Germany and Austria have spawned many movements and practices in Western esotericism, including Rosicrucianism, Theosophy, Anthroposophy and Ariosophy, among others.
Early Esotericism
Knights Templar and Freemasonry The original Knights Templar, founded around 1119, had been a crusading military order, that, at some time, had established financial networks across the whole of Christendom. In 1307, King Philip IV of France mounted a "slanderous campaign"Goodrick-Clarke 1985: 60 to strip the Order of its economic and political influence. The Templars were accused of Satanic practices, perversions and blasphemy and ruthlessly suppressed; Its leaders were burned on March 18, 1314. The circumstances of their suppression gave rise to legends surrounding the Knights Templar. In Germany, "where the growth of deviant Masonic rites was greatest,"Goodrick-Clarke 1985: 61 the Templar heritage was adopted for irregular Freemasonry. (Freemasonry had been officially founded in England in 1717.)
The idea of chivalric Freemasonry first occurred ca. 1737 in France.Goodrick-Clarke 1985: 61 In 1775, Baron Gotthelf von Hund (1722–76) founded the Order of Strict Observance, claiming the possession of secret Templar documents which allegedly prove that his order represented the legal Templar succession.Goodrick-Clarke 1985: 61
Rosicrucianism In the 17th century and 18th century, Rosicrucian ideas flourished in varying degrees. Rosicrucianism goes back to the beginning of the 17th century, when three works by Johann Valentin Andreae were printed at Kassel.Goodrick-Clarke 1985: 58, 59 One of these works, the Chymische Hochzeit, appears to be an alchemical tract, while the other two (for which the authorship of Valentin Andreae is not finally proven) announce the existence of the Rosicrucian Order, which desires a "universal and general reformation of the whole world". Putatively this order was founded by Christian Rosenkreutz, who is supposed to have lived from 1378 to 1484.
In either 1747 or 1757, a quasi-masonic Rosicrucian order of the name Gold- und Rosenkreuz was founded in Berlin, having a 9-grade hierarchy based on the cabalistic Tree of Life; This organisation included King Frederick William II of Prussia and Johann Christoph von WöllnerGerman Wikipedia: Johann Christoph von Wöllner as members.Goodrick-Clarke 1985: 59
German occult revival, 1880–1910
Theosophy The first German Theosophical Society was established in July 1884, under the presidency of Wilhelm Hübbe-Schleiden,Goodrick-Clarke 1985: 23 a conservative German nationalist turned spiritual seeker who sought to establish Theosophy on a "scientific" basis.Corinna Treitel, A Science for the Soul, , Chapter 4 Between 1886 and 1895 Hübbe-Schleiden published the monthly periodical Die Sphinx.German Wikipedia: Sphinx magazinehttp://www.austheos.org.au/indices/SPHINXHU.HTM Table of contents to the Sphinx magazine In Vienna, a Theosophical Society was founded in 1887, its president was Friedrich Eckstein.German Wikipedia: :de:Friedrich EcksteinGoodrick-Clarke 1985: 28 Among his circle at this time Franz Hartmann, a leader of Theosophical work who emphasized personal spiritual experience, and the young Rudolf Steiner were members. A German Theosophical Society, as a branch of the International Theosophical Brotherhood, then was established in 1896 when the American Theosophists around William Quan Judge, Katherine Tingley, E. T. Hargrove and C. F. Wright travelled through Europe.Goodrick-Clarke 1985: 25, 26 Its president was Franz Hartmann, who also founded a Theosophical lay-monastery at Ascona in 1889.Goodrick-Clarke 1985: 24, 25 His periodical Lotusblüten (Lotus Blossoms, 1892–1900) was the first German publication to use the Theosophical swastika on its cover.
Hartmann's example provided the impetus for Paul Zillmann to found the Metaphysische Rundschau (Metaphysical Review) in 1896.
Rudolf Steiner was made general secretary of the German Theosophical Society in 1902. Steiner, who was seeking to develop an esoteric path suitable for the modern era, and professed commitment to scientific methodology, was yet oriented towards awakening spiritual experiences in each individual rather than depending upon authorities or gurus. He published Luzifer at Berlin from 1903 to 1908.
In Vienna, there also existed an Association for Occultism, connected to a person called Philipp Maschlufsky. From 1903 he published a periodical called Die Gnosis, that was later absorbed by Rudolf Steiner's periodical Luzifer, and renamed Lucifer-Gnosis.German Wikipedia: :de:Lucifer-Gnosis
"It may have been a desire to counter Steiner's influence in the occult subculture which led Hartmann to encourage the publication of several new periodicals."Goodrick-Clarke 1985: 27 A Theosophical Publishing House was established by Hugo Vollrath in Leipzig in 1906. Among the magazines published there was Prana (1909–19), initially edited by Karl Brandler-Pracht and later edited by Johannes Balzli. Before that, a publisher with the name Wilhelm Friedrich had already published the works of Hartmann and Hübbe-Schleiden, as well as translations of the English Theosophists at Leipzig.Goodrick-Clarke 1985: 27, 51, 52 Wilhelm Friedrich had also published the occult works of Max Ferdinand Sebaldt von Werth (1859–1916). Initially, this author had collaborated with Moritz von EgidyGerman Wikipedia: Moritz von Egidy on the periodical Das angewande Christentum (Applied Christianity), but later he wrote volumes on "the sexual-religion of the Aryans", thus, in the opinion of Goodrick-Clarke, anticipating Ariososophy.Goodrick-Clarke 1985: 51
Anthroposophy From 1907 (at latest), tensions between Rudolf Steiner and the Theosophical Society grew steadily. In 1912, Rudolf Steiner broke away to found Anthroposophy. There were two causes of the break; Steiner's European and Christian orientation had long been distinct from the hinduistic interest of the theosophists under the leadership of Annie Besant. More immediately, Steiner publicly distanced himself from Besant's promotion of Jiddu Krishnamurti as a supposed new messiah. Steiner and a group of prominent German Theosophists officially founded the Anthroposophical Society in December 1913, the vast majority of the German membership of the Theosophical Society following them into the new group; the breakaways were excluded from the Theosophical Society in January 1914.
