Bruno Schweizer

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Schweizer in a 1940 photograph

Bruno Schweizer (May 3, 1897 – 1958) was a German linguist, best-known for his work with the Nazi Ahnenerbe division.

Schweizer was a personal believer in the theory that a Germanic Langobard stronghold in northeaster Italy gave rise to the Cymbrians, during the Middle Ages until it fell in 774.

On March 10, 1938, Schweizer organized an Ahnenerbe-sponsored expedition to Iceland, hoping to discover shrines to the Norse gods Odin or Thor. During the expedition later that year, he sent back correspondence to Heinrich Himmler complaining that the Icelandic people had abandoned traditional crafts such as forging, wood-carving, spinning, weaving and dyeing; and that they had also forgotten their traditional myths and legends, thus losing belief in the ‘transcendent nature’ that the Ahnenerbe held dearly to. The mission was eventually aborted, citing uncooperative Icelandic government officials who restricted access to certain locations.