Guido von List
Encyclopedia
Austrian German
Austrian German , or Austrian Standard German, is the national standard variety of the German language spoken in Austria and in the autonomous Province of South Tyrol...
(Viennese) poet, journalist, writer, businessman and dealer of leather goods, mountaineer, hiker, dramatist, playwright, and rower, but was most notable as an occult
Occult
The word occult comes from the Latin word occultus , referring to "knowledge of the hidden". In the medical sense it is used to refer to a structure or process that is hidden, e.g...
ist and völkisch
Völkisch movement
The volkisch movement is the German interpretation of the populist movement, with a romantic focus on folklore and the "organic"...
author who is seen as one of the most important figures in Germanic revivalism
Germanic neopaganism
Germanic neopaganism is the contemporary revival of historical Germanic paganism. Precursor movements appeared in the early 20th century in Germany and Austria. A second wave of revival began in the early 1970s...
, Germanic mysticism
Germanic mysticism
Germanic mysticism or Germanic occultism may refer to* Ariosophy* more generally, various schools of Esotericism in Germany and Austria* various modern systems of runic magic...
, Runic Revivalism and Runosophy in the late 19th century and early 20th century, and continues to be so today.
He is the author of Das Geheimnis der Runen
Das Geheimnis der Runen
Das Geheimnis der Runen is a book by Austrian mystic Guido von List, in which he presents his "Armanen Futharkh".It appeared as a periodical article in 1906, and as a standalone publication in 1908.-Contents:...
(The Secret of the Runes), which is a detailed study of the Armanen Futharkh, his intellectual world-view (as realised in the years between 1902 and 1908), an introduction to the rest of his work and is widely regarded as the pioneering work of Runology
Runology
Runology is the study of the Runic alphabets, Runic inscriptions and their history. Runology forms a specialized branch of Germanic linguistics.-History:...
in modern occultism.
Biography
Guido von List was born in ViennaVienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
in the Austrian Empire
Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire was a modern era successor empire, which was centered on what is today's Austria and which officially lasted from 1804 to 1867. It was followed by the Empire of Austria-Hungary, whose proclamation was a diplomatic move that elevated Hungary's status within the Austrian Empire...
to Karl Anton List, a prosperous middle class leather goods dealer, and Maria List (née
NEE
NEE is a political protest group whose goal was to provide an alternative for voters who are unhappy with all political parties at hand in Belgium, where voting is compulsory.The NEE party was founded in 2005 in Antwerp...
Killian). He grew up in the Leopoldstadt
Leopoldstadt
Leopoldstadt is the 2nd municipal District of Vienna . There are inhabitants over . It is situated in the heart of the city and, together with Brigittenau , forms a large island surrounded by the Danube Canal and, to the north, the Danube. It is named after Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor...
district of Vienna. Like the majority of his fellow Austrians at that time, his family was Roman Catholic, and he was christened "Guido Anton List" as an infant in St Peter's Church
Peterskirche, Vienna
St. Peter's Church is a Baroque Roman Catholic parish church in Vienna, Austria. It was transferred in 1970 by the Archbishop of Vienna Franz Cardinal König to the priests of the Opus Dei.-The first church:...
in Vienna on October 8, 1848.
In 1862 a visit to the catacombs beneath the Stephansdom
Stephansdom
St. Stephen's Cathedral is the mother church of the Archdiocese of Vienna and the seat of the Archbishop of Vienna, Christoph Cardinal Schönborn, OP...
(St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna) made a deep impression, and List regarded the catacombs as a pagan
Paganism
Paganism is a blanket term, typically used to refer to non-Abrahamic, indigenous polytheistic religious traditions....
shrine. As an adult he claimed he had then sworn to build a temple to Wotan
Odin
Odin is a major god in Norse mythology and the ruler of Asgard. Homologous with the Anglo-Saxon "Wōden" and the Old High German "Wotan", the name is descended from Proto-Germanic "*Wodanaz" or "*Wōđanaz"....
when he grew up. This he recounted in volume 2 (page 592-593) of his book Deutsch-Mythologische Landschaftsbilder
Deutsch-Mythologische Landschaftsbilder
Deutsch-Mythologische Landschaftsbilder is a two-volume book by Guido von List published in 1891. Its English translation is German Mythological Landscape Scenes....
:
His father died in 1877 when List was 29 years old. It appears that neither he nor his mother had his father's keen sense of business, and as economic times became difficult List quit the family business to devote himself full time to his writing, at this time still of a journalistic kind.
During this time List wrote articles for newspapers, such as the Neue Welt
Neue Welt
The Neue Welt is a sub-district of Münchenstein, in the canton of Basel-Country in Switzerland.-Geographical location:The geographical area called the Neue Welt evolved in the 17th century as the industry started establishing itself around the upper end of the "St. Alban-Teich". This is a canal,...
(New World), Neue deutsche Alpenzeitung (New German Alpine Newspaper), Heimat
Heimat
Heimat is a German word that has no simple English translation. It is often expressed with terms such as home or homeland, but these English counterparts fail to encapsulate the true meaning of the word.-The meaning of Heimat:...
(Homeland), and the Deutsche Zeitung (German Newspaper), which dealt with his earlier travels and mystical reflections on the Loci (land spirits). Many of these written newspaper articles were anthologised in 1891 in his famous Deutsch-Mythologische Landschaftsbilder
Deutsch-Mythologische Landschaftsbilder
Deutsch-Mythologische Landschaftsbilder is a two-volume book by Guido von List published in 1891. Its English translation is German Mythological Landscape Scenes....
