Carl Schappeller

Carl Schappeller , also written as Karl Schappeller in some publications , (* 1875 in Aurolzmünster / Upper Austria ; † 1947 ) was an Austrian alleged inventor and fanatic. Schappeller claimed to have discovered "space power", a form of energy that could be used to drive machines and motors. He found many prominent supporters during the 1920s and 30s, but failed to prove and implement his hypotheses.

His concepts combined natural research, technical innovation, intended social improvement and occultism and represent a typical paradigm of a sub-history of technical innovation in the beginning of the 20th century. Schappeller promised to use his "elementary force-material extraction aggregates" to bring silver or platinum from the earth's interior in the purest form upwards promote. “Fabric finishing machines” should “biomagnetically” convert lead or iron into gold . With constantly working agricultural machines and fertilizers, three harvests should be brought in and social hardship should be a thing of the past. Any owner of the primal force would be insurmountable.

Life

Aurolzmünster, grave of Carl Schappeller

Carl Schappeller was born out of wedlock on July 18, 1874 in the poor house in Aurolzmünster. Because of his origins, he was denied a higher education or a degree, he completed an apprenticeship as a carpenter and in 1901 became an Austro-Hungarian post office worker in Attnang-Puchheim. In addition to this activity, he deals with physics, technology and natural philosophy and gave lectures for his colleagues. During the First World War , Schappeller was an infantryman on the Isonzo, then - retired early - he went to Vienna for a few years.

In 1920 he turned to the Social Democratic State Secretary Julius Deutsch and stated that he had made a discovery that could generate new energy. Schapeller tried to win him over to a cooperation, but it did not materialize. In the following years Schappeller looked for more supporters for his idea to use the "space power".

In 1925, a company whose driving force was the Benedictine prelate, Christian-social member of the National Council and founder of the Tyrolia publishing house, Aemilian Schöpfer, acquired the desolate Aurolzmünster Castle . Schappeller was supposed to build a space force research center there with engineers and technicians with laboratories for experimentation. The company also includes Daniel Etter , cathedral priest of Salzburg, and Austrian entrepreneurs. In autumn 1925, Schappeller moved with family and employees from Vienna back to Aurolzmünster in the castle ruins.

By 1930 the demonstration of a "primal machine" was to be delivered, which proves the principle of Schappeller's physical hypotheses. With a donation of half a million Reichsmarks from the former German Emperor Wilhelm II , the castle began to be renovated and laboratories were set up, and a luxurious lifestyle was maintained. In 1928, the employees Gföllner and Wetzel published the brochure "Schappeller's Raumkraft" and made contact with large German groups in Munich, which Schappeller described in a letter to Aemilian Schöpfer as an evil betrayal.

In 1929 there was a turning point. Wilhelm II dismisses his asset manager Nitz, whose successor considers Schappeller's announcement that the monarchy to use space power to regain power as unfounded and suspends all financial contributions to the Schappeller Group. Schappeller gets into turbulence and just escapes a foreclosure auction. The threat of bankruptcy, constant financial difficulties and political differences led to the collapse of the Schappeller clan. The employees Gföllner and Wetzel went to Munich and tried unauthorized to find ways to exploit the idea of ​​space power. The anti-Semite Jörg Lanz von Liebenfels described Carl Schappeller in 1930 in the magazine Ariosophie as "a titan in the technical and physical field".

In 1932, the search for the treasure of Attila, King of the Huns, appeared in the newspapers as a new topic in connection with Schappeller. According to the Radaesthetist Alois Binderberger, Attila's grave was believed to be under the castle, who, it was believed, could be buried there with subjects and rich grave goods. The excavations are unsuccessful.

The painter Aloys Wach from Braunau was initially an ardent admirer and co-shareholder of the project, later saw himself financially damaged and settled with Schappeller by publishing a report: "Schin, the master of the number 22 - The truth about Aurolzmünster Castle".

In 1934, English shipbuilding engineers from London visited Schappeller in Aurolzmünster, were convinced of his ideas and signed a contract that obliged Schappeller to develop a ship engine for the English Navy.

In 1936 the NPR (New Power Rotor) Trust Company was founded for this purpose, a public company based in London. Cyril Davson, one of the English engineers, wrote after several years of studying in Aurolzmünster with Schappeller an extensive manuscript about his physical conceptions and their possible applications: "The Primary State of Matter".

