The Wolfsangel is a Germanheraldic charge inspired by historic wolf traps, consisting of two metal parts and a connecting chain. The top part of the trap, which resembled a crescent moon with a ring inside, used to be fastened between branches of a tree in the forest while the bottom part, on which meat scraps used to be hung, was a hook meant to be swallowed by a wolf. The simplified design based on the iron "wolf-hook" was often heavily stylized to no longer resemble a baited hook hung from a tree or an entire wolf trap. Other names included Wolfsanker or Wolfsjagd as well as hameçon or hameçon de loup, a half-moon shape with a ring, or as cramp or crampon in English with a ring at the center, sometimes also called Doppelhaken, or a crampon with a transversal stroke. All of these symbols are still found in a number of municipal coats of arms in Germany. The crampon is also found as a mason's mark in medieval stonework. In early times, believed to possess magical powers, it became a symbol of liberty and independence after its adoption as an emblem of a peasant revolt in the 15th century against the oppression of the German princes and their mercenaries. The Wolfsangel was an initial symbol of the Nazi Party. In World War II the sign and its elements were used by various German SS armoured and infantry divisions such as the 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich and the Waffen-SS Division 34th SS Volunteer Grenadier Division Landstorm Nederland. In pre-war Germany, the Wolfsangel was partly inspired by the immense popularity of Hermann Löns's 1910 novel Der Wehrwolf during the 1930s, where the protagonist, a resistance fighter during the Thirty Years' War, adopted the magic symbol as his personal badge. The symbol itself bears a visual resemblance to the Eihwaz rune, historically part of the runic alphabet.
Heraldry
The name Wolfsangel appears in a 1714 heraldic handbook, Wappenkunst, associated with a symbol distinct from the one presently known under this name. It is described as a crescent moon with a ring inside, at mid-height. Although written for the Wolfsangel, it is referring to the anchor of the Wolfsangel and not the "Wolf's-hook" proper. In modern German-language heraldic terminology, the name Wolfsangel is de facto used for a variety of heraldic charges, including the hameçon described above – a half-moon shape with a ring also called Wolfsanker and Wolfshaken; as well as the crampon – a Z shape or double-hook symbol also called Mauerhaken or Doppelhaken; and the Ƶ or double-hook symbol with a ring or transversal stroke at the center. It is only this symbol that also goes under the name Wolfsangel in the context of Neo-Nazism and occultism. The crampon symbol is found comparatively frequently in municipal coats of arms in Germany, where it is often identified as Wolfsangel. The "crampon with central stroke" design is more rare, but is still found in about a dozen contemporary municipal coats of arms.
In a 1616 boundary treaty concluded between Hesse and Brunswick-Lüneburg, the Brunswick boundary marker was called Wulffsangel. It was used not only on landmarks, but there is also evidence of its use in correspondence from the Forest Services in 1674. Later the Wolfsangel was also used as a symbol on forest uniforms. In a document of 1792 regarding new uniforms, chief forester Adolf Friedrich von Stralenheim suggested a design for uniform buttons including the letters "GR" and a symbol similar to the Wolfsangel, which he called Forstzeichen. Later the Wolfsangel was also worn as a single badge in brass caps on the service and on the buttons of the Hanoverian forest supervisor. In Brunswick it was prescribed for private forest and gamekeepers also as badge on the bonnet. The Wolfsangel is still used the various forest districts in Lower Saxony as a boundary marker, and it is part of the emblem of the state of Lower Saxony and the hunters' association Hirschmann, dedicated to the breeding and training of Hanover Hounds.
in Germany if a connection with one of these groups is apparent. After World War II, the symbol was used by some Neo-Nazi organizations. In United States extremist white supremacistAryan Nations organization uses white Wolfsangel symbol with a sword replacing the cross-bar in its logo. . A similar sign was used in Ukraine by the Social-National Party of Ukraine, Social-National Assembly. and Azov Battalion. Group members claim that the symbol is an abbreviation for the slogan Ідея Нації and deny connection with Nazism. On August 9, 2018, Germany lifted the ban on the usage of swastikas and other Nazi symbols in video games. "Through the change in the interpretation of the law, games that critically look at current affairs can for the first time be given a USK age rating," USK managing director Elisabeth Secker told CTV. "This has long been the case for films and with regards to the freedom of the arts, this is now rightly also the case with computer and videogames." Wolfsangel is also used by the Church of Satan in horizontal form.
In literature
In 1910, Hermann Löns published a book entitled Der Wehrwolf set in a 17th-century German farming community during the Thirty Years' War. The main character of the book, Harm Wulf, adopts the Wolfsangel as a badge against the occupying forces of the ruling princes. Some printings of this book, such as the 1940 edition, showcase a very visible Wolfsangel on the book cover. It also features on Löns's gravestone.