. He also had articles appear in the Leipziger Illustrierte Zeitung and on a regular basis in the newspaper Ostdeutsche Rundschau (East German Review), owned by the powerful publicist and parliamentary deputy Karl Heinrich Wolf. At this time he also came to know well Georg von Schönerer, a leading political figure and Pan-German
German nationalism in Austria
German nationalism is a political ideology and a current in Austrian politics. It has its origins in the German National Movement of the 19th century, a nationalist movement of the German-speaking population in the Austro-Hungarian Empire and had striven for a closer connection of the...
member of the Imperial Parliament.
He also had many articles appear in periodicals such as Laufers Allgemeine Kunst-Chronik, Der Sammler, Das Zwanzigste Jahrhundert, Die Gnosis, Der Deutsche, Neue Metaphysische Rundschau, Die Nornen, Österreichische Illustrierte Rundschau and Johannes Balzli
Johannes Balzli
Johannes Hans Balzli, more commonly known as Johannes Balzli, was an Austrian/German author, newspaper editor, Theosophist and Armanist, most notable for his biography of Guido von List, entitled, "Guido v. List: Der Wiederentdecker Uralter Arischer Weisheit - Sein Leben und sein Schaffen" ....
's occult magazine Prana
Prana
Prana is the Sanskrit word for "vital life" .It is one of the five organs of vitality or sensation, viz. prana "breath", vac "speech", chakshus "sight", shrotra "hearing", and manas "thought" Prana is the Sanskrit word for "vital life" (from the root "to fill", cognate to Latin plenus...
.
In 1878 List married his first wife, Helene Föster-Peters. However, the marriage was not to last through this difficult period.
Through the years 1877–1887 List was also working on his first book-length (two-volume) effort, Carnuntum, an historical novel based on his vision of the Kulturkampf
Kulturkampf
The German term refers to German policies in relation to secularity and the influence of the Roman Catholic Church, enacted from 1871 to 1878 by the Prime Minister of Prussia, Otto von Bismarck. The Kulturkampf did not extend to the other German states such as Bavaria...
between the Germanic
Germanic peoples
The Germanic peoples are an Indo-European ethno-linguistic group of Northern European origin, identified by their use of the Indo-European Germanic languages which diversified out of Proto-Germanic during the Pre-Roman Iron Age.Originating about 1800 BCE from the Corded Ware Culture on the North...
and Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
worlds centred at Carnuntum
Carnuntum
Carnuntum was a Roman army camp on the Danube in the Noricum province and after the 1st century the capital of the Upper Pannonia province...
around the year 375 CE
Common Era
Common Era ,abbreviated as CE, is an alternative designation for the calendar era originally introduced by Dionysius Exiguus in the 6th century, traditionally identified with Anno Domini .Dates before the year 1 CE are indicated by the usage of BCE, short for Before the Common Era Common Era...
that was published in 1888 by the Wannieck family's organisation and publishing house Verein "Deutsche Haus" ("German House" Association) in Brno
Brno
Brno by population and area is the second largest city in the Czech Republic, the largest Moravian city, and the historical capital city of the Margraviate of Moravia. Brno is the administrative centre of the South Moravian Region where it forms a separate district Brno-City District...
, where List made the acquaintance of the industrialist Friedrich Wannieck
Friedrich Wannieck
Friedrich Wannieck was a prominent and wealthy Austrian/German industrialist most notable for his successful business ventures and his enthusiastic support for the völkisch author, pioneer of Germanic mysticism and runic revivalist, Guido von List.He was an Armanist and supporter of List's Armanen...
. This association was to prove essential to List's future development.
Throughout this period in List's life he devoted himself to writing more neo-romantic prose, such as Jung Diethers Heimkehr ("Young Diether's Homecoming") in 1894 and Pipara in 1895. An anthology of his earlier journalism Deutsch-Mythologische Landschaftsbilder
Deutsch-Mythologische Landschaftsbilder
Deutsch-Mythologische Landschaftsbilder is a two-volume book by Guido von List published in 1891. Its English translation is German Mythological Landscape Scenes....
was published in 1891, and List developed his writing skills in poetic and dramatic genres as well.
In 1892 he delivered a lecture on the ancient Germanic cult of Wuotan to the Verein Deutsche Geschichte (German History Association), and it is said that numerous other associations allied with this one proliferated in Austria at this time. Another group, the Bund der Germanen (Germanic League), sponsored a performance of List's mythological dramatic poem, Der Wala Erweckung ("The Wala's Awakening") in 1894. In another performance of this drama in 1895, which was attended by over three thousand people, the part of Wala was read by Anna Wittek von Stecky, a young actress who in August 1899 became List's second wife.
During the years 1888–1899 List was involved with two important literary associations. In May 1891 Iduna
Iduna (literature society)
Iduna was an important literary association founded in May 1891 by a circle of writers around Fritz Lemmermayer. Lemmermayer acted as a sort of "middle man" between an older generation of authors and a group of younger writers and thinkers Iduna was an important literary association founded in May...
, which had the descriptive subtitle of "Free German Society for Literature", was founded by a circle of writers around Fritz Lemmermayer. Lemmermayer acted as a sort of "middle man" between an older generation of authors (which included Fercher von Steinwand, Joseph Tandler, Auguste Hyrtl, Ludwig von Mertens, and Josephone von Knorr) and a group of younger writers and thinkers (which included Rudolf Steiner
Rudolf Steiner
Rudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner was an Austrian philosopher, social reformer, architect, and esotericist. He gained initial recognition as a literary critic and cultural philosopher...
