THE OCCULT ROOTS O F NAZISM
heraldic expert and popularizer of middle-class genealogy; Josef Ludwig Reimer, a Pan-German author in Vienna; Philipp Stauff, a virulently anti-Semiticjournalist in Berlin; and Karl Herzog, chairman of the Mannheim branch of the DHV. In addition to this roll of nationalists one finds the leading German theosophist Franz Hamnann, the theosophical editor Arthur Weber, the occult novelist Karl Hilm, the theosophist General Blasius von Schemua, the collective membership of the Vienna Theosophical Society, and Karl Heise, a leading figure in the vegetarian and mystical Mazdaznan cult at Zurich. The register implies that List's ideas were acceptable to many intelligent persons drawn from the upper and middle classes of Austria and Germany. Attracted by his unique amalgam of nationalist mythology and esotericism, 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 its ina~guration.~' Encouraged by this generous provision, List wrote a series of 'ArioGermanic research reports' (Guido-List-Biicherei) which were based upon his occult interpretations of ancient national culture. Between 1908 and 191I, six reports were issued as booklets under the auspices of the List Society. These publications included a key to the meaning and magical power of the runes (GLB I ) , a study of the political authority and organization of the Wotanist priesthood (the Armanenschaft) (GLB 2 and 2a), esoteric interpretations of folklore and placenames (GLB 3 and GLB 4), and a glossary of secret Aryan messages in hieroglyphs and heraldic devices (GLB 5). In 1914 List published his masterpiece of occult linguistics and symbology (GLB 6). These seven booklets represent the systematic exposition of his fantasy concerning the religious, political and social institutions of the national past. This fantasy of the past (and a desired present) records a Weltanschauung shared by List and his close supporters. It will be the task of later chapters to analyse this Weltanschauung. List's reputation amongst members of the volkisch and nationalist subcultures grew in the wake of his first three 'reports' of 1908. The institutions of the Ario-Germans were frequently discussed in the volkisch press and other newspapers. From 1909 onwards List's name became well known among volkisch groups of Austria and Germany: the Neues Wiener Tagblatt and the Grazer Wochenblatt praised his discoveries in the ancient national past; Der Tag, a Berlin daily paper, credited him with the illumination of a priceless heritage; a French periodical regarded him as 'a teacher of mystical i m p e r i a l i ~ m ' .In ~~