Jörg Lanz von Liebenfels 1

Jörg Lanz von Liebenfels

Jörg Lanz von Liebenfels.

Adolf Josef Lanz aka Jörg Lanz, who called himself Lanz vonLiebenfels (July 19, 1874 – April 22, 1954) was an Austrian publicistand journalist. He was a former monk and the founder of the magazineOstara, in which he published anti-semitic and völkisch theories.

Early life

He was born on July 19, 1874 in the Penzing district of Vienna in whatwas then Austria-Hungary, as the son of schoolmaster Johann Lanz andhis wife Katharina, née Hoffenreich. His parents were middle class,and his father's ancestors had been burghers in Vienna since the early18th century.

Lanz became a monk in the Cistercian order in 1893, assuming thename Georg and living in the Heiligenkreuz monastery. In 1894, heclaimed to have been "enlightened" after finding the tombstone of aKnight Templar, and began developing his theories of "blue-blondaryanism" and "lower races". He left the monastery in 1899; althoughLanz claimed that this was due to "growing nervousness", the officialdocuments recorded "carnal love" as the reason.

Work with TheozoologyIn 1904, he published his book Theozoologie ("Theozoology") in which he advocated sterilization of the sick and the"lower races" as well as forced labour for "castrated chandals", and glorified the "Aryan race" as "Gottmenschen"("god-men"). Theozoology could also be classified as a work encompassing what has now come to be calledcryptozoology. Lanz justified his neognostic racial ideology by attempting to give it a Biblical foundation; accordingto him, Eve, whom he described as initially being divine, involved herself with a demon and gave birth to the "lowerraces" in the process. Furthermore, he claimed that this led to blonde women being attracted primarily to "dark men",something that only could be stopped by "racial demixing" so that the "Aryan-Christian master humans" could "onceagain rule the dark-skinned beastmen" and ultimately achieve "divinity". A copy of this book was sent to Swedishpoet August Strindberg, from whom Lanz received an enthusiastic reply in which he was described as a "propheticvoice".One year later, in 1905, he founded the magazine Ostara, Briefbücherei der Blonden und Mannesrechtler, of whichhe became the sole author and editor in 1908. Lanz himself claimed to have up to 100,000 subscribers, but it isgenerally agreed that this figure is grossly exaggerated. Readers of this publication included Adolf Hitler andDietrich Eckart, among others. Lanz claimed he was once visited by the young Hitler, whom he supplied with twomissing issues of the magazine.As a student of Guido von List, Lanz further expanded his theories; other influences included Otto Weininger, ofwhom Lanz was a fervent follower.

Jörg Lanz von Liebenfels 2

Interactions with Aryan societiesIn 1905 Lanz and some 50 other supporters of List signed a declaration endorsing the proposedGuido-von-List-Gesellschaft (Guido von List Society), which was officially founded in 1908. He also founded hisown esoteric organisation, the Ordo Novi Templi (Order of the New Templars) in 1907. These movements weresupposed to "further the racial self-confidence by doing pedigree and racial research, beauty contests and thefounding of racist "future sites" in underdeveloped parts of the Earth" ("das Rassebewusstsein durch Stammbaum-und Rassekundeforschung, Schönheitswettbewerbe und die Gründung rassistischer Zukunftsstätten inunterentwickelten Teilen der Erde zu fördern"). To further this agenda, he purchased the Werfenstein castle ruins inAustria. Neither organization really managed to attract a large member base, though; it is estimated that the orderhad around 300 members, the most prominent of which was the poet Fritz von Herzmanovsky-Orlando. Lanz's claimthat the organization was already founded prior to 1900, and that he met with August Strindberg in 1896 andmanaged to convince him to join the order, have been shown to be fabricated.After Hitler's rise to prominence in the 1920s, Lanz tried to be recognized as one of his ideological precursors. In thepreface of issue one in the 3. series of Ostara, c. 1927, he wrote:

“One shall remember that the swastika- and fascist movements are basically offspring of Ostara.[1]”After Austria was annexed by Nazi Germany in 1938, Lanz hoped for Hitler's patronage, but Hitler, embarrassed bythis early connection, banned him from publishing his writings. Most notably copies of Ostara were removed fromcirculation. After the war, Lanz accused Hitler of having not only stolen but corrupted his idea, and also of being of"inferior racial stock".There is no strong scholarly consensus as to whether Hitler was significantly influenced, directly or indirectly, byLiebenfels' work, and no strong evidence that he was interested in the occult movement as a whole apart from itsracial aspects, though the association has been repeatedly made by critics and occultists during and after the ThirdReich.

