Ahnenerbe

"They are the Ahnenerbe. The ancestral heritage branch of the SS, dedicated to archaeology surrounding the superiority of the Aryan race and the occult."

- Henrik Mellberg

The Ahnenerbe was a branch of the Nazi SS that dealt with Germanic ancestral heritage. Its goal was to research the history of the Aryan race, in an effort to showcase Aryan racial superiority. They also researched artifacts of the occult.

In 1936, Friedrich von Hassell of the Ahnenerbe began tracking down the three pieces of the key to the Tomb of the Gods. After possibly obtaining the piece owned by Marwell O'Brien, von Hassell's men tried to get the piece from Henrik Mellberg in New York City. However, Mellberg suspected that they were on his trail after losing touch with O'Brien, and contacted Indiana Jones to assist him, then hid in a secret room in his apartment. The agents captured Jones when he entered the apartment, but during a fight, Jones found Mellberg's secret room, and the two escaped to the roof. In a skyscraper construction lot, though the pursuing agents shot Mellberg, the Ahnenerbe agents were unsuccessful in retrieving his piece -- Mellberg succeeded in passing his piece to Jones, who lost it to a woman in a housekeeping uniform.

Members of the Ahnenerbe

 * Heinrich Himmler (superintendent)
 * Dr. Friedrich von Hassell
 * Several agents sent to Mellberg's apartment

Behind the Scenes
The Ahnenerbe was established in 1935 and conducted archaeological expeditions around the world, in an effort to support Nazi ideology of Aryan superiority through documenting historical and prehistorical Nordic and Aryan civilization. During World War II, they also conducted medical and anthropological experiments on concentration camp prisoners. After the war, several Ahnenerbe members were put on trial for war crimes related to their medical experiments.

Appearances

 * Indiana Jones and the Tomb of the Gods
 * Indiana Jones and the Tomb of the Gods 1