The Germanenorden (Germanic or Teutonic Order) was an

occult The occult () is a category of esoteric or supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of organized religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving a 'hidden' or 'secret' agency, such as magic and mysti ...

ist and '' völkisch''

secret society A secret society is an organization about which the activities, events, inner functioning, or membership are concealed. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence ag ...

in early 20th-century Germany.

History

The Germanenorden was founded in Berlin in 1912 by

Theodor Fritsch Theodor Fritsch (born Emil Theodor Fritsche; 28 October 1852 – 8 September 1933) was a German publisher and journalist. His antisemitic writings did much to influence popular German opinion against Jews in the late 19th and early 20th centur ...

and several prominent German occultists including Philipp Stauff, who held office in the Guido von List Society and

High Armanen Order Ariosophy and Armanism are esoteric ideological systems that were largely developed by Jörg Lanz von Liebenfels and Guido von List, respectively, in Austria between 1890 and 1930. The term 'Ariosophy', which translates to ''wisdom of the Arya ...

as well as Hermann Pohl, who became the Germanenorden's first leader. The order was a clandestine movement that wished to create a small but devoted group and was a sister movement to the more open and mainstream Reichshammerbund. Richard S. Levy, ''Antisemitism: A Historical Encyclopedia of Prejudice and Persecution, Volume 1'', ABC-CLIO, 2005, p. 269 In 1916, during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, the Germanenorden split into two parts. Eberhard von Brockhusen became the Grand Master of the "loyalist" Germanenorden. Pohl, previously the order's Chancellor, founded a schismatic offshoot: the Germanenorden Walvater of the Holy Grail.Thomas 2005. He was joined in the same year by Rudolf von Sebottendorff (formerly Rudolf Glauer), a wealthy adventurer with wide-ranging occult and mystical interests. A Freemason and a practitioner of

Sufism Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

and

astrology Astrology is a range of Divination, divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that propose that information about human affairs and terrestrial events may be discerned by studying the apparent positions ...

, Sebottendorff was also an admirer of

Guido von List Guido Karl Anton List (5 October 1848 – 17 May 1919), better known as Guido von List, was an Austrian occultist, journalist, playwright, and novelist. He expounded a modern Pagan new religious movement known as Wotanism, which he claimed w ...

and Lanz von Liebenfels. Convinced that the Islamic and Germanic mystical systems shared a common

Aryan ''Aryan'' (), or ''Arya'' (borrowed from Sanskrit ''ārya''), Oxford English Dictionary Online 2024, s.v. ''Aryan'' (adj. & n.); ''Arya'' (n.)''.'' is a term originating from the ethno-cultural self-designation of the Indo-Iranians. It stood ...

root, he was attracted by Pohl’s runic lore and became the Master of the Walvater's Bavarian province late in 1917. Charged with reviving the province's fortunes, Sebottendorff increased membership from about a hundred in 1917 to 1,500 by the autumn of the following year. The Munich lodge of the Germanenorden Walvater when it was formally dedicated on August 18, 1918, was given the cover name the Thule Society, which is notable chiefly as the organization that sponsored the Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (DAP), which was later transformed by

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

into the

National Socialist German Workers' Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...

(NSDAP).

Activity

The Germanenorden had a hierarchical fraternal structure based on

Freemasonry 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 ...

. The structure was adopted due to the assumption that Jews engaged in secret organizing, and that it would be best to counter their influence over the German public life by using the same method. The primary concern was to monitor Jewish activity and to be a centre for the distribution of

antisemitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

material. Secondary concerns involved the assistance between members in business and the circulation of ''völkisch'' journals, especially Fritsch's journal ''Hammer''. Applicants were required to prove their Germanic descent, and if they were married also their wife's Germanic descent. Through Bernhard Koerner, Stauff and Brockhusen, the order became imbued with the occult-nationalist ideas of List. Influenced by List's Ariosophy, it adopted a

swastika The swastika (卐 or 卍, ) is a symbol used in various Eurasian religions and cultures, as well as a few Indigenous peoples of Africa, African and Indigenous peoples of the Americas, American cultures. In the Western world, it is widely rec ...

superimposed on a cross as its symbol in 1916. The rituals of the order were influenced by theories about the

Aryan race The Aryan race is a pseudoscientific historical race concepts, historical race concept that emerged in the late-19th century to describe people who descend from the Proto-Indo-Europeans as a Race (human categorization), racial grouping. The ter ...

, Freemasonry and the operas of

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

References

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* {{Authority control Antisemitism in Germany Germanic mysticism Secret societies in Germany Organizations established in 1912 Organizations disestablished in 1934

History

Activity

See also

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