Otto Wilhelm Barth

Otto Wilhelm Barth (born September 25, 1882 in Leipzig ; died after 1930) was a German publisher and editor of esoteric writings. He was a co-founder of the Otto Wilhelm Barth Verlag, which still exists today and is named after him .

Live and act

Barth was the son of a Leipzig bookseller. He was interested in art, dealt with philosophy, religion and theosophy , and was a member of the International Theosophical Brotherhood in Leipzig. At their events he appears until 1908 as the “actor of the Leipziger Schauspielhaus”, where he recited Dante , Goethe and Byron at musical lecture evenings.

In the following years, Barth had a stage distributor and a publishing house in Leipzig, which among other things published the series Das Theater - a collection of dramatic works . An Otto Wilhelm Barth publishing house (owner Ernst Rainer Wunderlich) can be verified in Leipzig until 1931. Presumably Barth had sold his publishing house when he moved to Munich.

Around 1920 Barth moved to Munich, where from 1921 he founded several companies, namely the Jati-Verlag , which mainly published astrological writings and ephemeris , and the Asokthebu bookstore as a “special bookshop for occultism, astronomy, astrology, theosophy, mysticism, and religious philosophy ", Which was then also the publishing bookstore and office of the Lotus Society founded by Heinrich Tränker in 1921 and in which the lotus sheets were published, which were supposed to make old and new literary literature accessible to the members of the Lotus Society by reprinting and publishing. From 1923 he published Pansophia - the original sources of inner life. Newly announced for the sake of the world by a "Collegium Pansophicum" , a series of publications from the environment of the Pansophic Society . In addition, in 1922 Barth directed the silent film The Sister's Blood , an "occult sensational film in 5 acts" for which Ernst Schertel wrote the screenplay.

In December 1924 he finally founded the Otto Wilhelm Barth Verlag, limited liability company, together with Fritz Werle (1899–1977), previously lecturer at the Wolkenwanderer publishing house in Leipzig . Werle raised 4000 Reichsmarks and Barth 1000 Reichsmarks as company shares, but Barth's share only consisted of offset publishing rights from Asokthebu-Verlag. In June 1825 Hermann von Glenck joined as a further partner.

Apparently, Barth, who in addition to the Barth-Verlag managed several other companies, published magazines, etc., could not fulfill his obligations as managing director of the Barth-Verlag in the expected way, because on January 3, 1926, the other two shareholders gave him notice, among other things with reference to the non-competition clause : “We also learned that you are providing other services. You have therefore violated your obligation under Section 60 of the German Commercial Code. Our termination also applies in this sense. ”There also seem to have been differences with regard to the publisher's program, as Werle, who was mainly interested in astrology, had little sense of pansophy and the like (Bart about Werle:“ Opponents of pansophy from the beginning ”). In March 1926 Barth left the publishing house named after him or was forced to do so. The OW Barth Verlag in Munich- Planegg still exists today and is one of the more renowned German esoteric publishers . Barth was unable to get the publisher's name changed.

In 1927, Barth started the ambitious company of an alchemical specialist journal, which was published under the demanding title Alchemistische Blätter. First German trade journal for all areas of alchemy. Monthly magazine for the entire field of hermetic sciences in old and new times. Organ of various alchemical societies, lodges, schools appeared. Barth succeeded in winning respectable authors for his magazine, including François Jollivet-Castelot, Ernst Darmstaedter , Albert Herba (d. I. Hermann Baumann), Ferdinand Maack , Alfred Müller-Edler , Dr. Franz Spunda (1890–1963) and Oswald Wirth (1860–1943). Also Gershom Scholem's essay alchemy and Kabbalah appeared here for the first time.

Despite such writers, the company was unsuccessful. After the first year, the publication was suspended for two years. Otherwise times were economically difficult for Barth. He had given the publishing house Asokthebu to his wife, but in 1927 it went bankrupt. Barth's financial situation must have been desolate, because in 1928 Eugen Grosche wrote to Martha Küntzel : “[Barth] is moving from one furnished room to the other and is in such a bad situation that he even works for a fast photographer on the street. “In the same year, however, Barth succeeds in finding a new job as“ manager ”of the magazine Neue Wege , and in 1930 he was able to publish the second (and last) year of the Alchemischen Blätter .

In the first issue under the heading “Notes from the Movement” there appears a reference to a Reich working group “The coming Germany” , behind which Barth stands, and it says about this: “The community is absolutely apolitical and impartial. Every 'seeker' regardless of gender and social position is welcome. ”The program of this Reich Working Group is a script written by a Johannes Täufer with the promising title “ Vril ”The Cosmic Elemental Force. Atlantis rebirth. The address given in the text of the “central office” of the Reichsarbeitsgemeinschaft agrees with Barth's publishing address, under which he operated the German publishing house for naturopathy and the Otto Wilhelm Barth publishing house in Berlin . In the same year another book was published by the Reichsarbeitsgemeinschaft under the title Weltdynamismus. Forays into new technical territory using biological symbols . and as a supplement to the second issue of the now Archive for alchemical research named Alchemical leaves the only issue of the imaginary as the official organ of the Reich Association Journal Weltdynamismus. For an introduction to bio-technology . In this the project of the Reich Working Group is presented as follows:

