August Horneffer

August Horneffer (born July 5, 1875 in Treptow an der Rega , † October 8, 1955 in Berlin ) was a German philologist , philosopher , Masonic writer , Freemason and translator .

Life

August Horneffer was born on July 5, 1875 in Treptow an der Rega as the son of a Prussian civil servant. After attending the Königliche Bugenhagen Grammar School in Treptow there, he studied philology , philosophy and musicology at the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität zu Berlin (today Humboldt University ) . On May 4, 1898, he received his doctorate in philosophy with a thesis on the composer Johann Rosenmüller (1619–1684). In 1900 he followed a call to the Nietzsche Archive in Weimar , where he worked together with his older brother Ernst Horneffer on the publication of Friedrich Nietzsche's estate . After working as a private teacher in Switzerland and a long trip to Italy, he went to Émile Jaques-Dalcroze in Hellerau in Dresden . During these years he worked as a freelance writer and translator of Greek and Latin authors and supported his brother Ernst in the publication of the journal Die Tat - Ways to Free Humanity, which he founded .

August Horneffer lived in Solln near Munich from 1909 to 1923 . On March 19, 1911, he was accepted as a Freemason in the Lodge for the rising light on the Isar . As a result, he was called upon to give lectures on Freemasonry well into old age - with the interruption during the time of National Socialism . His first book on this subject, Der Bund der Freemaurer , was published in 1913 . As early as 1912 his great work on religious studies was The Priest . His past and future appeared. In 1915 he was drafted into military service for a short time , but was soon released again and was able to devote himself to his educational and Masonic work. A precipitate found his studies in 1916 in the sensational book symbolism of the mysteries frets (s. Mysticism ), experienced the several editions. From 1916 to 1921 the brothers Ernst and August Horneffer published the Masonic journal Der Invisible Temple , intended for the public . Shortly after the First World War , the booklet Freemasonry was published by Reclam Verlag .

Soon after his admission, the Association of German Freemasons became aware of August Horneffer. He engaged him as a "traveling speaker". Numerous lecture tours have taken him to Masonic lodges at home and abroad. His name became known among Freemasons, among other things, because he had been working on the catechisms of St. John's Freemasonry originally created by Robert Fischer on behalf of the Literary Commission of the Archimedes Lodge on the Eternal Covenant in Gera .

In 1923 August Horneffer was called to Berlin by the Great Lodge of Prussia (also: Royal York for Friendship ) to take charge of the reorganization of the Grand Lodge and to edit its magazine. Here he advocated the introduction of an "Aryan paragraph" in 1924. Although he was of the opinion in 1933 that the work of the grand lodge should be stopped immediately, he, who, according to Arnold Grunwald, adored Adolf Hitler, found himself ready to work on the reworking of the rituals , whereby he believed that by going back to older roots avoid what the ruling government found offensive and survive somewhat unscathed. That turned out to be an illusion.

During the Nazi era, August Horneffer lived in Berlin, but was bombed out several times during the war . Immediately after the end of the war, he tried to rebuild Freemasonry. Horneffer, meanwhile Grand Master of his Grand Lodge, supported the unification movement of German Freemasonry and brought about the accession of his Grand Lodge "Royal York for Friendship" to the umbrella organization of the German Freemasons, the United Grand Lodge of the Freemasons of Germany , which later became the Grand Lodge of the Renamed Old Free and Accepted Masons of Germany . The “Royal York for Friendship” grand lodge continues to exist there more than 200 years after its foundation (1798) as a traditional association with its own grand master.

In the last years of his life, August Horneffer was by no means idle. A number of smaller works appeared, a Goethe book and his Masonic autobiography From my Freemason Life. Experiences and hints. He died on October 8, 1955 in Berlin.