, Marie Eugenie delle Grazie, and Karl Maria Heidt). The name Iduna was provided by List himself and is that of a North Germanic goddess of eternal youth and renewal. Richard von Kralik and Joseph Kalasanz Poestion, authors with specifically neo-Germanic leanings, were also involved in the circle. The other organisation List was involved with was the Literarische Donaugesellschaft
Literarische Donaugesellschaft
The Literarische Donaugesellschaft was an important literary association founded in 1893 by Guido von List and Fanny Wschiansky.It was formed when Iduna dissolved in 1893....
(Danubian Literary Society), which was founded by List and Fanny Wschiansky the year the Iduna was dissolved in 1893. At this time List met Rudolf Steiner
Rudolf Steiner
Rudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner was an Austrian philosopher, social reformer, architect, and esotericist. He gained initial recognition as a literary critic and cultural philosopher...
and Lanz von Liebenfels
Lanz von Liebenfels
Adolf Josef Lanz aka Jörg Lanz, who called himself Lanz von Liebenfels was an Austrian publicist and journalist...
but his association with Liebenfels did not develop until Lanz had left the Heiligenkreuz monastery
Heiligenkreuz Abbey
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...
in 1899.
In August 1899, List married Anna Wittek von Stecky.
Mountaineering
Österreichischer Alpenverein
The Austrian Alpine Club has 377,000 members in 197 branches and is the largest mountaineering club in Austria. It is responsible for the upkeep of over 242 alpine huts in Austria and neighbouring countries...
(Austrian Alpine Association), of which he became secretary in that year.
List was an ardent, enthusiastic mountaineer and hiker. On one of these adventures List came very close to losing his life. While climbing a mountain on May 8, 1871 in the Großes Höllental (Larger Valley of Hell) leading up to the Rax
Rax
The Rax is a mountain range at the border of the Austrian federal provinces Lower Austria and Styria, situated in the Northern Limestone Alps....
mountain in Lower Austria
Lower Austria
Lower Austria is the northeasternmost state of the nine states in Austria. The capital of Lower Austria since 1986 is Sankt Pölten, the most recently designated capital town in Austria. The capital of Lower Austria had formerly been Vienna, even though Vienna is not officially part of Lower Austria...
, a mass of ice gave way under his feet and he fell some distance. He was apparently saved only by the fact that he had landed on a soft surface covered by a recent snowfall. In memory of his good luck and to help others, at his own expense List had the track equipped with a chain put up and officially opened by him on June 21, 1871. It was also named (now called Gaislochsteig) after him the "Guido-List-Steig"
Carnuntum
Carnuntum was a Roman army camp on the Danube in the Noricum province and after the 1st century the capital of the Upper Pannonia province...
. As the 1500th anniversary of the Germanic tribes' defeat of this Roman garrison in 375, the evening carried a lot of weight for List. Carnuntum became the title of List's first full-length novel, published in two volumes in 1888. After its success, it was followed by two more books set in tribal Germany; Jung Diethers Heimkehr ("Young Diether's Homecoming", 1894) and Pipara (1895). These books led to List being celebrated by the pan-German movement
Pan-Germanism
Pan-Germanism is a pan-nationalist political idea. Pan-Germanists originally sought to unify the German-speaking populations of Europe in a single nation-state known as Großdeutschland , where "German-speaking" was taken to include the Low German, Frisian and Dutch-speaking populations of the Low...
. Around the turn of the century, he continued with several plays.
Nobility and title
Between 1903 and 1907, he began using the noble title vonVon
In German, von is a preposition which approximately means of or from.When it is used as a part of a German family name, it is usually a nobiliary particle, like the French, Spanish and Portuguese "de". At certain times and places, it has been illegal for anyone who was not a member of the nobility...
on occasion, before finally settling on it permanently in 1907.
Death
In late 1918, the 70 year old List was in poor health during the final stages of World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
in which the naval blockade of the Central Powers
Central Powers
The Central Powers were one of the two warring factions in World War I , composed of the German Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Bulgaria...
created food shortages in Vienna.
In the spring of 1919, at the age of 71, List and his wife set off to recuperate and meet followers at the manor house of Eberhard von Brockhusen
Eberhard von Brockhusen
Eberhard von Brockhusen, , was a patron of the List society who lived at Langen in Brandenburg, Germany. Guido von List was travelling to his manor house when he died in the spring of 1919....
, a List society patron who lived at Langen
Langen
- Places :Germany* Langen, Cuxhaven, in the district of Cuxhaven, Lower Saxony* Langen, Emsland, part of the Samtgemeinde Lengerich, in the Emsland district, Lower Saxony* Langen, Hesse, in the district of Offenbach, Hesse...
in Brandenburg
Brandenburg
Brandenburg is one of the sixteen federal-states of Germany. It lies in the east of the country and is one of the new federal states that were re-created in 1990 upon the reunification of the former West Germany and East Germany. The capital is Potsdam...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
On arrival at the Anhalter Station at Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, List was too exhausted to continue the journey. After a doctor had diagnosed a lung inflammation, his health deteriorated quickly, and he died in a Berlin guesthouse on the morning of May 17, 1919. He was cremated in Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
and his ashes laid in an urn
Urn
An urn is a vase, ordinarily covered, that usually has a narrowed neck above a footed pedestal. "Knife urns" placed on pedestals flanking a dining-room sideboard were an English innovation for high-style dining rooms of the late 1760s...
and then buried in Vienna Central Cemetery, Zentralfriedhof
Zentralfriedhof
The Zentralfriedhof is one of the largest cemeteries in the world, largest by number of interred in Europe and most famous cemetery among Vienna's nearly 50 cemeteries.-Name and location:...
