Wewelsburg

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Wewelsburg
Wewelsburg, seen from the Alme valley
Wewelsburg Location of Wewelsburg Show map of North Rhine-Westphalia Wewelsburg Wewelsburg (Germany) Show map of Germany
General information
Type	Castle
Architectural style	Renaissance
Town or city	Wewelsburg
Country	Germany
Coordinates	51°36′23″N 8°39′06″E / 51.60639°N 8.65167°E / 51.60639; 8.65167
Current tenants	Kreismuseum Wewelsburg, Youth hostel
Construction started	1603
Completed	1609
Renovated	1650–1660 19th century 1930s/1940s 1948/1949 1973–1975
Client	Dietrich von Fürstenberg [de]
Owner	District of Paderborn

Wewelsburg (German pronunciation: [ˈveːvl̩sbʊɐ̯k]) is a Renaissance castle located in the village of Wewelsburg, which is a district of the town of Büren, Westphalia, in the Landkreis of Paderborn in the northeast of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The castle has a triangular layout, with three round towers connected by massive walls. After 1934 it was used by the SS under Heinrich Himmler, and was to be expanded into a complex which would serve as the central SS cult-site.^[1]

After 1941, plans were developed to enlarge it to be the so-called "Centre of the World".^[2] In 1950, the castle reopened as a museum and youth hostel. (The youth hostel is one of the largest in Germany.)^{[citation needed]} The castle today hosts the Historical Museum of the Prince Bishopric of Paderborn and the Wewelsburg 1933–1945 Memorial Museum.