Guido von List and Jörg Lanz von Liebenfels
Living in Vienna, Guido (von) List (1848–1919) had been active as journalist and writer. After he turned to esotericism, he became the first popular author to combine völkisch ideology and occultism into the type of esoteric doctrine that is now collectively labelled Ariosophy.Goodrick-Clarke 1985: 35. In September 1903 the occult periodical Die Gnosis (see above) included an article by List, in which he, referring Sebaldt von Werth, started to articulate "a Germanic occult religion".Goodrick-Clarke 1985: 41, 52. In the following decade, List continued to work on this topic, also making references to the works of Madame Blavatsky and William Scott-Elliot.Goodrick-Clarke 1985: 52. In his concept of Armanism, the religion of the theocratic elite in his image of the ancient Germanic past, List borrowed material from Freemasonry and Rosicrucianism.Goodrick-Clarke 1985: 57. Since his manuscript, proposing the research into the runes by the "means of occult insight", was rejected from the Imperial Academie of Sciences in Vienna, the supporters of List formed a List Society (Guido-von-List-Gesellschaft) to finance his research. The Society was founded officially on 2 March 1908. Its members included völkisch authors as well as occultists (for example Franz Hartmann and the complete membership of the Vienna Theosophical Society). Some inner members of the List Society participated in the activities of the Hoher Armanen-Orden (High Armanen-Order).Goodrick-Clarke 1985: 46. This order, however, achieved no significance as a lodge-like organisation.
Jörg Lanz (von Liebenfels) (1874–1954) had been a cistercian monk between 1893 and 1899. In 1903 he published a long article "Anthropozoon biblicum" in the Vierteljahrsschrift für Bibelkunde, a periodical for biblical research.Goodrick-Clarke 1985: 93, 275 By 1905 his studies in this direction had cumulated into the book Theozoologie, a "strange amalgam" of traditional Judaeo-Christian sources and contemporary life-sciences.Goodrick-Clarke 1985: 94 Among other things, Lanz proposed a "frequently obscene and always radical" interpretation of the Bible, according to which it had been the purpose of the Old Testament to warn the Aryan race against interbreeding with Pygmies.Goodrick-Clarke 1985: 94, 96 In 1905 Lanz also established his own magazine, Ostara. One of the few other contributors to this magazine beside Lanz himself was the Theosophist Harald Grävell von Jostenoode (1856–1932), who also edited one number of Lotusblüten.Goodrick-Clarke 1985: 100
Astrology Among the Theosophists, astrology enjoyed a revival.Goodrick-Clarke 1985: 84, 103 Astrological texts by Karl Brandler-Pracht, Otto Pöllner, Ernst Tiede, and Albert Knief appeared at the Theosophical Publishing House at Leipzig.Goodrick-Clarke 1985: 103 Karl Brandler-Pracht had also founded the First Viennese Astrological Society in 1907.Goodrick-Clarke 1985: 29 Erik Jan Hanussen, who later would become the most famous clairvoyant in Germany and Austria, gave his first occult session with E. K. Hermann in Vienna in 1911.Markus Kompa (with the collaboration of Wilfried Kugel): Erik Jan Hanussen - Hokus-Pokus-Tausendsassa; Telepolis, 24 March 2008
Other developments The German and Vienna occult subculture was well developed before the First World War. Aside from the developments mentioned above, there are some more of interest:
"The Ordo Templi Orientis (OTO) originated in the irregular masonic activities of Theodor Reuss, Franz Hartmann, and Karl Kellner between 1895 and 1906." Theodor Reuss had been in contact with William Wescott, a founding member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.
Ernst Wachler was a völkisch author (he supported the Guido von List Society) who had founded an open-air Germanic theatre in the Harz mountains.Goodrick-Clarke 1985: 43 This theatre, called Green Stage (Grüne Bühne), was closed in 1937.German Wikipedia: Bergtheater Thale
The Germanische Glaubens-Gemeinschaft, founded in 1907, is claimed by current Germanic Neopaganism groups as predecessor. It was founded and led by the painter Ludwig Fahrenkrog. Since 1908, the group used the swastika as its symbol. After 1938 the use of the swastika became prohibited and the group was no longer allowed to hold public meetings. However, unlike many other esoteric groups in Nazi Germany, the GGG was not forced to disband, partly "because of Fahrenkrog's international status as an artist."Marcus Wolff, "Ludwig Fahrenkrog and the Germanic Faith Community: Wodan Triumphant" in Tyr: Myth—Culture—Tradition, Ultra 2004
Interbellum Weimar Republic
Ariosophy, Ordo Novi Templi, and Lumenclub