Herbert von Bomsdorff-Bergen

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Ernst Theodor Herbert von Bomsdorff-Bergen (born July 2, 1876 in Reudnitz , † in the 20th century) was a German theater director and writer .

Live and act

Bomsdorff Mountains

Bomsdorff-Bergen was born in Reudnitz as the son of the factory owner Ernst Otto Robert von Bomsdorff and his wife Marie Ernestine Lina Forsbohm. He came from the Lower Lusatian noble family von Bomsdorff .

He was initially an opera singer at the Dresden State Opera , lived temporarily as an opera singer and chief director in Schweidnitz and Zurich, and then became director of the Cologne Residenz Theater. He also worked as a writer, often dealing with esoteric topics. Some of his books were published under pseudonyms ( Christian Kreuz , Christian Schweizerkreuz ). He later lived in Landshut .

From 1921 to 1923 he was involved in the Zurich Masonic Lodge Libertas et Fraternitas , but he soon resigned and became a member of the Gnostic-Catholic Ordo Templi Orientis (OTO). He has now published critical books and articles, including a. in Catholic magazines, against Freemasonry and the Bible Students' Movement . His book A World Fraud through Signs, Words and Grips, Freemasonry as a Pests of the People , published in 1923 under the pseudonyms Christian Kreuz and Christian Schweizerkreuz by the Zurich Anti-Freemason Center , is a confused anti-Jewish-anti-Masonic pamphlet in which even common conspiracy theories to be surpassed in a bizarre way, for example by attributing the “miracle on the Marne” in the First World War to Masonic control; the cover illustration shows the mask of Kaiser Wilhelm I, behind which a devil's head is visible.

Herbert von Bomsdorff-Bergen married Emmy von Bomsdorff-Leibing , the daughter of a Leipzig publisher. The daughter Hedi and son Hans Egon (* 1906) emerged from the later divorced marriage. On February 2, 1909, Bomsdorff-Bergen married the widow Auguste Hedwig Hecker nee Vogt in Leuben . However, this marriage did not last long either and they divorced on May 24, 1912. On December 7, 1912, Bomsdorff-Bergen entered into another marriage in Schweidnitz, this time with the actress Rudolfine Maas. This marriage also ended in divorce, but not until May 16, 1935.

Journalism

As far as the journalism of Bomsdorff-Bergen is concerned, two aspects have acquired further historical significance.

Anti-freemasonry

His book A World Fraud , published in 1923, is anti-Masonic oriented. In the Nazi regime, the Masonic lodges were forced to "dissolve themselves" (a de facto ban). A comment by Bomsdorff-Bergen is known regarding this fact, published in the anti-Semitic magazine Der Weltkampf (August 1935, p. 231 f: Rule of Law and Secret Societies , by Herbert von Bomsdorff-Bergen). In it he meant to instruct the readership with the sentence: “The idealists and valuable people who were lodge members have lost nothing. You can be happy to have been redeemed in a good way from the suggestion of the Jewish demon. "

Anti-Bible Students' agitation

Far more relevant is its role in the field of his anti- Bible Students' agitation. Again under his mentioned pseudonym he published for the first time in the issue of May 18, 1923 in the morning. Katholisches Tagblatt der Schweiz (published in Olten) wrote an article, which he titled: "Are the serious Bible Students really that 'harmless' ...?" It was followed by other, similar statements. In the aforementioned book, on pages 141–144, they were then reprinted.

The core thesis was: In 1919 he received a letter from an American Freemason “that Masonic circles are interested in the work of the 'Serious Bible Students'. - A big one! ”This thesis was reinforced in a further letter from American Freemasons to him (dated December 27, 1922), which also contained the sentence:“ We [the Freemasons] give them a lot of money ”.

German nationalist and church opponents of the Bible Students then based themselves on this thesis and made extensive use of it. Not Bomsdorff-Bergen, but other ruminants of that thesis were therefore also taken to court. The Munich Catholic Church Newspaper reported on this most extensively in its issue of May 10, 1925 (p. 224 f.). This church newspaper has for its reporting, both the defendant Dr. Fehrmann, as well as Bomsdorff-Bergen, contacted directly and reported on their comments on this. An essential aspect of those legal proceedings in St. Gallen was also the denial of the active legitimation of the complaining Bible Students. The court therefore did not deal with the allegations made in substance. It merely acknowledged that Fehrmann had repeated what others had already said in a similar way, without judicial consequences, and awarded Fehrmann for his summons to court, also financial compensation, at the expense of the Bible Students.

The section beginning on page 226 of the report by the Munich Catholic Church newspaper is also relevant : “The so-called 'revocation' of the Freemason's letter.” In it, Bomsdorff-Bergen (as the interviewee) describes it as follows: His book publisher was behind his back and without his Approval, compared to the Bible Students when they also sued the book publisher. Quote: “I was very wrong about my publisher. I didn't know he had a repeated criminal record. It gets even better: Mr. Verleger reached a settlement with the legal adviser of the so-called 'Serious Bible Students' before the court hearing in which he revoked the content of that letter behind the back of the author. ”Bomsdorff-Bergen also notes the legal costs of that settlement -Agreement had been adopted by the Bible Students.

Perhaps it would have been more interesting if Bomsdorff-Bergen had to present the evidence of his accusations in court himself. He had also expressly declared his willingness to do so in articles in the morning . However, since there was then the aforementioned settlement, there was never a further judicial review of the matter.

Works (selection)

• A compass for understanding human beings , with Uve Jens Kruse (pseudonym of Broder Christiansen ), 1922, Felsen-Verlag, Buchenbach-Baden.
• The colorful earth clothes of truth , 1931, Verlag Adolf Klein, Leipzig.
• Allfather's people , A song of German need and German strength; Stage play in 4 acts; Music by Max Büttner.
• Revelabitur gloria Domini! , with Max Büttner (music), Verlag Adolf Klein, Leipzig 1931.
• Karl May's cultural meaning, article in the Karl May yearbook 1931, pp. 445–451.
• Karl May, the human being and the artist , article in the Karl May yearbook 1932, p. 440.

supporting documents

1. ↑ ^{a b} Leuben registry office : marriage register . No. 4/1909.
2. ↑ ^{a b} Register Office Schweidnitz : marriage register . No. 173/1912.