Wilhelm Teudt’s “Irminsul” (sometimes rendered in German as Irminsäule or Erminsul) is a modern symbol consisting of a beam from which protrudes two bowed branches, often coiled into spirals. The object may or may not be ornately decorated with chevron-like patterns and spirals, and generally resembles a squat and stretched Ionic column. The symbol was first proposed by German former pastor, amateur archaeologist, and SS-Ahnenerbe member Wilhelm Teudt in 1929.

Teudt claimed the symbol represented the historic Irminsul, an object of veneration among the ancient Saxons, generally considered to be one of many examples of sacred trees among the ancient Germanic peoples. The Irminsul was targeted and destroyed by Frankish king Charlemagne in the 8th century. Teudt’s claim stems from his interpretation of a relief found on the Extern Stones (German Externsteine), a sandstone formation near Horn-Bad Meinberg, Germany.

Scholars generally date the relief to the 12th century, and it clearly depicts the descent from the cross, a popular motif from Christian mythology. According to Teudt, a section of the relief features a a bent Irminsul, which he suspected to have stood in the area. Teudt’s symbol saw limited but notable use in Nazi Germany.

Teudt’s interpretation has usually been ignored by scholars discussing the relief, but those who do mention it—often in the context of discussing the pseudoscientific quality of the SS-Ahnenerbe’s output—overwhelmingly reject it. Rather than an inexplicably placed “Irminsul”, scholars generally assess the segment of the relief to depict an ornate chair or some variety of vegetation, perhaps a tropical tree, used as a stool without the necessity of assuming any connection to the Irminsul. Nonetheless, the symbol continues to see some use in modern popular culture, particularly in Germany, where Teudt’s claims can still now and then still be encountered.

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