Thule Society

The signet ring of the Thule Society as worn by Eckhart.

Nazi bastards. – Dean Winchester, 8.13 Everybody Hates Hitler

History

The Thule Society is a group of necromancers with plans of world domination. They originated in Europe and sponsored the Nazi party in its early days. The Judah Initiative was formed to fight them.

In Vitsyebsk, Belarus following the Nazi occupation in World War II, the Thule Society established a camp where they carried out terrible magical experiments on the Jewish people in attempts to reanimate the dead. Commander Eckhart devises the experiments and records the results, which eventually lead to him being able to revive dead Nazis, in a red ledger. The reanimated soldiers could be killed with a head shot but will come back to life unless it is burned within twelve hours.

The Judah Initiative raise a Golem to destroy the camp, but Eckhart uses magic and escapes but the red ledger is left behind.

Episodes

Red Ledger

8.13 Everybody Hates Hitler

Torvald, a member of the Thule Society, follows Rabbi Bass, eventually causes him to combust after he locates the red ledger which both the Judah Initiative and the Thule Society have been seeking for decades.

When Sam, Dean and the Rabbi's grandson Aaron track down the Red Ledger, Torvald tries to take it and shoots magic poison dart into Sam and Aaron until the Golem kills him and the spell is broken. Sam and Dean burn his body. The Golem tells them how he was made in the Ghetto of Vitsyebsk. He was sent to destroy the members of the Thule society in a Nazi Compound in Belarus. He killed all the men in the Compound, but the Commandant; Eckhart, was able to escape and burned the entire Compound down to ash around the Golem, but the Red Ledger is the sole thing that survived the fire. Eckhart and his men tracked down Aaron and the Winchesters and break in to steal the ledger. Eckhart tells them that he was the one who invented the experiments that bring the Thule Society members back from the dead. When Aaron causes a distraction, Sam and Dean are able to shoot two of them and Eckhart, but one escapes. Aaron takes possession of the Golem and vows to continue the work of his grandfather and the Judah Initiative.

9.06 Heaven Can't Wait

When Dean is at a loss at what could possibly be causing people to explode in Rexford, Idaho, Sam suggests spontaneous combustion, and that it could be the Thule. Dean tells him he had already ruled them out as the bodies were vaporized and not burned.

11.14 The Vessel

Befehlsleiter Gumprecht, who had been stabbed in the neck by Delphine Seydoux, reveals himself to be a member of the Thule Society, when he tracks down the USS Bluefin to get and the Hand of God. Gumprecht is soon killed when Delphine uses the Hand of God, destroying the USS Bluefin and blasting a hole into the fuel tanks of the destroyer carrying Gumprecht, incinerating him along with everyone else that was on the ship and sinking the ship.

12.05 The One You've Been Waiting For

The Thule Society reemerges attempting to resurrect Adolf Hitler after retrieving the watch containing his soul. To this end, they kill the owner of the pawnshop the watch ended up and his customer and begin chasing Hitler's descendant Ellie Grant.

The murders committed by the Thule draw the attention of the Winchesters who realize that they are dealing with the Thule Society once more after finding out what the killers had been after. The Winchesters contact Aaron Bass who tells them that he and the Golem have used the Thule ledger to hunt down and kill half of the Thule membership. Aaron and the Golem have also gotten their hands on documents about a new Thule plot, Das Blut, but beyond it involving the entire Thule High Command, know nothing more about it.

After rescuing Ellie from Christoph Nauhaus, the Winchesters interrogate him about the Thule plot. Christoph finally explains about how his father, Commandant Nauhaus preserved Hitler's soul in the pocket watch and the Thule intend to resurrect him. The Thule track down Ellie and Christoph, rescuing Christoph and capturing Ellie. However, due to Christoph disagreeing with his plans, Nauhaus attempts to have him killed by Fritz. Christoph manages to kill Fritz and betrays the Thule to the Winchesters in exchange for protection.

Using Ellie's blood, the Thule are able to make Nauhaus a suitable vessel for Hitler's soul and successfully resurrect him. However, due to spending so long trapped in the watch, Hitler comes back insane to the surprise of the Thule. After locating the hanger used by the Thule with Christoph's help, the Winchesters kill two guards before being captured by Hitler and the Thule High Command. As the Thule and Hitler are distracted with the Winchesters, Ellie breaks free, grabs Sam's gun and uses it to kill Hans. Dean then uses Hans' gun to kill Wolfgang and Gottfried before turning on Hitler. Though Hitler begs for his life, Dean knocks him unconscious and shoots Hitler in the head, killing both Hitler and Nauhaus.

Following the fight, the Winchesters and Ellie burn the bodies of Hitler and the Thule High Command, preventing them from ever being resurrected again. The Winchesters let Christoph go, but warn him to run as what's left of the Thule Society will chase him as a traitor for his role in the death of their leadership.

The Thule Society in History

The Thule Society (/ˈθjuːliː/; German: Thule-Gesellschaft), originally the Studiengruppe für germanisches Altertum ("Study Group for Germanic Antiquity"), was a German occultist and völkisch group in Munich, named after a mythical northern country from Greek legend. The Society is notable chiefly as the organization that sponsored the Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (DAP), which was later reorganized by Adolf Hitler into the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP or Nazi Party).