, in the gravesite KNLH 413 - Vienna's largest and most famous cemetery (including the graves of Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
, Brahms
Johannes Brahms
Johannes Brahms was a German composer and pianist, and one of the leading musicians of the Romantic period. Born in Hamburg, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria, where he was a leader of the musical scene...
, Schubert
Franz Schubert
Franz Peter Schubert was an Austrian composer.Although he died at an early age, Schubert was tremendously prolific. He wrote some 600 Lieder, nine symphonies , liturgical music, operas, some incidental music, and a large body of chamber and solo piano music...
and Strauss
Richard Strauss
Richard Georg Strauss was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, which include Der Rosenkavalier and Salome; his Lieder, especially his Four Last Songs; and his tone poems and orchestral works, such as Death and Transfiguration, Till...
.) in Vienna's 11th district of Simmering.
Philipp Stauff
Philipp Stauff
Philipp Stauff was a prominent German/Austrian journalist and publisher in Berlin. He was an enthusiastic Armanist, a close friend of Guido von List, and a founding member of the Guido-von-List-Society...
, a Berlin journalist, good friend of List and Armanist, wrote an obituary which appeared in the Münchener Beobachter
Münchener Beobachter
The Münchener Beobachter was a völkisch newspaper edited by Rudolf von Sebottendorf. In the course of 1920 it became the official Nazi organ, becoming the Voelkischer Beobachter. , and remained the leading Nazi party newspaper until 1945....
called "Guido von List gestorben" on May 24, 1919, p. 4.
Ideology
Theosophy
Theosophy, in its modern presentation, is a spiritual philosophy developed since the late 19th century. Its major themes were originally described mainly by Helena Blavatsky , co-founder of the Theosophical Society...
thought of Madame Blavatsky
Madame Blavatsky
Helena Petrovna Blavatsky , was a theosophist, writer and traveler. Between 1848 and 1875 Blavatsky had gone around the world three times. In 1875, Blavatsky together with Colonel H. S. Olcott established the Theosophical Society...
, which he blended with his own racial religious beliefs, founded upon Germanic paganism
Germanic paganism
Germanic paganism refers to the theology and religious practices of the Germanic peoples of north-western Europe from the Iron Age until their Christianization during the Medieval period...
.
List called his doctrine “Armanism” (after the Armanen, supposedly the heirs of the sun-king, a body of priest-kings in the ancient Ario-Germanic nation). Armanism was concerned with the esoteric doctrines of the gnosis
Gnosis
Gnosis is the common Greek noun for knowledge . In the context of the English language gnosis generally refers to the word's meaning within the spheres of Christian mysticism, Mystery religions and Gnosticism where it signifies 'spiritual knowledge' in the sense of mystical enlightenment.-Related...
(distinct from the exoteric doctrine intended for the lower social classes, Wotanism).
List claimed that the tribal name Herminones mentioned in Tacitus
Tacitus
Publius Cornelius Tacitus was a senator and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories—examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors...
was a Latinized version of the German Armanen, and named his religion the Armanenschaft, which he claimed to be the original religion of the Germanic tribes. His conception of that religion was a form of sun worship, with its priest-kings (similar to the Icelandic goði) as legendary rulers of ancient Germany.
List claimed that the dominance of the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
in Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
constituted a continuing occupation of the Germanic tribes by the Roman empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
, albeit now in a religious form, and a continuing persecution of the ancient religion of the Germanic peoples and Celts.
Oera Linda
The Oera Linda Book is a 19th century manuscript written in Old Frisian. It purports to cover historical, mythological, and religious themes of remote antiquity, compiled between 2194 BC and AD 803....
forgery from the Lowlands region of western Europe
Western Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
.
He also believed in magical powers of the old runes. In 1891 he claimed that heraldry
Heraldry
Heraldry is the profession, study, or art of creating, granting, and blazoning arms and ruling on questions of rank or protocol, as exercised by an officer of arms. Heraldry comes from Anglo-Norman herald, from the Germanic compound harja-waldaz, "army commander"...
was based on the magic of the runes. In April 1903, he had sent an article concerning the alleged Aryan proto-language
Proto-language
A proto-language in the tree model of historical linguistics is the common ancestor of the languages that form a language family. Occasionally, the German term Ursprache is used instead.Often the proto-language is not known directly...
to the Imperial Academy of Sciences in Vienna. Its highlight was a mystical and occult interpretation of the runic alphabet
Runic alphabet
The runic alphabets are a set of related alphabets using letters known as runes to write various Germanic languages before the adoption of the Latin alphabet and for specialized purposes thereafter...
. Although the article was rejected by the academy, it would later be expanded by List and become the basis for his entire ideology.
Among his ideological followers was Lanz von Liebenfels
Lanz von Liebenfels
Adolf Josef Lanz aka Jörg Lanz, who called himself Lanz von Liebenfels was an Austrian publicist and journalist...
. More controversially, some allege that, in his pagan-Theosophical synthesis, List developed the direct precursor of occult Nazism. His defenders counter that any influence was indirect and inconsequential; in Nazi Germany the strongest occult influence upon Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Luitpold Himmler was Reichsführer of the SS, a military commander, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. As Chief of the German Police and the Minister of the Interior from 1943, Himmler oversaw all internal and external police and security forces, including the Gestapo...
