ABSTRACT
Reference to Norse-Germanic mythology was just one of the many directions taken under the National Socialist regime by völkisch-religious ideas that were, as a whole, extraordinarily diverse. In many ways, the National Socialists sought to position themselves on questions of religion by broadly locating themselves within Christian traditions and circumstances, even if these were re-interpreted and re-aligned according to National Socialist ideology, as in the case of the Deutsche Christen [German Christians]. However, there was also some sympathy for new approaches (including neo-pagan and esoteric ideas). On the whole, the National Socialist approach to religious questions was not uniform, but rather pragmatically diverse, or even diffuse (for details, see e.g. the anthology by Puschner/Vollnhals 2012).