PublicationsIn his publications, Lanz mixed völkisch and anti-semitic ideas with Aryanism, racism and esotericism. Thefollowing is a partial list of Lanz's publications:• Katholizismus wider Jesuitismus ("Catholicism versus Jesuitism"), Frankfurt, 1903• Anthropozoon biblicum, in Vjschr. für Bibelkunde 1, 1903/1904• Zur Theologie der gotischen Bibel ("Regarding the Theology of the Gothic Bible") in Vjschr. für Bibelkunde 1,

1903/1904• Theozoologie oder die Kunde von den Sodoms-Äfflingen und dem Götter-Elektron ("Theozoology, or the Account

of the Sodomite Apelings and the Divine Electron"), Vienna, (1905)• Das Breve "Dominus ac redemptor noster", Frankfurt, 1905• Der Taxilschwindel. Ein welthistorischer Ulk, Frankfurt, 1905• Ostara (magazine), 89 issues, Rodaun and Mödling, 1905-1917 (38 issues were republished in Vienna between

1926 and 1931)• Kraus und das Rassenproblem ("Kraus and the Race Problem"), in Der Brenner 4, 1913/1914• Weltende und Weltwende, ("World's End and World's Turn"), Lorch, 1923• Grundriss der ariosophischen Geheimlehre ("Outline of the Ariosophic Secret Teachings"), Oestrich, 1925• Der Weltkrieg als Rassenkampf der Dunklen gegen die Blonden ("The World War as a Race Fight Between the

Dark and the Blondes"), Vienna, 1927

Jörg Lanz von Liebenfels 3

• Bibliomystikon oder die Geheimbibel der Eingeweihten ("Bibliomystikon, or the Secret Bible of the Initiated"), 10volumes, Pforzheim and elsewhere, 1929–1934

• Praktisch-empirisches Handbuch der ariosophischen Astrologie ("Practical-empirical Handbook of AriosophicAstrology"), Düsseldorf, 1926–1934

• Jakob Lorber. Das grösste ariosophische Medium der Neuzeit, Düsseldorf, 1926, 4 Bänden.

Further reading• For a relatively unbiased scholarly English account of Lanz see Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke's The Occult Roots of

Nazism p. 90-122.• Joachim C. Fest, Hitler, p. 169f, 175f• Ekkehard Hieronimus: Lanz von Liebenfels. Eine Biographie, Toppenstedt, 1991• Anton Maegerle, Peter Paul Heller: Thule. Vom völkischen Okkultismus bis zur Neuen Rechten, Stuttgart, 1995.• Wilfried Daim: Der Mann, der Hitler die Ideen gab, 1. Edition 1957, 2. rev. ed. 1985, 3.rev.ed.1994

References[1] Ostara, III, 1; p.3 (http:/ / www. archive. org/ details/ UnknownOstara152ndSeries)

External links• Complete text of Lanz von Liebenfels' Theozoology or the science of the Sodomite Apelings and the Divine

Electron in English at archive.org (http:/ / www. archive. org/ details/ EuropaHouseTheozoology)• Complete text of Lanz von Liebenfels' Theozoology or the science of the Sodomite Apelings and the Divine

Electron in German at archive.org (http:/ / www. archive. org/ details/ Theozoology_0)• Das Buch des Psalmen Teutch "The Book of the Teutonic Psalms" by Lanz von Liebenfels at archive.org. In

German (http:/ / www. archive. org/ details/ DasBuchdesPsalmenTeutch)

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Article Sources and ContributorsJörg Lanz von Liebenfels  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=451819931  Contributors: Adam Bishop, Amarkov, Andreasmperu, AnonMoos, Aristophanes68, ArthurWarrington Thomas, B00P, Battlefield, Bearingbreaker92, Belovedfreak, Bloodofox, Britans, CaseInPoint, Catgut, CatherineMunro, Chris 73, CommonsDelinker, Danny, Dbachmann, Docu,Dudeman5685, Finn-Zoltan, Fredrik, Gabbe, Gnostrat, GossamerBliss, Gurch, Hadal, IZAK, Ian Pitchford, Ikiroid, Ilario, JaGa, John Smythe, KF, La goutte de pluie, Leandrod, LeonardoRob0t,Lightmouse, Magnus Manske, Maicek, Monegasque, Necrothesp, NickelShoe, Nono64, Paul Barlow, Richard Arthur Norton (1958- ), Sam Spade, Schneelocke, ShelfSkewed, Stereotek, Stifle,Str1977, Studerby, Sukkoth Qulmos, The machine512, Timrollpickering, Treybien, Trigaranus, User421, Vistago, Volunteer Marek, Willyrobinson, Woohookitty, Yopie, Zara1709, 红卫兵, 36anonymous edits

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