Otto Rahn
Encyclopedia
Otto Wilhelm Rahn was a German
medievalist and a Obersturmführer
(First Lieutenant) of the SS
, born in Michelstadt
, Germany
.
Speculation still swirls around Otto Rahn and his research. From an early age, he became interested in the legends of Parsifal
, Holy Grail
, Lohengrin
, and the Nibelungenlied
. While attending the University of Giessen
he was inspired by his professor, the Baron von Gall, to study the Albigensian (Catharism) movement, and the massacre that occurred at Montségur
. Rahn is quoted as saying that "It was a subject that completely captivated me'".
region of southern France where he conducted most of his research. Aided by the French mystic and historian Antonin Gadal
, Rahn argued that there was a direct link between Wolfram Von Eschenbach
's Parzival
and the Cathar Grail mystery. He believed that the Cathars held the answer to this sacred mystery and that the keys to their secrets lay somewhere beneath the mountain pog where the fortress of Montségur
remains, the last Cathar
fortress to fall during the Albigensian Crusade
.
, the head of the SS, who was fascinated by the occult and had already initiated research in the south of France.
Rahn joined his staff as a junior non-commissioned officer and became a full member of the SS
in 1936. Journeys for his second book led Rahn to places in Germany, France, Italy, and Iceland.
Openly homosexual, he was assigned guard duty at the Dachau concentration camp in 1937 as punishment for a drunken homosexual scrape. He resigned from the SS in 1939.
On March 13, 1939 nearly on the anniversary of the fall of Montségur, Rahn was found frozen to death on a mountainside near Söll
(Kufstein
, Tyrol) in Austria
. His death was officially ruled a suicide.
movie Raiders of the Lost Ark
, although neither George Lucas
nor Steven Spielberg
has ever mentioned anything about his having inspired the film.
Rahn appears as a minor character in Michelle Cooper's A Brief History of Montmaray and The FitzOsbornes in Exile.
Rahn has been the object of many rumours and strange stories, including that his death had been faked, although all such speculation has failed to be substantiated. He features as a character in the 2008 novel The Judas Apocalypse by Dan McNeil. In the novel, Rahn helps a fellow German archaeologist search for the lost treasure of the Cathars. He also figures in the "Berlin Noir" novel The Pale Criminal by Philip Kerr
and Blood Lance by Craig Smith. In the Italian comic book
Martin Mystère
, Rahn fakes his death and joins the US secret service "Elsewhere".
Richard Stanley, cult director of such films as Hardware and Dust Devil
, also made a documentary about Rahn and his fixation on the Holy Grail called The Secret Glory in 2001.
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...
medievalist and a Obersturmführer
Obersturmführer
Obersturmführer was a paramilitary rank of the Nazi party that was used by the SS and also as a rank of the SA. Translated as “Senior Assault Leader”, the rank of Obersturmführer was first created in 1932 as the result of an expansion of the Sturmabteilung and the need for an additional rank in...
(First Lieutenant) of the SS
Schutzstaffel
The Schutzstaffel |Sig runes]]) was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Built upon the Nazi ideology, the SS under Heinrich Himmler's command was responsible for many of the crimes against humanity during World War II...
, born in Michelstadt
Michelstadt
Michelstadt in the Odenwald is a town in the Odenwaldkreis in southern Hesse, Germany between Darmstadt and Heidelberg.- Location :Michelstadt is the biggest town in the Odenwaldkreis and borders on the district seat of Erbach....
, 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...
.
Speculation still swirls around Otto Rahn and his research. From an early age, he became interested in the legends of Parsifal
Parsifal
Parsifal is an opera in three acts by Richard Wagner. It is loosely based on Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival, the 13th century epic poem of the Arthurian knight Parzival and his quest for the Holy Grail, and on Chrétien de Troyes' Perceval, the Story of the Grail.Wagner first conceived the work...
, Holy Grail
Holy Grail
The Holy Grail is a sacred object figuring in literature and certain Christian traditions, most often identified with the dish, plate, or cup used by Jesus at the Last Supper and said to possess miraculous powers...
, Lohengrin
Lohengrin
Lohengrin is a character in German Arthurian literature. The son of Parzival , he is a knight of the Holy Grail sent in a boat pulled by swans to rescue a maiden who can never ask his identity. His story, which first appears in Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival, is a version of the Knight of the...
