NOSTRADAMUS, ASTROLOGY AND THE BIBLE
substudY "WORLD WAR ii"
Nostradamus - Prophetische Weltgeschichte
(dr. N. Alexander Centurio [dr. phil. A.M. Centgraf], Berlin, 1968)
- T.W.M. van Berkel -

In 1968, Turm publishers in Bietigheim published the first edition of Nostradamus - Prophetische Weltgeschichte - übersetzt und gedeutet von dr. N. Alexander Centurio. The name "dr. N. Alexander Centurio" is one of the author's pseudonyms of the German Century-scholar dr. phil. Alexander Max Centgraf (Thale, March 8, 1893 - Kraiburg, December 18, 1970).[1] 
Nostradamus - Prophetische Weltgeschichte is, according to what Centgraf wrote about it in the Geleitwort, a continuation in concentrated form of the fourth and last edition of Nostradamus - Der Prophet der Weltgeschichte - erste deutsche Gesamtausgabe der Vorhersagen zeitnah übersetzt und gedeutet von Dr. N. Centurio (Berlin, 1960, sold in 1966). As a result, the first edition of Nostradamus - Prophetische Weltgeschichte is not numbered as the first edition, but as the fifth, revised and enlarged edition. The second and next editions of Nostradamus - Prophetische Weltgeschichte are numbered as sixth and next editions, all of them with the remark "revised and enlarged", though they all are reprints of the first edition. Today, Nostradamus - Prophetische Weltgeschichte is still published by Turm publishers.
Nostradamus - Prophetische Weltgeschichte is an illustrated book which counts 292 pages. The first edition was a cloth-bound edition with a dust jacket which to some extent was similar to the the dust jacket of Nostradamus - Der Prophet der Weltgeschichte. On the front side of the dust jacket of Nostradamus - Prophetische Weltgeschichte, the name NOSTRADAMUS was printed in the same way as on the front side of the dust jacket of Nostradamus - Der Prophet der Weltgeschichte, with pictures of the astrological symbols of the zodiacal signs of Sagittarius and Pisces, completed with the astrological symbol of the planet Jupiter. On the backside of the dust jacket of Nostradamus - Prophetische Weltgeschichte wasw listed what Nostradamus, according to Centgraf, had predicted about the future until the 21st century, such as the coronation on August 11, 1999 of Henry the Fortunate as king of France, his appointment to president of the United States of Europe and the perspective that his reign will result around 2035 in a peace for about 57 years, whereas England around that time will become one of the states of the United States of America. The information on the front flap of Nostradamus - Prophetische Weltgeschichte was copied from the front flap of the dust jacket of Nostradamus - Der Prophet der Weltgeschichte. According to that information, a respected historian and philologist, Nostradamus - Prophetische Weltgeschichte contained information about Nahe an 2000 Jahre - Gegenwart und Zukunft in prophetischer Schau, a book by M. Kahir (one of the author's pseudonyms of Viktor Mohr) about predictions concerning popes (among which the Prophecies of St. Malachi) which in 1958 was published by Turm publishers and to which Centgraf referred a couple of times in Nostradamus - Prophetische Weltgeschichte. On the red linen cover of the first edition of Nostradamus - Prophetische Weltgeschichte, the family crest of the Notre Dame family, consisting of two double crosses and two eagle's heads, was printed in gold. This crest was also printed on the linen cover of Nostradamus - Der Prophet der Weltgeschichte. Later editions of Nostradamus - Prophetische Weltgeschichte were paperback editions, with on the cover the cover illustration of the first edition and on the back the list of predictions, listed on the back side of the dust jacket of the first edition. 
Nostradamus - Prophetische Weltgeschichte contains six b/w illustrations: a portrait of Nostradamus, copied from Nostradamus (Eugène Bareste, Paris, 1840) and already depicted in the fourth edition of Nostradamus - Der Prophet der Weltgeschichte, the frontispiece of the 1940-Krafft-copy of the Centuries (Frankfurt am Main, 1940) and four horoscope figures: the birth chart of Henry the Fortunate (Le Mans, January 21, 1981, 22:52 GMT) and the horary chart of the solar eclipse of August 11, 1999 (Paris, 11:17 GMT), both calculated by the Austrian astrologer dr. Wilhelm Kestranek, the horary chart of the Full Moon of August 7, 1846 and finally the birth chart of Nostradamus (December, 1503, Saint- Rémy de Provence, 12:00 WPT), calculated by the German astrologer Willy Bischoff, one of the founders in 1947 of the Deutsche Astrologen-Verband e.V. In 1979, Schors publishers in Amsterdam used the picture of the horary chart of the solar eclipse of August 11, 1999 for the cover of De Profetieën van Nostradamus, a reprint of the first Dutch translation of the Centuries, published by Servire publishers in The Hague, NL, in 1941.
Nostradamus - Prophetische Weltgeschichte contains, next to Centgraf's studies and comments, brief comments by Kestranek on the birth chart of Henry the Fortuate and the horary chart of the solar eclipse of August 11, 1999 and an extensive comment by Bischoff, previously published in the fourth edition of Nostradamus - Der Prophet der Weltgeschichte, on the birth chart of Nostradamus. 
In the Geleitwort, Centgraf expressed his gratitude towards a.o. prof. dr. Hans-Hermann Kritzinger, characterized as the Nestor of Nostradamus-research, and count Carl Ludwig Friedrich Otto von Klinckowstroem, the author of Die ältesten Ausgaben der “Propheties” des Nostradamus, ein Beitrag zur Nostradamus Bibliographie (in: Zeitschrift für Bücherfreunde, Leipzig, 1913), one of the first German Nostradamus-bibliographies. Both of them were also mentioned in the Nachtrag of the fourth edition of Nostradamus - Der Prophet der Weltgeschichte. Centgraf's wife Frieda assisted him during the writing of Nostradamus - Prophetische Weltgeschichte.