, the head of the SS, was Brigadeführer
Brigadeführer
SS-Brigadeführer was an SS rank that was used in Nazi Germany between the years of 1932 and 1945. Brigadeführer was also an SA rank....
Karl Maria Wiligut
Karl Maria Wiligut
Karl Maria Wiligut was an Austrian Ariosophist- Biography :...
who believed List's Armanism to be a heresy from his own ancestral religion of Irminism and had various of List's followers interned in concentration camps.
List's concept of renouncing Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
, a Semitic
Semitic
In linguistics and ethnology, Semitic was first used to refer to a language family of largely Middle Eastern origin, now called the Semitic languages...
religion intertwined with Judaism
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
, and returning to the pagan religions of the ancient Europeans did nevertheless find some supporters within the Nazi party and is favoured by some advocates of Neo-Nazism
Neo-Nazism
Neo-Nazism consists of post-World War II social or political movements seeking to revive Nazism or some variant thereof.The term neo-Nazism can also refer to the ideology of these movements....
and White Nationalism
White nationalism
White nationalism is a political ideology which advocates a racial definition of national identity for white people. White separatism and white supremacism are subgroups within white nationalism. The former seek a separate white nation state, while the latter add ideas from social Darwinism and...
in their turn. Germanic paganism has, as a result, been linked to Nazism since the early twentieth century — unfairly, in the eyes of many pagan revivalists.
List’s Ariosophy was closely related to the philosophy of the Thule Society which founded the German Workers’ Party (DAP), the predecessor of the Nazi party (NSDAP). List’s prophecy that a “German Messiah” would save Germany after World War I was popular among Thule members. Thule member and publicist Dietrich Eckart expressed his anticipation in a poem he published in 1919, months before he met Hitler for the first time. In the poem, Eckart refers to ‘the Great One’, ‘the Nameless One’, ‘Whom all can sense but no one saw’. When the Thules met Hitler in 1919, many believed him to be the prophesied redeemer. As most Thule members were socially and politically influential, their faith was crucial to Hitler’s meteoric rise.
Runic revivalism
Armanen runes
The Armanen runes, or Armanen 'Futharkh' as Guido von List referred to them, are a row of 18 runes that are closely based in shape on the Younger Futhark...
", also known as the "Armanen Futharkh" came to List while in an 11 month state of temporary blindness after a cataract
Cataract
A cataract is a clouding that develops in the crystalline lens of the eye or in its envelope, varying in degree from slight to complete opacity and obstructing the passage of light...
operation on both eyes in 1902. This vision in 1902 allegedly opened what List referred to as his "inner eye", via which he claimed the "Secret of the Runes" was revealed to him. List stated that his Armanen Futharkh were encrypted in the Hávamál
Hávamál
Hávamál is presented as a single poem in the Poetic Edda, a collection of Old Norse poems from the Viking age. The poem, itself a combination of different poems, is largely gnomic, presenting advice for living, proper conduct and wisdom....
(Poetic Edda
Poetic Edda
The Poetic Edda is a collection of Old Norse poems primarily preserved in the Icelandic mediaeval manuscript Codex Regius. Along with Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda, the Poetic Edda is the most important extant source on Norse mythology and Germanic heroic legends, and from the early 19th century...
), specifically in stanzas 138 to 165, with stanzas 146 through 164 reported as being the 'song' of the 18 runes. It has been said this claim has no historical basis.
The Armanen runes are still used today by some Ásatrú
Ásatrú
is a form of Germanic neopaganism which developed in the United States from the 1970s....
adherents who consider the Armanen runes to have some religious and/or divinatory value.
Futharkh spelling
List noted in his book, The Secret of the Runes, that the "runic futharkh (= runic ABC) consisted of sixteen symbols in ancient times.".As a side note to this, in the English translation of the work, Stephen Flowers
Stephen Flowers
Stephen Edred Flowers is an American Runologist and proponent of occultism and Germanic mysticism. The Bonham, Texas-born author has over two dozen published books and hundreds of published papers on a disparate range of subjects. He is also known by the pen-name Edred Thorsson...
notes that "(the designation futharkh is based on the first seven runes it is for this reason that the proper name is not futhark -- as it is generally and incorrectly written -- but futharkh, with the h at the end; for more about the basis of this, see the Guido von List Library number 6, The primal language of the Aryan Germanic people and their mystery language)".
Hexagonal Crystal and the Armanen Runes
List's system was allegedly based on the structure of a Hexagonal CrystalHexagonal crystal system
In crystallography, the hexagonal crystal system is one of the 7 crystal systems, the hexagonal lattice system is one of the 7 lattice systems, and the hexagonal crystal family is one of the 6 crystal families...
. You can shine light through a crystal at different angles and project all 18 of the Armanen runes.
List's rune row was rather rigid; while the runes of the past had had sharp angles for easy carving, his were to be carefully and perfectly made so that their shape would be a reflection of the 'frozen light', a pattern that he had found in his runes. All of his runes could be projected by shining the light through a hexagonal crystal under certain angles. Rune Hagal
Hagal
Hagal may refer to:*The Old High German for "hail"*Hagall, the Younger Futhark h rune*Hagal , the derived rune in Germanic mysticism*Hagal , a fictional planet in Frank Herbert's Dune universe...
is so-called 'mother-rune' because its shape represents that hexagonal crystal.
