Unicorns and Scorpions


Durango, a northern city known for its rugged landscapes, arid climate and scorpions... hides a secret: a 16th-century unicorn and a story that intertwines art, nazis, and death.


The Creator

Our story begins centuries ago when a Belgian artist created seven tapestries known as “The Hunt of the Unicorn.”  These tapestries, also called gobelins, are renowned for their elaborate designs that tell a captivating tale through its meticulously crafted threads in each delicate detail. 

But what truly enchants the eye? 

It’s the riot of roses that encircle the mythical creatures, their petals unfurling like secrets. And within this rich tapestry, the fine characters, each stitch a testament to patience and artistry. Their forms stretch across the fabric, inviting us into a world where unicorns roam and legends come alive. 

These exquisite gobelins adorned the palaces of Anne of Brittany in the Netherlands. The symbolism portrays the unicorn as Christ, its divinity entwined with the Virgin Mary, seeking refuge. Scholars have suggested that this depiction represents the Annunciation miracle in allegory.

The Gobelins, along with fine works of art, remained in the possession of European inhabitants until the arrival of World War II.

The Nazis 

During World War II, Nazi Germany swept across Europe, pillaging treasures from castles, museums, and homes. Some Nazi officials took the treasures as war loot to decorate the halls of the Nazi party and their homes.

Among these treasures, a gobeline was robbed by Gerhard George Mertins, a Waffen-SS officer. After the war and the Nuremberg trials, Mertins embarked on a new venture: an exporting weapons company, partnering with another Nazi SS officer, Otto Skorzeny. 

With CIA involved, arms trafficking extended to Latin America and the Middle East, and some of their weapons played a role in Operation Condor, the Iranian Revolution, and guerrilla conflicts in Mexico.

In 1984, journalist Manuel Buendía conducted an investigation into the CIA’s connections to arms trafficking, which involved a former Nazi officer named Gerhard Mertins.

image obtained from Gerhard Mertins - Wikispooks 

The assassination of Manuel Buendía

On May 30, 1984, just a few days after publishing his discoveries, Manuel Buendía was assassinated. His death left many questions unanswered and became an emblematic case in the history of journalism in Mexico.

Buendía had consistently pointed to Gerhard Mertins as a former Nazi officer and arms trafficker for guerrilla movements. Although more than 150 people were named as suspects in the murder, the name that stood out in the media was Gerhard George Mertins.

Mertins was the owner of Hacienda La Ferrería in the city of Durango

After the assassination of Manuel Buendía, public attention shifted to the German officer.

Feeling exposed, he fled to New York, leaving the hacienda abandoned. In 1989, it was expropriated by Governor José Ramírez Gamero of Durango, along with all the Mertins’ possessions.

Local residents recount that all the treasures within the hacienda were lost, except for a tapestry whose true value remained unknown.

The unicorn emerges

In 1999, the government of Durango, believed they possessed a valuable reproduction of an ancient artwork. However, the National Institute of Fine Arts of Mexico made a remarkable discovery: this was not just any tapestry; it was the seventh lost gobelin from The Hunt of the Unicorn.

Six of these gobelins reside in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (MET). The seventh, however, remains in Durango, specifically at the former Hacienda La Ferrería, where you can appreciate it as part of the museum’s exhibitions.

a Fun fact about this is that, these gobelins have also made appearances in movies and series such as “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”, “Rick and Morty”, “Some Girls”, and “The Secret Garden”.