Contents of Nostradamus - Prophetische Weltgeschichte
Like the contents of Nostradamus - Der Prophet der Weltgeschichte, the contents of Nostradamus - Prophetische Weltgeschichte are divided into three parts:

1. Treatises on the life of Nostradamus, his language and expressions, the future until in the 21st century, Nostradamus as a humanist and Christian professor about the Church and papacy, Nostradamus who was not the king of astrologers but an astronomer, an outstanding forecast of Nostradamus: the discovery of the planet Neptune, Nostradamus about the important inventions in the future;

2. The inspiration sources of Nostradamus; Centgraf's translation of and comments upon the Preface to Cesar, the Epistle to Henry II, the ban on inept critics and predictions which in the 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th and the first two trimesters of the 20th century were fulfilled;

3. Prophetic concordance of world history, chronologically arranged for the period 1900-2050; the first half of the 21st century, a bibliography of Century-editions and Century-comments; a discussion of systems with which a number of Century-scholars tried to arrange the quatrains according to their year of fulfilment; the birth chart of Nostradamus and an index of persons and geographic names.

In Nostradamus - Prophetische Weltgeschichte, Centgraf did not discuss all of the predictions in the Centuries, the Présages and the Sixains, as in Nostradamus - Der Prophet der Weltgeschichte, but limited himself to the discussion of those predictions which according to hem were fulfilled between 1555 and 1960 and to those predictions which according to him would be fulfilled between 1960 and 2050. As a result, the discussed predictions are arranged according to their supposed fulfilment year.
Many of the texts and comments in Nostradamus - Der Prophet der Weltgeschichte return in Nostradamus - Prophetische Weltgeschichte, fdrequently on another location, sometimes in another context. In a couple of cases in Nostradamus - Prophetische Weltgeschichte, Centgraf provided new or additional details. Sometimes, he introduced new facts and insights.[2] One of these new insights dealt with Henry the Fortunate. In Nostradamus - Der Prophet der Weltgeschichte, Centgraf supposed that the birth of Henry the Fortunate was announced in quatrain 10-72 (L'an mil neuf cens nonante neuf sept mois...). This supposition lead to the dating of this birth in 1999 AD.[3] In Nostradamus - Prophetische Weltgeschichte, basing himself upon the assumption of the Austrian astrologer dr. Wilhelm Kestranek that the birth date of Henry the Fortunate is indicated in quatrain 05-41 and his hour of birth in quatrain 10-71, Centgraf took January 21, 1981 as the day on which Henry the Fortunate would be born.[4] This seems to be the explanation for the fact that in Nostradamus - Prophetische Weltgeschichte, the events and developments in the 21st century on the European continent and England occur 10 years earlier, compared with Nostradamus - Der Prophet der Weltgeschichte.