Karl Hans Welz states that the "crystalline structure of quartz
Quartz
Quartz is the second-most-abundant mineral in the Earth's continental crust, after feldspar. It is made up of a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall formula SiO2. There are many different varieties of quartz,...
is the "hexagonal system" which is also one of the bases of the Runic symbolism (the hexagon with the three inscribed diameters)." and that "The hexagonal cross section of quartz and the fact that all of the 18 Sacred Futhork Runes are derived from the geometry of the hexagon is the basis of an enormous increase in crystal power when it is associated with Rune images."
Guido von List Society
A look at the signatories of the first announcement concerning support for a Guido-von-List-Gesellschaft (Guido von List Society), circa 1905, reveals that List had a following of some very prestigious people and shows that List, his ideology and his influence had widespread and significant support, including that amongst public figures in AustriaAustria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. Among some 50 signatories which endorsed the foundation of the List Society (which had an official founding ceremony on March 2, 1908) were the industrialist Friedrich Wannieck
Friedrich Wannieck
Friedrich Wannieck was a prominent and wealthy Austrian/German industrialist most notable for his successful business ventures and his enthusiastic support for the völkisch author, pioneer of Germanic mysticism and runic revivalist, Guido von List.He was an Armanist and supporter of List's Armanen...
and his son Friedrich Oskar Wannieck, Jörg Lanz von Liebenfels, and Karl Lueger
Karl Lueger
Karl Lueger was an Austrian politician and mayor of Vienna. The populist and anti-Semitic politics of his Christian Social Party are sometimes viewed as a model for Hitler's Nazism.- Career :...
(the mayor of Vienna). These supporters also included occultists such as Hugo Göring (editor of theosophical literature at Weimar), Harald Arjuna Grävell van Jostenoode (theosophical author at Heidelberg), Max Seiling (an esoteric pamphleteer and popular philosopher in Munich), and Paul Zillmann (editor of the Metaphysische Rundschau and master of an occult lodge in Berlin)
List's influence continued to grow and attract distinctive members after the official founding of the society in 1908. From 1908 through to 1912, new members included the deputy Beranek
Beranek
Beránek is a Czech surname , it may refer to:People* Bohuslav Beránek, Czech orienteer* Christian Beranek , American graphic novelist and filmmaker* Jan Beránek , Czech ecological activist and politician...
(co-founder of the "Bund der Germanen" in 1894), Philipp Stauff
Philipp Stauff
Philipp Stauff was a prominent German/Austrian journalist and publisher in Berlin. He was an enthusiastic Armanist, a close friend of Guido von List, and a founding member of the Guido-von-List-Society...
(a Berlin journalist and later a founding member of the Germanenorden
Germanenorden
The Germanenorden was a völkisch secret society in early 20th century Germany...
), Franz Hartmann
Franz Hartmann
Franz Hartmann was a German physician, theosophist, occultist, geomancer, astrologer, and author. His works include several books on esoteric studies and biographies of Jakob Böhme and Paracelsus. He translated the Bhagavad Gita into German and was the editor of the journal Lotusblüten...
(a leading German theosophist), Karl Heise (a leading figure in the vegetarian and mystical Mazdaznan
Mazdaznan
Mazdaznan is a syncretistic religious health movement based on Zoroastrian and Christian ideas with special focus on breathing exercises, vegetarian diet and body culture. It was founded at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century by Otoman Zar-Adusht Ha'nish, born Otto Hanisch...
cult at Zürich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
), and the collective membership of the Vienna Theosophical Society.
As the list demonstrates, the growth of nationalism within Germany during the late 19th to early 20th century, culminating in the Third Reich of Nazi Germany, provided an ideal audience of people who were already predisposed to accept List's ideas and unidentifiable personal gnosis of the Armanen way. The register shows that List's ideas were acceptable to many intelligent persons drawn from the upper and middle classes of Austria and Germany. So impressed were they that these men were prepared to contribute ten crowns as an annual society subscription. The main part of the Society's assets derived from the Wannieck family, which put up more than three thousand crowns at the Society's inauguration.
The Society's inner circle was called the High Armanen Order or Hoher Armanen Orden.
Quotes by List
- "One must flee those places where life throbs and seek out lonely spots untouched by human hand in order to lift the magic veil of nature" (Deutsch-Mythologische LandschaftsbilderDeutsch-Mythologische LandschaftsbilderDeutsch-Mythologische Landschaftsbilder is a two-volume book by Guido von List published in 1891. Its English translation is German Mythological Landscape Scenes....
, 1st volume, p. 125.) - "Now, because men of our contemporary age are caught up in the ascetic view of a life-denying religious system, but in spite of this cannot deny the primal laws of nature, a distorted morality had to be developed, which spreads hypocritical appearances over hidden actions. This has brought to a head all those outward forms of modern life, whose vacuousness and corruption are now beginning to disgust us." (Das Geheimnis der RunenDas Geheimnis der RunenDas Geheimnis der Runen is a book by Austrian mystic Guido von List, in which he presents his "Armanen Futharkh".It appeared as a periodical article in 1906, and as a standalone publication in 1908.-Contents:...
) - "A star is extinguished, another will begin to shine - thus it is written in the Book of Nature" (Der Unbesiegbare)
Popular culture
List is referred to throughout Katherine Neville's book, The Magic Circle, (NY: Random House; 1998) and is mentioned on page 154 of The Black OrderThe Black Order
-Fiction:* Black Order , a 2006 novel by James Rollins* The Black Order Brigade, a political thriller graphic novel* "The Black Order", an episode of the D.Gray-man anime, season 1-Other:...