In 1935 Schappeller was supposed to give a lecture to Adolf Hitler about the "invention of space power". However, the appointment did not materialize.

After the annexation of Austria in 1938, the Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle of the NSDAP confiscated the heavily indebted castle and used it to accommodate German resettlers and a kindergarten. The Schappeller family, now completely impoverished, retained their right to live in a confined space.

In 1943 a physicist commission of the NSDAP (Bothe, Beuthe, Esau) traveled to Aurolzmünster to investigate the "alleged invention" of Schappeller. The report of the commission to the SS-Reichsführer Heinrich Himmler stated that in the case of Schappeller there was “no healthy physical thought”, but “speculation of a natural philosophical nature bordering on pathology”. There is also a lack of "thought discipline", further activities of Schappeller are to be prevented with state police means.

Schappeller limited himself to giving lectures and died impoverished on July 13, 1947 in Aurolzmünster. The last member of the family to die in 1955 was their daughter, Anschy Schappeller.

The English admiral's son Philipp Creagh, who ran the business of the NPR Trust Company on site, stayed for another year in the now desolate Aurolzmünster Castle before he left for England, where his traces are lost in a London mental hospital.

Others

The excavations for the treasure of the king of the Huns inspired Alexander Lernet-Holenia to write his novel "The Man in the Hat".

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Charlatan or Genius? In: Flachgauer Nachrichten of November 25, 2004.
2. ↑ B. Iglhauser: The attached messiah.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: NaturLand Salzburg , issue 1, 2005, p. 36/37.  
3. ↑ H. Heiber, P. Longerich: files of the party chancellery of the NSDAP. ISBN 3-486-4964-1-7 , p. 121.
4. ↑ Schappeller's space power. Revelations of the secrets in Aurolzmünster Castle. Facts from XX  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Linz ad Donau, 1929, F. Winkler, Verlag "Im Buchladen", 42 pp.  
5. ↑ R. Freund: Land of Dreamers - Between size and megalomania. Unrecognized Austrians and their utopias. 2nd edition, Picus, 2000, ISBN 3-85452-403-X .

literature

• B. Iglhauser: Genius or Charlatan? The incredible career of Carl Schappeller. In: Der Bundschuh 8 - Local history from the Inn and Hausruck districts , 2005, ISBN 3-902121-43-2 .
• F. Wetzel, L. Gföllner: Raumkraft. Your development and evaluation by Karl Schappeller. (PDF; 353 kB) Munich: Herold Verlag, 1928.
• HH Pilz: Karl Schappeller. The unrecognized genius of Aurolzmünster. Tagblatt 1957 No. 40. Mühlviertler Bote 1957 No. 7.
• HH Pilz: Schappeller and Janik: The saviors of Aurolzmünster Castle. Tagblatt 1962 No. 99. Weekly paper for Upper Austria
• A. Holzapfel: Exkaiser and Schappeller: A true story and a sensation. Werdekreisverlag, 1929.
• H. Stevens: Hitler's Flying Saucers: A Guide to German Flying Discs of the Second World War. Adventures Unlimited Press, 2003, ISBN 1-931-88213-4 , p. 172 f.
• JP Farrell: Reich of the Black Sun: Nazi Secret Weapons & the Cold War Allied Legend. Adventures Unlimited Press, 2005, ISBN 1-931-88239-8 .
• N. Goodrick-Clarke: The Occult Roots of Nazism. Tauris Parke Paperbacks, ISBN 1-860-6497-3-4 , p. 174.
• J. Strube: Vril. An occult elemental force in theosophy and esoteric neo-Nazism . Wilhelm Fink, 2013, ISBN 978-3-7705-5515-4 .
• Cyril W. Davson: The Physics of the Primary State of Matter , London 1955.
• Aloys Wach: The truth about Aurolzmünster Castle . Self-published by the author, 1933.
• René Freund: Land of Dreamers. Between size and megalomania - misunderstood Austrians and their utopias , 2000.

Movie

• Out of nowhere . A film by Angela Summereder, A 2015, 90 min., F + b / w, Stadtkino Filmverleih
• The empire of Karl Schappeller - the idea of ​​elemental force . TV feature by Peter Gehrig. D 1976, 45 min., 16 mm, SWR Stuttgart

See also

• Vril Society