License publications and translations of Nostradamus - Prophetische Weltgeschichte

Munich 1981

Utrecht 1981

Katowice 1995

In 1981, Goldmann publishers in Munich published a license-publication of Nostradamus - Prophetische Weltgeschichte, entitled Die großen Weissagungen des Nostradamus: prophetische Weltgeschichte bis zum Jahr 2050 - übersetzt und gedeutet von N. Alexander Centurio. At present, the copyrights of this license-publication are owned by Random House publishers in Munich.
Nostradamus - Prophetische Weltgeschichte is translated into Dutch and Polish. The Dutch translation was made by E.M.J. (Marieke) Prinsen Geerligs-Bakker and was entitled De Profetieën van Nostradamus (Utrecht, 1981). Since 1995, this translation is entitled De ware voorspellingen van Nostradamus - de wonderbaarlijke profetieën van de 16e eeuwse ziener ook voor onze tijd en toekomst! (Kosmos, Utrecht/Antwerpen).[5] The Polish translation, entitled Przepowiednie Nostradamusa, was published in 1995 by Videograph publishers in Katowice. This translation, which until 2001 was reprinted four times, was made by Ewa Jurczyk.

Nostradamus as a Christian professor

Richard Schikowski logo 1953

Turm Verlag logo 1968

In Nostradamus - Prophetische Weltgeschichte, Nostradamus is not described as an occultist, as in Nostradamus - Der Prophet der Weltgeschichte or in Centgraf's letter of May 22, 1950 to the German author Hermann Hesse, at that time residing in Switzerland, but as a Christian professor in whose predictions God addresses Himself to humanity.[6] The paragraphs in the first part of Nostradamus - Prophetische Weltgeschichte in which Nostradamus is exposed as a humanist and Christian professor, who deals in his predictions with the Church and papacy and as someone who was not an astrologer, but astronomer, are not present in Nostradamus - Der Prophet der Weltgeschichte. Further, the third motto of Nostradamus - Der Prophet der Weltgeschichte (Ereignisse, die nicht prophezeit werden, bleiben fragwürdig. Ihr Eintreffen ist aber dann gesichert, sobald man an sie glaubt - Heinrich Mann in the novel Die Vollendung des Königs Henri IV) is replaced by the slogan Das Kreuz bedeutet Friede, wenn man die Gebote Gottes erfüllt, Centgraf's translation of the first line of quatrain 04-05.[7]   
The transformation which Nostradamus underwent in Nostradamus - Prophetische Weltgeschichte, might be related to the fact that Schikowski publishers, the publisher of Nostradamus - Der Prophet der Weltgeschichte, published esoteric and occult books, whereas Turm publishers, founded in 1952, was dealing with topics like inner life and Christian prophecy.[8] 

The role of Voorspellingen die uitgekomen zijn... in the writing of Nostradamus - Prophetische Weltgeschichte
In his post-war publications about Nostradamus and the Centuries, to begin with the article Nostradamus und Berlin - und andere Weissagungen in the issue of July 10, 1949 of Der Kurier (Berlin), Centgraf never dissociated himself from Voorspellingen die uitgekomen zijn... and Nostradamus and England, national-socialist Nostradamus-brochures which he wrote in 1940/'41 and 1944. He also did not apologize for his attempts to demoralize the people in the countries, occupied or fighted by Germany, most notably the British, the communists and the Jews, by means of these brochures. The readers of his post-war publications about Nostradamus and the Centuries have not the faintest idea that the first time Centgraf published his in World War II dated discoveries of the way Germany, the Allies and the Soviet-Union were described in the Centuries, was in his propaganda brochure Voorspellingen die uitgekomen zijn...  

