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Otto Rahn | |
|---|---|
| Born | 18 February 1904 (1904-02-18) |
| Died | 13 March 1939(1939-03-13) (aged 35) |
| Alma mater | University of Giessen (BA) |
| Known for | Crusade Against the Grail Lucifer's Court in Europe |
| Scientific career | |
| Thesis | To the Research of Master Kyot of Wolfram von Eschenbach |
| Military career | |
| Branch |  Allgemeine SS |
| Years | 1936–1939 |
| Rank | Obersturmführer |
Otto Wilhelm Rahn (18 February 1904 – 13 March 1939) was a Germanmedievalist,Ariosophist, andSS officer who researchedHoly Grail myths.
Rahn was born on 18 February 1904 to Karl and Clara (née Hamburger) inMichelstadt in theHesse region of the German Empire. From an early age, Rahn's mother introduced him to the stories and legends of the Holy Grail,Parzival,Lohengrin and theNibelungenlied. While attending theUniversity of Giessen, he was inspired by his professor, Baron von Gall, to study theAlbigensian (Catharism) movement and themassacre that occurred atMontségur. In 1924, he gained a degree inphilology, specializing in the literary history of the language and romances of France.
In 1931, he travelled to thePyrenees region of southern France where he conducted research. Aided by the French mystic and historianAntonin Gadal, Rahn argued that there was a direct link betweenWolfram von Eschenbach'sParzival and the Cathars. Rahn further believed that the Cathars were associated with the Holy Grail and that the keys to this mystery lay beneath the mountain where the fortress ofMontségur stood, the last Cathar fortress to fall during theAlbigensian Crusade.
In 1934, Rahn published his first book,Kreuzzug gegen den Gral ("Crusade Against the Grail"), which attempted to link the medieval romance of Parzival with the persecution of the Cathars byPope Innocent III. The book came to the attention ofKarl Maria Wiligut, head of the Department for Pre- and Early History of theSS Race and Settlement Main Office. Wiligut was impressed by the work and passed it toHeinrich Himmler, the head of theSS, who, from an early age, had a marked interested in ancient history,chivalry and the occult, especially ariosophy.[2] Rahn joined Himmler's staff as a junior, non-commissioned officer and became a full member of the SS in March 1936, attaining the rank of SS-Unterscharführer the following month. In an interview withRüdiger Sünner for the 1998 documentarySchwarze Sonne,Adolf Frisé, a confidante of Rahn's, said of him: "He was only devoted to one person in the SS, and that was Himmler... to him, Himmler was a saint, and he protected him".[3]
Research for his second bookLucifer's Court led Rahn to sacred sites acrossNazi Germany, France,Italy, andIceland, and during this time he maintained frequent correspondence with Himmler who was interested in Rahn's research and, through the SS, funded his expeditions.[2]
Rahn'shomosexuality had been known toHimmler but, in 1937, it became the subject of difficulties with other SS officers, who had long contrasted their conduct with the open homosexuality common inErnst Röhm'sSturmabteilung.[4] Following a "drunken homosexual scrape", Rahn was assigned guard duty at theDachau concentration camp in order to "toughen him up".[5]
Deeply concerned by what he had witnessed in Dachau, Rahn offered his resignation from the SS in February 1939. This was accepted by Himmler. On 13 March, Rahn's body was found by local children in a ravine nearSöll (Kufstein,Tyrol), inAustria.[5] Sixty years later, in an interview with Sünner, one of those who found Rahn's body described finding "two empty bottles" next to it.[6] Rahn's death was privately ruled a suicide but was presented by Himmler to the SS as having occurred following a "mountaineering accident".
Rahn has been the object of many rumours and strange stories, including that his death had been faked, although all such speculation is unsubstantiated.[5]
Wellspring: The Grail, The Reich, and the Man in the Black HatA novel, Saunders, Tracy, Priscillian Press (2023)
