who is best known for being one of the owners of the Wannsee House, where the namesake conference that would decide the fate of millions at the hands of the Nazis during World War II was held in early 1942.-Early life:Born in the Pfalz...
, owner of the Villa, had been jailed for defrauding the Berlin Gasworks, the largest financial crime of the Nazi era. From his jail cell in Berlin, Minoux sold the Villa to the Stiftung Nordhav for 1.95 million reichsmarks. Heydrich’s intention was to use the Villa as an SS guesthouse and vacation lodging, with part reserved for his own needs. On 20 January 1942, the Wannsee Villa became the venue for the Wannsee Conference
Wannsee Conference
The Wannsee Conference was a meeting of senior officials of the Nazi German regime, held in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee on 20 January 1942. The purpose of the conference was to inform administrative leaders of Departments responsible for various policies relating to Jews, that Reinhard Heydrich...
, the meeting Heydrich held with senior officials of the Nazi regime to announce the plans for the deportation and extermination of all Jews in German-occupied territory. This to be coordinated with the representatives from the Nazi state agencies present at the meeting.