The word Hadrie
In Nostradamus - Der Prophet der Weltgeschichte and Nostradamus - Prophetische Weltgeschichte, Centgraf linked the word Hadrie, which can be found in a.o. the quatrains 01-08 and 03-11, to Hitler. In Nostradamus - Prophetische Weltgeschichte, this link is explained in a different way than in Nostradamus - Der Prophet der Weltgeschichte. In Voorspellingen die uitgekomen zijn..., the Dutch translation of the national-socialist Nostradamusbrochure which Centgraf, as is assumed on this website, either wrote or finished between June and December 1941, it reads on page 47 that the word Hadrie contains the initials of the name of Adolf Hitler and also the word Adria, an allusion to the axis between Germany and Italy which had its gravity point in the Adriatic Sea. In Nostradamus und Berlin - und andere Weissagungen (in: Der Kurier, Berlin, July 10, 1949) Centgraf wrote, discussing quatrain 03-11, that by means of another series of quatrains in which the fate of Germany at the time of World War II was discussed, discovered - without mentioning the year of this discovery - that Nostradamus used the word Hadrie as a cryptic reference to Hitler. The letter H was an allusion to Hitler, Ad was an allusion to Adolf and Adrie was an allusion to Adria, the southern point of gravity of the Axis-politics. This explanation is word-by-word corresponding to the explanation in Voorspellingen die uitgekomen zijn...
The explanation of the word Hadrie in the paragraph Die Sprache des Propheten in Nostradamus - Der Prophet der Weltgeschichte is corresponding with the explanation in Voorspellingen die uitgekomen zijn... and Nostradamus und Berlin - und andere Weissagungen: H = Hitler, Ad = Adolf, Adria is the gravity-point of his Axis-politics. In his comment upon quatrain 01-08, Centgraf repeated this. In the discussion of the quatrains 03-07, -08 and -09, Centgraf wrote that it was in the winter of 1939/'40 that he had discovered that the word Hadrie was a cryptic allusion to Hitler.[9] 
In the comment upon quatrain 03-11 in the paragraph Nostradamus und Berlin in Nostradamus - Der Prophet der Weltgeschichte, Centgraf wrote that the word Hadrie could be explained in different ways, such as being an allusion to Hader (tr.: hulk) or an allusion to Holdrio, given the fact that Hitler was born in the South-German language area. However, many readers, according to Centgraf, would find the explanation that Hadrie contains an echo of the name of the Roman emperor Hadrian, plausible, since both Hitler and Hadrian made annihilation wars against the Jews, with millions of casualties.[10]  In Nostradamus - Prophetische Weltgeschichte, Centgraf wrote nothing about cryptic references to the initials of Hitler or his Axis-politics. In the paragraph Die Sprache des Propheten, he restricted himself to the remark that Hadrie is a reference to Hitler. In the discussion of quatrain 10-38, he explained the word Hadrie as an echo of the name of the emperor Hadrian, who in 132-135 AD destructed Jerusalem and expelled the Jews to the remote corners of the world.[11] Whether or not Centgraf dissociated himself from his idea H = Hitler, Ad = Adolf, Adrie = Adriatic Sea, and if yes, why, is something to which we can only guess.

Centgraf's translation of quatrain 10-31
In the chapter Neuland der Zukunft I in Nostradamus - Prophetische Weltgeschichte, Centgraf made the remark that in a couple of Century-editions, the third line of quatrain 10-31 contains the word Anes. Centgraf considers this to be a printer's error; the original word was Ames (tr.: soul), something which according to him is confirmed by the word Carmanie, the last word in the third line of quatrain 10-31, which according to Centgraf contains the word "karma". Therefore, Centgraf's translation of the third line of quatrain 10-31 reads: Auch[12] In Nostradamus - Der Prophet der Weltgeschichte, Centgraf also gave this translation, without explaining in his comment how this translation was achieved.[13]  
It looks quite plausible that Centgraf, in the case of his comment upon quatrain 10-31 in Nostradamus - Prophetische Weltgeschichte, reverted to the German source text of Voorspellingen die uitgekomen zijn..., in which he had written that he considered the word Anes to be a printer's error and replaced it by the word Ames (soul), a word which fitted to Carmanie, since in that word, the word "karma" was hidden. Considering this, the third line of quatrain 10-31 could be translated into Ook de zielen willen hun wedergeboorte (German: Auch die Seelen wollen ihre Wiedergeburt), a translation which returns in Centgraf's post-war books about Nostradamus and the Centuries.[14] 

Centgraf finished Nostradamus - Prophetische Weltgeschichte two years before his death. The first reprint of Nostradamus - Prophetische Weltgeschichte was published one year after his death. The comment in this book upon quatrain 10-31 shows that until very late in his life, Centgraf still used comments, explanations and findings, dating from World War II, i.e. originating from his national-socialist, propagandistic Nostradamus-brochures.

