Frederick (Friedrich) Eckstein (February 17, 1861 in

Perchtoldsdorf Perchtoldsdorf (; colloquially ''Petersdorf'') is a market town in the Mödling District, in the Austrian state of Lower Austria. It is known chiefly for its winemaking. Geography It is located immediately at the Vienna city limits, south of the ...

Lower Austria Lower Austria ( , , abbreviated LA or NÖ) is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Major cities are Amstetten, Lower Austria, Amstetten, Krems an der Donau, Wiener Neustadt and Sankt Pölten, which ...

– November 10, 1939 in Vienna) was an Austrian

polymath A polymath or polyhistor is an individual whose knowledge spans many different subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific problems. Polymaths often prefer a specific context in which to explain their knowledge, ...

theosophist Theosophy is a religious movement established in the United States in the late 19th century. Founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and based largely on her writings, it draws heavily from both older European philosophies such as Neo ...

and a friend and temporary co-worker of

Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud ( ; ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating psychopathology, pathologies seen as originating fro ...

. Emil Molt states: 'He was the benefactor of Bruckner and Hugo Wolf, indeed the right arm of Bruckner, taking care that affairs went smoothly. He was a world traveller, had mastered

Ju-jitsu Jujutsu ( , or ), also known as jiu-jitsu and ju-jitsu (both ), is a Japanese martial art and a system of close combat that can be used in a defensive or offensive manner to kill or subdue one or more weaponless or armed and armored opponent ...

and taught himself all sorts of difficult tricks. The story went around that he had trained himself to jump off a fast moving train without getting hurt. He too, was a highly gifted mathematician and a learned man in many respects.' Also the husband of fellow theosophist and writer Bertha Diener, Eckstein's penchant for occultism first became evident as a member of a

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...

group which discussed the doctrines of

Pythagoras Pythagoras of Samos (; BC) was an ancient Ionian Greek philosopher, polymath, and the eponymous founder of Pythagoreanism. His political and religious teachings were well known in Magna Graecia and influenced the philosophies of P ...

and the Neo-Platonists in Vienna at the end of the 1870s. His esoteric interests later extended to German and Spanish mysticism, the legends surrounding the

Templars The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, mainly known as the Knights Templar, was a military order of the Catholic faith, and one of the most important military orders in Western Christianity. They were founded in 11 ...

and the

freemasons Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

, Wagnerian mythology and Eastern religions. In 1889, in the week after the tragedy at

Mayerling Mayerling is a small village (pop. 200) in Lower Austria belonging to the municipality of Alland in the district of Baden (district of Austria), Baden. It is situated on the Schwechat river, in the Vienna Woods, Wienerwald (''Vienna woods''), so ...

, in which

Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria (Rudolf Franz Karl Josef; 21 August 1858 – 30 January 1889) was the only son and third child of Emperor Franz Joseph I and Empress Elisabeth of Austria. He was heir apparent to the imperial throne of the Austro ...

, and his mistress were found dead in mysterious circumstances, he and his friend, the composer

Anton Bruckner Joseph Anton Bruckner (; ; 4 September 182411 October 1896) was an Austrian composer and organist best known for his Symphonies by Anton Bruckner, symphonies and sacred music, which includes List of masses by Anton Bruckner, Masses, Te Deum (Br ...

(for whom he also served as private secretary) traveled to the monastery

Stift Heiligenkreuz Heiligenkreuz Abbey () is a Cistercian monastery in the village of Heiligenkreuz in the southern part of the Vienna woods, c. 13 km north-west of Baden in Lower Austria. It is the oldest continuously occupied Cistercian monastery in the worl ...

to ask the abbot there for details of what happened. Eckstein was introduced to Theosophy by Franz Hartmann. In June 1886, he received a deed of foundation for the Vienna Lodge of the Theosophical Society personally signed by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky. In 1887, he thus founded the first official lodge of this society in Austria, of which he became president. He was friends with Gustav Meyrink and associated with the Theosophist Henry Steel Olcott and, until he left Vienna, with Rudolf Steiner. The latter held him in high esteem personally and spent time with Marie Lang in the circle of Theosophists around 1890, but then rejected Theosophy as "weak-mindedness". Eckstein's book on Anton Bruckner was published in 1923.''Erinnerungen an Anton Bruckner'' by Friedrich Eckstein, 1923, republished by Severus, 2013

References

Emil Molt 'The life and times of Rudolf Steiner' 1861 births 1939 deaths 19th-century Austrian writers Austrian Jews Austrian Theosophists Austrian esotericists Austrian male writers Mystics People from Mödling District Sigmund Freud {{Jewish-hist-stub