Landig Group

The Landig Group () was an occultist and neo- ''völkisch'' group formed in 1950, that first gathered for discussions at the studio of the designer Wilhelm Landig in the Margareten. The circle's most prominent and influential members were Wilhelm Landig (1909–1997), Erich Halik (Claude Schweighardt) and Rudolf J. Mund (1920–1985). The circle has also been referred to as the Landig Circle (''Landig Kreis''), Vienna Group (''Wien Konzern'') and Vienna Lodge (''Wien Lodge'').

Background

Landig was the founder of the group, which has since inspired decades of ''völkisch'' mysticism. He and his group revived the ariosophical, Ario-Germanic mythology of Thule, the supposed polar homeland of the ancient Aryans.

Landig "coined the term Black Sun, a substitute Swastika nd/or Fylfot">Fylfot.html" ;"title="nd/or Fylfot">nd/or Fylfotand mystical source of energy capable of regenerating the Aryan race." Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke. 2002. ''Black Sun (Goodrick-Clarke book), Black Sun: Aryan Cults, Esoteric Nazism and the Politics of Identity''. New York University Press. . (Paperback, 2003. )
Landig, through his circle, popularized esoteric ideas current among the pre-Nazi ''völkisch'' movement and the SS relating to Atlantis, the World Ice Theory, pre-historic floods and secret racial doctrines from Tibet.

Landig and other occult-fascist propagandists have circulated wild stories about German Nazi colonies that live and work in secret installations beneath the polar ice caps, where they developed flying saucers and miracle weapons such as '' Die Glocke'' after the demise of the Third Reich. These stories include the theory that flying saucers were Nazi secret weapons launched from an underground base in Antarctica, from which the Nazis hoped to conquer the world.

The focus of the group's discussions was a secret center in the Arctic known as the Blue Island, which could serve as a source point for a renaissance of traditional life. This idea was taken from Julius Evola, whose '' Revolt Against the Modern World'' became the bible of the Landig group.

More so, or at least equally as important to the group as Evola's book, the Vienna Group hungrily devoured the ideas and books of Herman Wirth.

Wilhelm Landig

Landig was a former SS member who revived the ariosophical mythology of Thule. He was born on 20 December 1909. He wrote the Thule trilogy ''Götzen gegen Thule'' (1971), ''Wolfszeit um Thule'' (1980) and ''Rebellen für Thule – Das Erbe von Atlantis'' (1991). He inspired the idea of the Black Sun, a substitute swastika and mythical source of energy, which was launched in the 1991 novel ''Die Schwarze Sonne von Tashi Lhunpo'' by ghostwriter Russell McCloud.

Continuities

It has been shown that a younger generation continued the development of the circle's ideas from the 1980s on. This younger generation consisted of members of the German/Austrian Tempelhofgesellschaft. Their publications demonstrate an exchange of ideas with the older generation, mainly revolving around the Black Sun concept. After the Tempelhofgesellschaft had been dissolved, it was succeeded by the Causa Nostra, a ''Freundeskreis'' (circle of friends) that remains active.Julian Strube. 2012. "Die Erfindung des esoterischen Nationalsozialismus im Zeichen der Schwarzen Sonne". In: ''Zeitschrift für Religionswissenschaft'', 20(2), 2012: 223-268.

See also

* Black Sun (symbol)
* Occultism in Nazism
* Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke
*Hollow Earth
* Esoteric Nazism
* Nazi archaeology
*
* Thule Society

References

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Culture in Vienna
Germanic mysticism
1950 establishments in Austria