A questionable Century-scholar
On this website, it is assumed that after the German invasion in Poland in September 1939, Centgraf started to study Nostradamus and the Centuries, i.e.Loog's Die Weissagungen des Nostradamus and probably most notably his comment upon quatrain 03-57, which at that time was quite sensational because of being linked to the German invasion in Poland. The critical remarks of the German philosopher dr. Max Dessoir in Vom Jenseits der Seele about Nostradamus, the Centuries and the Century-comments made him, as he wrote, to compare the predictions in the Centuries with the course of history. 
By the end of 1939, according to his information, Centgraf warned compatriots against the risks of a lightning war against France. Perhaps his study was focused upon fathoming the military and political situation in Europe. In the summer of 1940, he was upset when he noticed that national-socialists used his link of a couple of quatrains to such a kind of war for propaganda purposes. In the summer of 1944, he wrote, he tried to achieve peace in Europe by telling Hadamovsky, a prominent national-socialist, that one of the quatrains in the Centuries fitted to such an event. He also would have tried to improve the circumstances of some of his friends who were interned in a concentration camp. Centgraf's information on these points contains incorrect facts and does not show that in World War II, Centgraf, who in 1933 became member of the SA, in 1937 member of the NSDAP, was an esteemed national-socialist activist who wrote anti-Semitic brochures and used the Centuries and Century-comments for propagandistic purposes by writing the German source text of Voorspellingen die uitgekomen zijn... and the brochure Nostradamus and England, with which in the summer of 1944 the British had to become demoralized. 
According to the future scenario in Voorspellingen die uitgekomen zijn..., England would fall, Germany, lead by Hitler, would become the leading power in Europe (the Holy Empire) and the world would be in peace for 57 years. In Centgraf's post-war publications about Nostradamus and the Centuries, Henry the Fortunate, president of the United States of Europe, would give the world a peace period for 57 years in 2040, Germany will play a leading part (the Holy Empire) and England would become a part of the United States of America, and as such lose her leading position in the world. This raises the question if Centgraf in 1940/'41 wrote a number of texts and a future scenario, which in 1941 he changed for propaganda reasons and after war brought back in its original state, or if the German source text of Voorspellingen die uitgekomen zijn... was his first text about Nostradamus and the Centuries, which he changed after the war. For the moment, I cannot answer this question, which is an important one since it is hard to imagine that someone who wants to hide his propagandistic activities in 1941/'44, dates the beginning of his study in 1939. It is a matter of fact, however, that in his post-war publications about Nostradamus and the Centuries, beginning with the article Nostradamus und Berlin - und andere Weissagungen, Centgraf included texts which can be traced back to the German source text of Voorspellingen die uitgekomen zijn... Neither in his post-war publications, nor in public, he dissociated himself or apologized for what he had written in the German source text of Voorspellingen die uitgekomen zijn...: comments which had to frighten people and to demoralize them, which were aimed against Jews and communists and which demonstrated that for decades, national-socialism would be the leading power in Europe. On the contrary, he presented himself as a Century-scholar who comforts his readers. In Nostradamus - Prophetische Weltgeschichte, his second book about Nostradamus and the Centuries, which he finished two years before his death and which until today is reprinted, he added, compared with his first book about Nostradamus and the Centuries (Nostradamus - Der Prophet der Weltgeschichte) new elements which can be traced back to Voorspellingen die uitgekomen zijn...
For many years, my colleague Ulrich Maichle occupies himself with research on the activities of Centgraf / Centurio. His website Die Nostradamus-Propaganda der Nazis 1939 - 1942 contains numerous transcripts of documents which shows Centgraf's involvement in national-socialism. Maichle had a discussion with Random House publishers in Munich in order to stop further selling of Die grossen Weissagungen des Nostradamus, a license edition of Nostradamus - Prophetische Weltgeschichte. I invite you to deepen yourself in the oeuvre of Centgraf / Centurio, the articles about his books on www.nostradamusresearch.org and Maichle's findings. If you think that the oeuvre of Centgraf / Centurio is politically contaminated and that his book Die grossen Weissagungen des Nostradamus has to be taken from the market, you can address yourself to Random House or to Turm publishers, the company which up until today publishes Nostradamus - Prophetische Weltgeschichte. 

De Meern, the Netherlands, 10 april 2010
T.W.M. van Berkel the Netherlands, July 17, 2010
T.W.M. van Berkel  

1. Van Berkel: Information on dr. phil. A.M. Centgraf alias dr. N. Alexander Centurio. See also: Maichle: Die Nostradamus-Propaganda der Nazi's, 1939-1942. The word Centurio is a latinization of the French word Centuries. [text]

2. Van Berkel: Dr. phil. A.M. Centgraf (dr. N. Alexander Centurio) on national-socialist Nostradamus-propaganda. [text]

3. Centurio-1953-1960, p.226. [text]  

4. Centurio-1968, p.54. [text] 

5. Van Berkel: Mysterie 14/18 - De Eerste Wereldoorlog onverklaard (R. Heijster, Tielt, 2000 [ 1999]). [text] 

6. Centurio-1968, p.8. [text] 

7. Centurio-1953, p.6; Centurio-1968, p.9. The two other motto's in Nostradamus - Prophetische Weltgeschichte (an apologetic poem about Nostradamus by the Frenchman Ronsard and a remark by Goethe about looking into the future) were copied from Nostradamus - Der Prophet der Weltgeschichte. [text] 

8. See: http://www.turm-verlag.de. [text] 

9. Centurio-1953, p.17, 33 and 70. [text]

10. Centurio-1953, p.100. [text] 

11. Centurio-1968, p.30 and 200. [text]

12. Centurio-1968, p.47. [text] 

13. Centurio-1953, p.218. [text]

14. "De Tombre"-1941, p.93. On page 90, the Dutch translation of the third line of quatrain 10-31 reads: De zielen willen ook naar Carmanië. [text]