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Julleuchter (; "Yule lantern") or Turmleuchter ("tower lantern") are modern terms used to describe a type of earthenware candle-holder originating in 16th-century Sweden, later redesigned and manufactured in Nazi Germany.
The candle-holder has an incised heart shape and below a six-spoked opening. This artefact was described in 1888 in the magazine of the Swedish literary club Runa (founded by Johan August Strindberg), which compared the six-spoked window in its base with the shape of the medieval h-rune; the 1888 article attributed a 16th-century date to the object (the earliest date of the introduction of candles to Scandinavian households).citation
There are several surviving specimens of this type of candle-holder from Sweden. A comparable specimen was on display in the open-air museum of Skansen, based on a photograph kept in the Detmold state archive." the old text under the title "Swedish artefact"
An article about the Julleuchter was published in the German magazine "Germanien" in December 1936. The author argued that this "millennia old" lantern was to be used as "a memento of the "Year of the Great Migrations of the people of the north"". Another article was published in the SS periodical SS-Leitheft Jahrgang 7 Folge 8a. In 1939 the Julleuchter was also mentioned in "Die Gestaltung der Feste im Jahres und Lebenslauf in der SS-Familie"(Celebrations of the SS Family) by Fritz Weitzel.
The information about the 1936 issue of Germanien magazine about the Julleuchter is actually from the later magazine "Der Freiwillige." The article in "Der Freiwillige" reports Germanien magazine being, ..."the official organ of the German ancestor inheritance registered association, Berlin." The information given in that latter article is from Germanien magazine.
A 1936 issue of Germanien magazine claimed that the "millennium old" lantern had been used as a memento of the "Year of the Great Migrations" of the people of the north and as the small light of humanity under the stars of the night sky. When used during the 2 Solstice periods of the year, this is a symbol of the victory of Light over the Darkness, and also as a token of Eternal Circulation. The Julleuchter stands for an inseparable community, its conscience and attitude, and that it was used as a symbol of never ending sunlight. Further, the magazine stated that when the Julleuchter was used during the holiday of Yule (what is now known as The 12 Days of Christmas), twelve candles are used. One is used each night symbolizing the twelve months, until the 31 of December when the "July Moon shines." On that night a thirteenth candle is used for the new coming month of January. The candles always burn below but on the last night, the candle is again transferred upward – this is the sun, which is spilled in order to return to the earth from the gloom of another peace. Germanien magazine, December 1936
Heinrich Himmler originally had the intention to make the Julleuchter a standard gift to all SS members and there were no criteria attached to its presentation. For reasons which are not entirely clear, by the start of World War II, the Julleuchter had begun to be viewed as an SS decoration, and was entered as such in SS once the Julleuchter had been presented.SS Service record collection, United States National Archives; College Park, Maryland However, as the SS-Julleuchter was considered "non-portable" (much like the Luftwaffe Honor Goblet), there was no outward display on an SS uniform indicating its presentation.
Apparently even as the Red Army was advancing and the fall of Berlin was in the foreseeable future, The Julleuchter was used during the decoration French volunteers in the Waffen-SS. One surviving soldier said, "In the light of a candle burning on a Julleuchter, a Jule Candlestick, symbolizing the never dying sunlight, Fenet decorated a number of comrades with the Iron Cross. Although simple, the ceremony that evening seemed all the more extraordinary."For Europe: the French volunteers of the Waffen-SS, by Robert Forbes, page 454.
Special occasion gift items for SS supporters were also made and given away at dinner parties and other events. Starting from 1941 German civilians and about 50 prisoners of the Allach sub camp of the Dachau concentration camp were forced to produce art and porcelain. The Allach sub camp of Dachau remained the main location for porcelain manufacture even after the original factory in the town of Allach was modernized and reopened. The factory in the town of Allach was retrofitted for the production of ceramic products such as household pottery. The fall of the Third Reich brought an end to the Allach factory. The Allach factories were shut down in 1945 and never reopened.
Allach porcelain made a variety of candle holders ranging from elaborate gilded baroque candelabras, to the most basic plain white porcelain single candle holder. More candleholders were made than for other Allach items, indicating popularity and interest among the German people. The varying styles and low cost (due to slave labor) of the candleholders produced at Allach allowed most Germans of every class to own them.
The Allach factory deposited the Julleuchter design with the Imperial Patent Office in Berlin on 16 January 1936. The Allach Julleuchter was unique in that it was made as presentation piece for SS officers to celebrate the winter solstice. It was later given to all SS members on the same occasion, 21 December. Made of unglazed stoneware, the Julleuchter was decorated with early pagan Germanic symbols.
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