, ([n.pl.]: Orion; 2006) by James Rollins
James Rollins
* For the American baseball pitcher, see Jim Czajkowski* For the American baseball shortstop, see Jimmy Rollins* For the 19th century American politician from Missouri, see James S. Rollins...
.
He also occurs as a character in the novel Vienna Blood (London: Century; 2006), the second in the Max Liebermann series, by British author Frank Tallis.
Influential List Society signatories, circa 1905
- Friedrich WannieckFriedrich WannieckFriedrich Wannieck was a prominent and wealthy Austrian/German industrialist most notable for his successful business ventures and his enthusiastic support for the völkisch author, pioneer of Germanic mysticism and runic revivalist, Guido von List.He was an Armanist and supporter of List's Armanen...
, president of the publishing house Verein "Deutsche Haus" ("German House" Association) in BrünnBrunnBrunn or Brünn may refer to:Places* Brünn, the German form of the Czech city Brno* Brunn, Upper Palatinate, a town in Bavaria, Germany* Brunn, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, a municipality in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany...
, and chairman of the Prague Iron Company and the First Brno Engineering Company (major producers of capital goods in the Habsburg empire) - Ludwig von Bernuth, health organisation chairman
- Ferdinand Khull, committee member of the German Language Club
- Adolf Harpf, editor of Marburger Zeitung
- Hermann Pfister-Schwaighusen, lecturer in linguistics at Darmstadt University
- Wilhelm von Pickl-Scharfenstein (Baron von Witkenberg)
- Amand Freiherr von Schweiger-Lerchenfeld, editor of the popular magazine Stein der Weisen and a distinguished army officer
- Aurelius Polzer, newspaper editor at Horn and Graz
- Ernst Wachler, author and founder of an open-air Germanic theatre in the Harz Mountains
- Wilhelm Rohmeder, educator at Munich
- Arthur Schulz, editor of a Berlin periodical for educational reform
- Friedrich Wiegerhaus, chairman of the Elberfeld branch of the powerful German Nationalist Commercial Employees' Association (Deutschnationaler Handlungsgehilfen-Verband, or DHV)
- Franz Winterstein, committee member of the German Social Party (DSP) at KasselKasselKassel is a town located on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Kassel Regierungsbezirk and the Kreis of the same name and has approximately 195,000 inhabitants.- History :...
Influential List Society members from 1908
- Rudolf BergerRudolf BergerRudolf Berger was an Austrian Olympic fencer. He competed in the team foil event at the 1928 Summer Olympics.-References:...
, a committee member of the German Nationalist Workers' League in Vienna - Hermann Brass, chairman of the defensive League of Germans in North Moravia (est. 1886)
- Dankwart Gerlach, an ardent supporter of the romantic Youth Movement
- Carl Friedrich Glasenapp, biographer of Richard WagnerRichard WagnerWilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
- Colonel Karl August Hellwig, an organiser in Kassel
- Bernhard Koerner, an heraldic expert and populariser of middle-class genealogy
- Josef Ludwig Reimer, Viennese author
- Karl HerzogKarl HerzogKarl Herzog was a highly decorated Oberst in the Wehrmacht during World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership...
, branch chairman of the DHV in MannheimMannheimMannheim is a city in southwestern Germany. With about 315,000 inhabitants, Mannheim is the second-largest city in the Bundesland of Baden-Württemberg, following the capital city of Stuttgart.... - Arthur Weber, a theosophical editor
- Karl Hilm, occult novelist
- General Blasius von Schemua
Written works
- Das Geheimnis der Runen (The Secret of the Runes (book), 1908)
- Der Unbesiegbare
- Götterdämmerung (1893)
- Von der Wuotanspriesterschaft (1893)
- Die deutsche Mythologie im Rahmen eines Kalenderjahres (1894)
- Der deutsche Zauberglaube im Bauwesen (1895)
- Mephistopheles (1895)
- Carnuntum
- Jung Diethers Heimkehr (1894)
- Der Wala Erweckung (1894)
- Walkürenweihe (1895)
- Pipara: Die Germanin im Cäsarenpurpur (Pipara: the Germanic Woman in the purple of the Caesars, 1895)
- König Vannius (1899)
- Sommer-Sonnwend-Feuerzauber (1901)
- Das Goldstück (1903)
- Kunstmärchen anthology: Alraunenmaren: Kultur-historische Novellen und Dichtungen aus germanischer Vorzeit (Mandrake-Tales: Cultural-historical Novellas and Poetry from Germanic Prehistory, 1903)
- Eine Zaubernacht
- Guido-List-Bücherei (a series of works)
- Die Armanenschaft der Ario-Germanen (The Armanism of the Aryo-Germanic People, 1908 and 1911, 2 volumes)
- Die Rita der Ario-Germanen (The Rita of the Aryo-Germanic People, 1908)
- Die Namen der Völkerstämme Germaniens und deren Deutung (The Names of the Tribes of the People of Germania and their Interpretation; GvLB no. 4, 1909)
- Die Religion der Ario-Germanen in ihrer Esoterik und Exoterik (The Religion of the Aryo-Germanic People in its Esoteric and Exoteric Aspects, 1909 or 1910)
- Die Bilderschrift der Ario-Germanen: Ario-Germanische Hierogyphik (The Pictographic Script of the Aryo-Germanic People: Aryo-Germanic Hieroglyphics; GvLB no. 5, 1910)
- Der Übergang vom Wuotanismus zum Christentum (The Transition from Wuotanism to Christianity, 1911)
- Die Ursprache der Ario-Germanen und ihre Mysteriensprache (The Primal Language of the Aryo-Germanic People and their Mystery Language; GvLB no. 6, 1914)
- Armanismus und Kabbala
Further reading
- von List, Guido (translated by Stephen E. Flowers). The Religion of the Aryo-Germanic Folk.