“The Reichsarbeitsgemeinschaft 'Das Coming Deutschland' is now making it its task to educate the German people about all matters and will do this through large mass gatherings, leaflets, pamphlets and this official organ. The call goes out to all well-meaning people who are willing to get out of the existing, unsustainable economic and ethical conditions to join our movement. The new technology brings mankind complete mastery of nature. The primal force is not to be equated with any of the currently known energies, since it represents the force of all forces with which we today work in technology. It is the psychophysical universal energy and as such vitally creative. "

Although a “vital creative universal force” is obviously a fabulous thing, only a handful of people were interested, which is why the planned mass events could not be carried out. One of the few who was enthusiastic about the Vril was the publisher Frank Glahn (1865–1941), who published a fiery appeal from Rudolf Sieber in his magazine Astrale Warte , in which he referred to Barth as the “Managing Director of Coming Germany”. In October 1930 a second leaflet of the Reichsarbeitsgemeinschaft “Das kommende Deutschland” appeared in the same magazine . This was probably the last published statement of the group, not because the work with the primal force would now have been continued in secret, but because the group broke up. Johannes Täufer was exposed as Hans Janik, who would have stolen the Vril power from the actual inventor Carl Schappeller . Barth was also deceived and suffered about 1000M damage for "office rent, printing costs and other expenses".

As a result, the traces of Barth's activity are lost. Nothing is known about the time and circumstances of his death.

Nothing more was heard from the Reichsarbeitsgemeinschaft in the following three decades either, until it appeared in a fantastically decorated form as the Vril Society in a book by Louis Pauwels and Jacques Bergier in the 1960s .

literature

• Volker Lechler: The short history of the Reichsarbeitsgemeinschaft. In: Gnostika. Magazine for symbol systems. 17th year, issue 52, May 2013, pp. 59–77 and issue 53, November 2013, pp. 43–55, online .

Web links

• Otto Wilhelm Barth in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Exploring alchemy in the early 20th century, part 2 , on the alchemical sheets in the holdings of the Ritman Library

Individual evidence

1. ^ Invitations to the ITV events of December 10, 1906, February 11, 1907 and March 18, 1908
2. ^ The theater - a collection of dramatic works. Barth, Leipzig 1912-1913 (?), ZDB -ID 2255588-2 .
3. ↑ Lechler: The short history of the Reichsarbeitsgemeinschaft. In: Gnostika 17, No. 52 (2013), footnote 14.
4. ↑ Lotus leaves. Organ of the Lotus Society in Munich. Asokthebu, Munich 1921-1925, ZDB -ID 347482-3 .
5. ↑ Pansophia - original sources of inner life. Ed. by Heinrich Tränker . Barth, Munich / Pansophia-Verlag, Leipzig 1923-1925, ZDB -ID 2103850-8 . 6 volumes published.
6. ^ Postcard from OW Barth to Max Staack (member of the Fraternitas Saturni ) from January 20, 1926.
7. ^ Title in the 2nd year: Archive for alchemical research . Berlin-Charlottenburg, 1927 & 1930, ZDB -ID 526573-3 .
8. ^ Letter from Grosche to Martha Küntzel dated June 6, 1928. Quoted in: Lechler: The short history of the Reichsarbeitsgemeinschaft. In: Gnostika 17, No. 52 (2013).
9. ↑ Possibly the New Paths, published in Zurich since 1906 : Leaves for Religious Work .
10. ↑ The real name of Johannes Täufer was Hans Janik (born July 27, 1892 in Nikolsburg ). It is said that he is a master of suggestion and hypnosis, that he was a high priest 12,000 years ago and that he erected sacrificial altars in Tibet. Janik said of himself that it was his mission to save Germany. Cf. A. Frank Glahn (ed.): Astrale Warte. Natural paths of knowledge. Volume 6, Issue 9 (December 1930), p. 309.
11. ↑ John the Baptist [d. i. Hans Janik]: "Vril" The cosmic elemental force. Atlantis rebirth. Ed. On behalf of d. Reich working group "The coming Germany". Astrological Verlag Wilhelm Becker, Berlin-Steglitz 1930, 56 p. Reprint: Schleierwelten-Verlag, Wyk auf Föhr 2nd edition 2008, ISBN 978-3-937341-38-5 .
12. ^ Berlin W 57, Pallasstrasse 7/1
13. ↑ World Dynamism. Forays into new technical territory using biological symbols. Edited by the Reichsarbeitsgemeinschaft “Das kommende Deutschland”. Barth, Berlin 1930, 31 pages, PDF . New edition: Johannes Täufer [d. i. Hans Janik]: World Dynamism. Attached: Vril, the cosmic elemental force. Atlantis rebirth. Hesper, Saarbrücken 2010, ISBN 978-3-9813262-4-6 .
14. ↑ Journal for World Dynamism. Official organ of the Reich working group “The coming Germany”. No. 1, Berlin 1930, p. 15 f.
15. ^ Letter from Max Staack to A. Frank Glahn dated November 1, 1930. Quoted in: Lechler: The short history of the Reichsarbeitsgemeinschaft. In: Gnostika 17, No. 52 (2013).
16. ^ Louis Pauwels, Jacques Bergier: Le matin des magiciens. Introduction au réalisme fantastique. Gallimard, Paris 1960. German: Departure into the third millennium. From the future of fantastic reason. Scherz, Bern a. a. 1962.