, and the Nibelungenlied
Nibelungenlied
The Nibelungenlied, translated as The Song of the Nibelungs, is an epic poem in Middle High German. The story tells of dragon-slayer Siegfried at the court of the Burgundians, how he was murdered, and of his wife Kriemhild's revenge....
. While attending the University of Giessen
University of Giessen
The University of Giessen is officially called the Justus Liebig University Giessen after its most famous faculty member, Justus von Liebig, the founder of modern agricultural chemistry and inventor of artificial fertiliser.-History:The University of Gießen is among the oldest institutions of...
he was inspired by his professor, the Baron von Gall, to study the Albigensian (Catharism) movement, and the massacre that occurred at Montségur
Montségur
The Château de Montségur is a former fortress near Montségur, a commune in the Ariège department in southwestern France. Its ruins are the site of a razed stronghold of the Cathars. The present fortress on the site, though described as one of the "Cathar castles," is actually of a later period...
. Rahn is quoted as saying that "It was a subject that completely captivated me'".
Work
In 1931 he traveled to the PyreneesPyrenees
The Pyrenees is a range of mountains in southwest Europe that forms a natural border between France and Spain...
region of southern France where he conducted most of his research. Aided by the French mystic and historian Antonin Gadal
Antonin Gadal
Antonin Gadal was a French mystic and historian who dedicated his life to study of the Cathars in the south of France, their spirituality, beliefs and ideology.-Life:...
, Rahn argued that there was a direct link between Wolfram Von Eschenbach
Wolfram von Eschenbach
Wolfram von Eschenbach was a German knight and poet, regarded as one of the greatest epic poets of his time. As a Minnesinger, he also wrote lyric poetry.-Life:...
's Parzival
Parzival
Parzival is a major medieval German romance by the poet Wolfram von Eschenbach, in the Middle High German language. The poem, commonly dated to the first quarter of the 13th century, is itself largely based on Chrétien de Troyes’s Perceval, the Story of the Grail and mainly centers on the Arthurian...
and the Cathar Grail mystery. He believed that the Cathars held the answer to this sacred mystery and that the keys to their secrets lay somewhere beneath the mountain pog where the fortress of Montségur
Montségur
The Château de Montségur is a former fortress near Montségur, a commune in the Ariège department in southwestern France. Its ruins are the site of a razed stronghold of the Cathars. The present fortress on the site, though described as one of the "Cathar castles," is actually of a later period...
remains, the last Cathar
Cathar
Catharism was a name given to a Christian religious sect with dualistic and gnostic elements that appeared in the Languedoc region of France and other parts of Europe in the 11th century and flourished in the 12th and 13th centuries...
fortress to fall during the Albigensian Crusade
Albigensian Crusade
The Albigensian Crusade or Cathar Crusade was a 20-year military campaign initiated by the Catholic Church to eliminate Catharism in Languedoc...
.
Rahn believed it was possible to trace the Cathars, who guarded the Holy Grail in their castle at Montsegur, back to Druids who converted to Gnostic Manichaeism. The Druids in Britain were forerunners of the Celtic Christian Church. He saw that the culture of the medieval Cathar stronghold of Languedoc bore strong a resemblance to the ancient Druids. Their priests were akin to the Cathar Parfaits. The Cathar secret wisdom being preserved by the later Troubadours, the travelling poets and singers of the medieval courts of France-M. Sabeheddin, [Countermedia].
Rahn's SS service and death
Rahn wrote two books linking Montségur and Cathars with the Holy Grail: Kreuzzug gegen den Gral (Crusade Against the Grail) in 1933 and Luzifers Hofgesind (Lucifer's Court) in 1937. After the publication of his first book, Rahn's work came to the attention of Heinrich HimmlerHeinrich 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, who was fascinated by the occult and had already initiated research in the south of France.
Rahn joined his staff as a junior non-commissioned officer and became a full member of the SS
Schutzstaffel
The Schutzstaffel |Sig runes]]) was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Built upon the Nazi ideology, the SS under Heinrich Himmler's command was responsible for many of the crimes against humanity during World War II...
in 1936. Journeys for his second book led Rahn to places in Germany, France, Italy, and Iceland.
Openly homosexual, he was assigned guard duty at the Dachau concentration camp in 1937 as punishment for a drunken homosexual scrape. He resigned from the SS in 1939.
