International theosophical fraternization
The International Theosophical Fraternization (ITV) was a theosophical organization founded by Franz Hartmann in 1897 with its seat in Munich (from 1898 Leipzig ). and was in close contact with the Theosophical Society in Germany .
history
prehistory
In 1884, the Coulomb affair, and then in 1885, the Hodgson Report ruined the reputation of the Theosophical Society . In Germany, the theosophical Lodge Germania was affected, which disbanded at the end of 1886 because of this scandal. Franz Hartmann had been a member of the Germania Lodge and after its dissolution he looked for ways to build a new theosophical group. This should be free of the shadows of the past (Coulomb affair / Hodgson Report) in order to be able to spread the theosophical idea all the more effectively without being burdened by it.
In 1895 the Theosophical Society split into two competing organizations as a result of the Judge Case , on the one hand the Theosophical Society Adyar (Adyar-TG) and on the other hand the Theosophical Society in America (TGinA). In Adyar , the headquarters of the now Adyar-TG, the scandals mentioned above had occurred and this organization was also associated with it. The reputation of the newly created TGinA, on the other hand, was unaffected at the time and thus offered Hartmann the opportunity he was looking for for his theosophical new beginning. When Ernest T. Hargrove and Katherine Tingley , the directors of the TGinA, visited Germany, Hartmann and Paul Raatz founded the Theosophical Society in Europe (Germany) (TGE) as a lodge of the TGinA in Berlin on June 24, 1896 . Hartmann became president of the new company.
The International Theosophical Fraternization
But Hartmann apparently did not accept the work of the TGE or TGinA either, on September 3, 1897, he resigned from the TGE and resigned from his position as president. To this end, he founded the International Theosophical Brotherhood (ITV) in Munich on the same day as a completely independent and autonomous theosophical organization. This was not tied to any parent company, but rather represented one itself and thus established a further theosophical direction alongside the Adyar-TG and the TGinA. This ITV group was subsequently referred to as "Hartmannians", according to its founder and direction- giver Franz Hartmann .
The ITV appeared with the claim not to belong to any theosophical party, but rather to represent a superordinate platform under whose roof the original theosophical idea was to be realized. In this sense, the statutes of the Theosophical Society founded in New York in 1875 were used as the basis for the ITV constitution. In contrast to the Adyar-TG and TGinA, however, there was no sole responsible president, but a leadership committee headed by a chairman. As a result, the individual lodges had complete freedom of action and were not, as with the Adyar-TG or TGinA, bound by the guidelines of the leadership. Hartmann himself was the first chairman from 1897 to 1898, then Hermann Rudolph took this position until his death in 1946.
In 1897 the headquarters of the ITV were in Munich, in 1898 the headquarters moved to Leipzig , where it was located until 1959. The later remaining is unclear, the ITV presumably existed until 1987. In 1923 the Supranational Theosophical Society split off from the ITV under the direction of Hugo Vollrath and became independent. In 1925 the ITV was the largest theosophical group in Germany with 40 lodges and 2,141 members. Like all other theosophical societies, the ITV was banned by the Gestapo during the Nazi era from mid-1936 to 1945 and only existed underground to a modest extent. The ITV also had an offshoot in Switzerland . The organ of publication was the monthly magazine Theosophical Culture .
Connections and Influences
The ITV was related to the Theosophical Society in Germany (TGD), the exact connection is unclear. Either the TGD was a lodge under the roof of the ITV and succeeded it after its dissolution. Or the ITV changed its name in the course of its history and then operated under the name TGD. It is possible that the TGD developed over time into the dominant lodge within the ITV and was then equated with it. The TGD still exists today (2006), there are lodges in Konstanz and Heidelberg . However, the current activities of the TGD are low, the website www.theosophische-gesellschaft-in-deutschland.de was closed in 2005.
With its theosophical ideas, the ITV or TGD was in direct competition with the German section of the Theosophical Society , led by Rudolf Steiner from 1902 to 1912 , the German offshoot of the Adyar-TG . She influenced Buddhism in Germany through Hartmann's Buddhist imprint .
swell
- ↑ https://books.google.de/books?id=V83B1OfoFoAC&pg=PA649&lpg=PA649&dq=Internationale+Theosophische+Verbr%C3%BCderung+sitz&source=bl&ots=MA7ypG8TAm&sig=ACfU3U2N1g0ebEcqHtV9alqZ4qnquLSxmQ&hl=de&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjG66Pjz53mAhV5Q0EAHVdMBwUQ6AEwBHoECAgQAQ#v=onepage&q=Internationale % 20Theosophical% 20Consumption% C3% BCderung% 20sitz & f = false
- ↑ a b Overview of the history of the Theosophical Societies in Germany
- ↑ a b Book Dissidents - Outline of the organizational history up to 1914 ( Memento from September 28, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF file; 16 kB)
- ↑ Black magic sectarianism and spiritual seduction ( Memento of the original from October 14, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF file; 147 kB)