- Szanya, Anton. Armanen, Templer, Theosophen. Die religiöse Subkultur Österreichs zwischen 1870 und 1938. ISBN 3-7065-1662-4.
Biographical
The following books have detailed accounts of List's life:- Balzli, JohannesJohannes BalzliJohannes Hans Balzli, more commonly known as Johannes Balzli, was an Austrian/German author, newspaper editor, Theosophist and Armanist, most notable for his biography of Guido von List, entitled, "Guido v. List: Der Wiederentdecker Uralter Arischer Weisheit - Sein Leben und sein Schaffen" ....
. (1917). Guido v. List: Der Wiederentdecker Uralter Arischer WeisheitDer Wiederentdecker Uralter Arischer Weisheit"Guido v. List: Der Wiederentdecker Uralter Arischer Weisheit - Sein Leben und sein Schaffen" is a book written by Johannes Balzli in 1917 on the Armanic occultist Guido von List.The English translation of the title is "Guido v...
- Sein Leben und sein Schaffen. (Leipzig and Vienna: Guido-von-List-Gesellschaft). Originally published as:
TV documentaries
The life of von List has featured in many TV documentaries on his life, occultic Germanic revivalism and the occult roots of Nazism. Some of these are as follows:- Nazis: The Occult ConspiracyNazis: The Occult ConspiracyNazis: The Occult Conspiracy, directed by Tracy Atkinson and Joan Baran, narrated by Malcolm McDowell, is an English language 1998 Discovery Channel documentary regarding Nazi occultism.-Soundtrack:...
(1998, directed by Tracy Atkinson and Joan Baran, narrated by Malcolm McDowellMalcolm McDowellMalcolm McDowell is an English actor with a career spanning over forty years.McDowell is principally known for his roles in the controversial films If...., O Lucky Man!, A Clockwork Orange and Caligula...
) - The Occult History of the Third ReichThe Occult History of the Third ReichThe Occult History of the Third Reich, narrated by Patrick Allen and directed by Dave Flitton, is a 1991 four-part History Channel documentary regarding the occult influences and history of Nazi Germany and early 20th century Germany.-Contents:...
, Starring: Patrick AllenPatrick AllenJohn Keith Patrick Allen was a British film, television and voice actor.-Life and career:Allen was born in Nyasaland , where his father was a tobacco farmer. After his parents returned to Britain, he was evacuated to Canada during World War II where he remained to finish his education at McGill...
, Director: Dave Flitton- "Adolf Hitler - Occult History Of The Third Reich"
- "The SS: Blood And Soil - Occult History Of The Third Reich"
- "Himmler The Mystic - Occult History Of The Third Reich"
- "The Enigma Of The Swastika - Occult History Of The Third Reich"
- Decoding the PastDecoding the PastDecoding the Past is a History Channel paranormal television series that "decodes" the past by looking for unusual, and mysterious things written about throughout history that may give clues as to what will happen in the future.-Episodes:...
, episode "The Nazi Prophecies" by the History Channel http://www.thehistorychannel.co.uk/site/tv_guide/full_details/Conflict/programme_3089.php http://store.aetv.com/html/product/index.jhtml?id=74536&browseCategoryId=&location=&parentcatid=&subcatid= - Hitler and the OccultHitler and the OccultFor the book by the same name by Ken Anderson see Hitler and the Occult Hitler and the Occult, produced by Bram Roos and Phyllis Cannon and narrated by David Ackroyd, is a 50-minute History Channel documentary regarding Nazi occultism....
by the History Channel http://store.aetv.com/html/product/index.jhtml?id=72289 - The Riddle Of Rudolph Hess/Himmler's Castle: Wewelsburg
- In 1994, Channel 4Channel 4Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
ran a Michael Wood documentary entitled "Hitler's Search for the Holy Grail", as part of its Secret HistorySecret historyA secret history is a revisionist interpretation of either fictional or real history which is claimed to have been deliberately suppressed, forgotten, or ignored by established scholars.-Secret histories of the real world:...
series. http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/H/history/n-s/nazimyths.html
See also
- Armanen-OrdenArmanen-OrdenThe Armanen-Orden is an Arman Heathen organisation active in the German countries. It was founded in 1976 by Adolf Schleipfer and his then-wife Sigrun von Schlichting as the reorganisation of the Ariosophical Guido von List Society, though its doctrine is not limited to List's teachings...
- Rudolf John GorslebenRudolf John GorslebenRudolf John Gorsleben was a German Ariosophist, Armanist , journal editor and playwright.-Life:...
- Siegfried Adolf KummerSiegfried Adolf KummerSiegfried Adolf Kummer was a German mystic and Germanic revivalist. He is also most well known for his revivalism and use of the Armanen runes row...
- List of Occultists
- NeopaganismNeopaganismNeopaganism is an umbrella term used to identify a wide variety of modern religious movements, particularly those influenced by or claiming to be derived from the various pagan beliefs of pre-modern Europe...
- Runes
External links
- Guido von List http://younghitler.com/guido_list.htm, Claus Hant, Young Hitler, London, 2010
- Works by and about Guido von List in the German National LibraryGerman National LibraryThe German National Library is the central archival library and national bibliographic centre for the Federal Republic of Germany...
catalogue - PDF-books from Guido von List. Mainly German