Works

• Johann Rosenmüller . Dissertation. Charlottenburg 1898, 124 S, reprint ostinato-musikverlag, Salzgitter 2005.
• Nietzsche as a moralist and writer . Jena: Diederichs 1906, 106 pp.
• The decline of the Leipzig University of Applied Sciences : Zeitler 1907, 114 pp.
• Man and form . Leipzig: Klinkhardt 1909, 111 pp.
• Art education . Leipzig: Klinkhardt 1909, 197 pp.
• The priest. His past and his future . 2 vols. Jena: Diederichs 1912, 311, 321 pp.
• The Federation of Freemasons . Jena: Diederichs 1913, 191 pp.
• German and foreign freemasonry . Munich 1915, 58 pages,
• Symbolism of the Mystery Covenants . Munich 1916, 221 pages,
• An outline of Masonic symbolism . Reprint from the year 1915/16 by the Association of German Freemasons. Leipzig. Zechel 1916, 29 pp.
• The move of time to Freemasonry . Leipzig 1918, 22 pp.
• The pros and cons of outdoor work . Leipzig: VdF 1919, 24 pages,
• A Masonic reform plan from 1803 . Leipzig 1919, 16 pp.
• Holy work . Munich 1919, 19 p. (= Am Bau, 2)
• Freemasonry . Leipzig: Reclam undated, 103 pp.
• Religious popular education . Tübingen: Mohr 1920, 132 p.,
• The importance of the German foreign lodges . Leipzig 1920, 15 pp.
• Freemasonry and Religion . In: Three lectures. Berlin: Wunder 1920, np
• Masonic reading book . 2 vols. Berlin 1920, 1927, 173, 171 p. 110
• Symbolism of the Mystery Covenants . 2nd edition Prien: Anthropos 1924, 244 pp.
• The teaching method of the GL of Prussia . 1 .: Basics and goals. Berlin 1924, 64 pages,
• The use of the apprentice degree . Berlin 1927, 140 pp.
• 150 years of Royal York . Berlin 1948, 71 pp.
• Freemasonry . 1st - 3rd Edition Leipzig n.d.; Stuttgart 1948, 103, 150 pp.
• Catechisms I-III . Hamburg: Akazien 1948, 107, 92, 93 pp.
• Why Humanitas? Bielefeld 1948, 47 pp.
• Goethe the master . Bielefeld: Humanitas 1949, 162 pp.
• Power of the symbol . An interpretation. Hamburg: Acacias 1950, 88 pp. (= Ziegeldecker, 4)
• Masonic reading book . 4th edition Frankfurt 1951, 180 pp.
• The catechism of the apprentices . With appendix the old duties. Hamburg: Akazien 1953, 107 pp.
• The tradition of the Freemasons. The lodge and its symbolic household items . Hamburg: Akazien 1954, 35 p. (= Blue row, 2)
• The tradition of the Freemasons. Meaning and value of the symbols . Hamburg: Akazien 1954, 36 p. (= Blue row, 1)
• From my Masonic life. Experiences and hints . Hamburg: Akazien 1957, 262 pp.
• The meaning and value of our symbols . [Newly revised. v. Klaus Horneffer ]. Hamburg: Bauhütten 1981, 51 pp.

Translations

• Hans Wilhelm Haussig (ed.): Herodotus: Historien. German complete edition . Kröner, Stuttgart 1955 (= Kröner's pocket edition , 224); 3rd edition, ibid. 1963; 1971: ISBN 3-520-22404-6 .

literature

• Georg Thiel: August Horneffer. For the 75th birthday of our grandmaster in DIE KETTE, newsletter of the United Grand Lodge in Berlin. Vol. 1, No. 1 July 1950, pp. 2-22
• Theodor Vogel : Encounters and companions . Hamburg: Bauhütten 1976, 219 p .; Page 88
• Theodor Vogel: The Grand Master and his workmen. From the Paulskirche in Frankfurt to the Berlin Convention . 2nd edition Bad Kissingen. Bauhütten o. J., (1959), 96 p .; Page 55
• Theodor Vogel (Ed.): Former grandmaster August Horneffer * July 5, 1875; † October 8, 1955. Obituary with autobiographical note from AH Frankfurt a. M .: United Grand Lodges / AFuAM von Deutschland 1955, 5 pp.

Web links

• Literature by and about August Horneffer in the catalog of the German National Library