Hans Kammler: The SS Engineer of the Bell Gate

Discover the real history of the vanished SS general Hans Kammler, and his role as the ruthless occult engineer orchestrating the portal project in Resonance Portal Wars.

Archive-style portrait of SS officer Hans Kammler

This archive entry explores early-novel events (Tier A) and separates the historical record of SS General Hans Kammler from his depiction as an occult engineer in Mike Rawson’s Resonance Portal Wars.

What really happened: The vanishing general

Historically, Hans Kammler was one of the most powerful and secretive figures in the SS. An engineer by trade, he rose rapidly through the Nazi hierarchy, eventually taking charge of the Reich's secret weapons programmes. He oversaw the production of the V-2 rocket and the construction of massive underground facilities, most notably Project Riese in the Owl Mountains of occupied Poland. He was notoriously brutal, heavily exploiting concentration camp labour with zero regard for human life to achieve his engineering goals.

At the end of the war, Kammler vanished. His fate remains one of the greatest unresolved mysteries of the Second World War. Several conflicting accounts exist regarding his death in May 1945—some claim suicide, others suggest he was killed by his aide during a firefight with Czech partisans. Meanwhile, conspiracy theorists have long argued that Kammler surrendered to the Americans, taking his advanced aerospace technology and occult blueprints with him in exchange for immunity.

In history, he is a dark shadow. In the novel, Kammler’s engineering brilliance and boundless ambition make him the architect of a cosmic war.

In the novel: The ice and the alien engine

The novel introduces Kammler in early 1939, accompanying Captain Alfred Ritscher and Dr Ernst Herrmann on the German Neuschwabenland expedition to Antarctica. Operating under Heinrich Himmler’s orders to seek out ancient power, Kammler supervises the excavation of a smooth, obsidian-like saucer buried deep beneath the ice.

The vessel’s core is powered by an impossibly dense, copper-gold crystal that scientists later designate as Element 115. The men who cut the ship free are devastated by the crystal's proximity. Technicians suffer crushing migraines, experience split vision, and awake screaming in unknown tongues. Dr Herrmann attempts to halt the work, warning of severe neurological interference.

Kammler ignores him. When he places his gloved hand against the crystal, he feels a sharp electric pain crawl up his spine, but his mind does not break. Instead, the resonance sharpens his intellect.

"They called it radiation. Kammler called it progress. Herrmann began to record a pattern: Prolonged proximity induced fatigue, nausea, hallucinations. But not for Kammler. He seemed sharper. Stronger. He lingered beside the craft for hours. And that terrified the men most of all."

He leaves Antarctica convinced that the Third Reich has been handed the key to eternity.

The street boy’s resentment

Kammler’s ruthlessness is born of a deep-seated chip on his shoulder. Unlike the old Prussian military families and the aristocrats who dominate the German high command, Kammler considers himself a "street boy" who clawed his way to power through competence and sheer force of will.

"He saw the way they deliberately mispronounced his name, the aristocrats who looked down on him. He would prove how far he could go."

He is guided by a cold philosophy instilled by his father: "Compassion is weakness wearing the mask of duty." This sociopathic clarity hardens him against the suffering of the camp labourers he exhausts to construct the underground labyrinth of Project Riese.

Kammler also hides a secret from his superiors. He keeps a fragment of Element 115 on a chain around his neck. The hidden pendant hums against his chest, feeding his ego. He begins to view Himmler and even Adolf Hitler not as supreme authorities, but as mere stepping stones for his own ascension. Kammler frequently mutters, "No fate but what we make," determined to rewrite the laws of physics and history alike.

Project Riese and the Wenceslaus portal

By 1943, deep within the Wenceslaus Mine, Kammler oversees the operation of Die Glocke—the Bell. Powered by a swirling substance known as red mercury and amplified by Element 115, the ceramic-encased machine glows with a violent crimson and violet plasma. As it levitates, the intense gravitational field rips a tear in the fabric of space, opening a portal to the dying world of Ilyndor.

Kammler establishes the protocols for transit, dictating an eight-minute window for his SS commandos to explore the alien terrain, a limit verified by sending a canary through the rift. He watches with cold fascination when the portal first stabilises and violently spits out an invading orc warrior.

As the seven-foot brute cleaves through the laboratory technicians with a war axe, Kammler does not panic. He calmly orders his guards to focus their fire. Once the orc is riddled with bullets and dragging itself across the blood-slicked stone in a final attempt to reach him, Kammler smoothly draws his Luger. He fires point-blank into the creature’s skull, executing the beast with mechanical precision. Staring at the carnage, he smiles, knowing he has finally found the absolute power he craves.

The shaman and the slug

The reckless opening of portals across the fractured leylines draws the ire of Ilyndor's inhabitants. Balfur Skullrend, an ancient orc shaman, opens her own gate directly into Kammler’s underground laboratory. She brings Durgar and a pack of massive Grimfangs, immediately slaughtering the remaining scientists and guards.

When Kammler arrives at the blood-soaked laboratory, he surveys the carnage without blinking. The towering Alpha Grimfang, Flaget, paces before him, sniffing the air, but Kammler refuses to show fear. Balfur demands to speak with him, offering a writhing, black Resonance slug to facilitate translation.

Without hesitation, Kammler takes the vile creature and presses it into his ear. He absorbs the sharp harmonic shock as the magic burrows into his nervous system, translating the shaman's thoughts directly into German. He lies smoothly to Balfur, claiming his commandos were merely "explorers," and quickly recognises that the orc seeks his portal technology just as he seeks her world's raw magic.

This tense exchange lays the foundation for a deeply unstable alliance. Kammler provides the steel, and Balfur provides the magical grounding required to stabilise the rift.

The watcher in the dark

Yet Kammler’s connection to Element 115 triggers vivid dreams and a chilling sense of déjà vu. In his sleep, he sees a vast, mathematical lattice spanning the cosmos, and the alien symbol—a triangle enclosing a single eye—etched onto the hull of the Antarctic craft. The symbol feels uncomfortably familiar, as though it has been watching him his entire life.

Who originally buried the crystal in the ice, and why? Is Kammler truly mastering this cosmic energy to build a thousand-planet Reich, or is the brilliant engineer being manipulated by rival intelligences far older than humanity?

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Frequently asked

Was Hans Kammler a real person?

Yes, Hans Kammler was a high-ranking SS civil engineer who oversaw Nazi Germany's secret weapons programmes and underground facilities. He disappeared in May 1945, which sparked decades of historical speculation.

What is Kammler's role in Resonance Portal Wars?

In the novel, Kammler is the architect of the Bell Gate project. He uses an alien crystal discovered in Antarctica to power an experimental machine, ripping a gateway into the magical world of Ilyndor.

Why does Kammler ally with the orcs?

Recognising the military potential of Ilyndor's raw magic, Kammler negotiates a fragile pact with an orc shaman. He aims to exploit her world's resources to build a thousand-planet Reich.

What happens to Kammler when he handles Element 115?

Unlike other scientists who suffer debilitating sickness and hallucinations, Kammler finds his mind sharpened. He secretly keeps a fragment of the crystal, which feeds his ambition and triggers strange cosmic visions.