On March 13, 1939 nearly on the anniversary of the fall of Montségur, Rahn was found frozen to death on a mountainside near Söll
Söll
Söll is a municipality with 3571 inhabitants in the district of Kufstein in the Austrian region of Sölllandl. It is located 9 km south of Kufstein as well as 9 km east of Wörgl. The village consists of 25 parts. Main sources of income are agriculture and tourism.- Tourist attractions :Söll is one...
(Kufstein
Kufstein (district)
The Bezirk Kufstein is an administrative district in Tyrol, Austria. It borders Bavaria in the north, the Kitzbühel district in the southeast, and the Schwaz district in the southwest....
, Tyrol) in Austria
Austria
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...
. His death was officially ruled a suicide.
Rahn in popular culture
Rahn has been described as the inspiration behind the Indiana JonesIndiana Jones
Colonel Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, Jr., Ph.D. is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Indiana Jones franchise. George Lucas and Steven Spielberg created the character in homage to the action heroes of 1930s film serials...
movie Raiders of the Lost Ark
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Raiders of the Lost Ark is a 1981 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg, produced by George Lucas, and starring Harrison Ford. It is the first film in the Indiana Jones franchise...
, although neither George Lucas
George Lucas
George Walton Lucas, Jr. is an American film producer, screenwriter, and director, and entrepreneur. He is the founder, chairman and chief executive of Lucasfilm. He is best known as the creator of the space opera franchise Star Wars and the archaeologist-adventurer character Indiana Jones...
nor Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
has ever mentioned anything about his having inspired the film.
Rahn appears as a minor character in Michelle Cooper's A Brief History of Montmaray and The FitzOsbornes in Exile.
Rahn has been the object of many rumours and strange stories, including that his death had been faked, although all such speculation has failed to be substantiated. He features as a character in the 2008 novel The Judas Apocalypse by Dan McNeil. In the novel, Rahn helps a fellow German archaeologist search for the lost treasure of the Cathars. He also figures in the "Berlin Noir" novel The Pale Criminal by Philip Kerr
Philip Kerr
Philip Kerr is a British author of both adult fiction and non-fiction, most notably the Bernie Gunther series of thrillers, and of children's books, particularly the Children of the Lamp series....
and Blood Lance by Craig Smith. In the Italian comic book
Italian comics
Italian comics are comics made in Italy. They are locally known as fumetto – plural form fumetti – although this latter term is often used in English to describe a specific comic genre . The most popular Italian comics have been translated into many languages...
Martin Mystère
Martin Mystère
Martin Mystère is an Italian comic book. Created by writer Alfredo Castelli and drawn by Giancarlo Alessandrini, it was first published in Italy by Sergio Bonelli Editore in 1982....
, Rahn fakes his death and joins the US secret service "Elsewhere".
Richard Stanley, cult director of such films as Hardware and Dust Devil
Dust Devil (1993 film)
Dust Devil is a 1993 horror film written and directed by Richard Stanley. The film was described as being like "Tarkovsky on acid" by Steve Beard of The Face.-Plot:...
, also made a documentary about Rahn and his fixation on the Holy Grail called The Secret Glory in 2001.
Quotation
"My ancient forbears were heathens, and my ancestors were heretics. For their exoneration I collect the pieces that Rome left over." (Luzifers Hofgesind, i.e. Lucifer's Court)Works
- Kreuzzug gegen den Gral. Die Geschichte der Albigenser (Broschiert) (in German), 1934, ISBN 3934291279; ISBN 978-3934291270.
- Croisade contre le Graal: Grandeur et Chute des Albigeois (Broché) (French translation), 1934, ISBN 2867141842; ISBN 978-2867141843.
- Crusade Against the Grail: The Struggle between the Cathars, the Templars, and the Church of Rome (First English Translation by Christopher Jones), 1934/2006, ISBN 1594771359; ISBN 978-1594771354.
- Russian Edition: Крестовый поход против Грааля. - Москва: Аст, 2002. - ISBN 5-17-11582-2
- Luzifers Hofgesind, eine Reise zu den guten Geistern Europas (Rahn's book on Luciferism), 1937, ISBN 3934291198; ISBN 978-3934291195.
External links
- Website dedicated to Otto Rahn, otto-rahn.com, all about Otto
- "Crusade against the Grail" - A review of Otto Rahn's study of Grail lore.
- Crusade Against the Grail by Otto Rahn the full text of the book at the Internet Archive