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1940-Krafft-copy
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General
information
Les Prophéties de Maistre Michel Nostradamus -
Bildgetreuer, vergrößerter
Abdruck einer Ausgabe der "Prophéties", erschienen bei
Benoist Rigaud Lyon unter dem Datum 1568 is a photocopy of a
1568-B.Rigaud-edition
of the Centuries, made by Fotokopist GmbH in Frankfurt am Main.
It circulation number was 299 copies. On this website, this copy is
entitled the "1940-Krafft-copy", because Karl Ernst Krafft, a
Swiss astrologer/statistician who in World War II wrote
national-socialist propaganda, using the Centuries, was involved
in its production.[1]
The 1940-Krafft-copy is a photocopy of a 1568-B.Rigaud-edition,
preserved in the Sächsische Landesbibliothek
in Dresden and the Stadtbibliothek in Schaffhausen.[2]
These copies consist of two parts. The first part, counting 125 pages,
contains the Preface to Cesar, the centuries 01 to 05 (each 100
quatrains), century 06 (99 quatrains and a non-numbered quatrain, the Legis Cantio)
and century 07 (42 quatrains). The second part, counting 76 pages,
contains the Epistle to Henry II and the centuries 08 to 10 (each 100
quatrains). All these texts are included in the 1940-Krafft-copy; they
remained unchanged.
Next to century 10 comes an alphabetic quatrain index, made by Krafft,
counting 12 pages and entitled Registre
alphabetique des Quatrains contenus dans l'Edition de Lyon, de 1568.
For this index, Krafft edited the index in the 1689-Volcker-edition of
the Centuries.[3]
The 1940-Krafft-copy also contains an inserted enclosure, entitled Einführung zu den Prophéties de maistre Michel
Nostradamus, on this website entitled Einführung.... This
enclosure was printed by Paul Funck, Berlin SW 68.[4]
Origin
history
The origin
history of the 1940-Krafft-copy coincides with the origin history of the
Einführung... In a censored letter, dated on March 14, 1940, to Viorel
Vigil Tilea, the Rumanian ambassador in Londen with whom he corresponded
since 1937, Krafft wrote that since five weeks, in other words, since
the beginning of February 1940, he was occupied with the production of a
new edition of the Centuries, which would be accompanied by a
scientific-critical introduction to this controversial topic. He
expected to finish his work in the beginning of April 1940.[5]
With the new edition of the Centuries, Krafft meant the
1940-Krafft-copy; with the scientific-critical introduction, he meant
the Einführung...
The main text of the Einführung... carries the date
mid-August 1940 as the date of completion.[6]
This more or less coincides with the period in which the final text of Nostradamus
sieht die Zukunft Europas became available for translation , a
Nostradamusbrochure by Krafft, who wrote the first version between May
28 and the end of June 1940 and which in 1941 was brought into
circulation in six languages.[7]
Page IV in the Einführung... contains the remark that it was
managed, despite many difficulties, to produce a 100% copy of the oldest
accessible complete edition of the Centuries, which is a reference to
the used 1568-B.Rigaud-edition. The remark itself is a reference to the
achievement of the production of the 1940-Krafft-copy. Page 64 in the
IGPP-version of Nostradamus sieht die Zukunft Europas contains
the remark that a re-edition of a 1568-edition of
the Centuries was being prepared in Frankfurt am Main. The original text of this
version dates from June 1940. This means that the production of the
1940-Krafft-copy was finished between June and August 1940.[8]
The 1940-Krafft-copy and the Einführung...
were sold together for 30 Reichsmark. Astra publishers in Leipzig, who in 1926
published Wöllners Das
Mysterium des Nostradamus, acted as an agent.[9]
However, the 1940-Krafft-copy and the Einführung... were not
meant for free sale. The Deutsche Arbeitsfront sent a number of
copies to prominent members of the NSDAP.[10]
The
use of the 1940-Krafft-copy in World War II
The 1940-Krafft-copy and
the Einführung... were meant for Germany. The censored
letter of Krafft to Tilea, dated on March 14, 1940, shows that the
1940-Krafft-copy and the Einführung...
were produced for a society n Berlin with the involvement of a German
government office. According to the British searcher Ellic Paul Howe,
who did research on astrology in Nazi-Germany and the life and work of
Krafft, the German government office was the Reichssicherheitshauptamt.
From october 1939, Krafft worked at Amt VII-B1 of the Reichssicherheitshauptamt,
an office which was occupied with psychological warfare and the
observation of occultism and sects in Nazi-Germany. Krafft's superior
was dr. Heinrich Fesel, who handled his costs. According to Howe, the
society in Berlin was a reference to the Deutsche Metapsychische
Gesellschaft. The members of this society met each other in the
house of its president, Konrad Schuppe, a retired officer, living in the
Pragerstraße 17-IV in Berlin. More than once, Krafft and dr.
Hans-Hermann Kritzinger, the author of Mysterien von Sonne und Seele
and involved in the production of national-socialist propaganda, based
upon the Centuries, discussed the Centuries in
Schuppe's house.
According to the German astrologer Wilhelm Wulff, the Deutsche
Metapsychische Gesellschaft was founded by order of Goebbels.
According to page XXX of the Einführung..., this society was
willing to make it possible for friends and researchers on Nostradamus
to meet each other and to discuss about Nostradamus. The society made an
address list, in order to inform them about new publications.[11]
Howe's information does not show when the Deutsche Metapsychische
Gesellschaft was founded, for how long it was active, her aims, the
nature of the "metapsychical matters", details about Konrad
Schuppe, her president, and about who had joined this society. In 1922
and 1923, Schuppe, having the rank of
Oberstleutnant a.D., was president of the Psychische-Studien-Gesellschaft,
seated in Berlin. In
1930, he contributed to Dennis H. Bradley's Die Sitzungen mit
Valiantine [George Valiantine, an American psychic] in Berlin - Kritischer Kommentar zu dem Aufsatz "Valiantines
Entlarvung" von W. Kröner, unter mitarbeitung von Florizel von
Reuter, Johannes Kasnarich, Gustav Zeller, Konrad Schuppe und Paul
Sünner. In World War II,
according to Wilhelm
Hartmann 1893-1965), Astrologe und Berufsastronom, Schuppe was also
member of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für wissenschaftlichen
Okkultismus. In connection
with January 8, 1940, Goebbels wrote in his diary that he had a group of
experts on Nostradamus and astrology, which should provide the material
he needed for his propaganda.[12]
The question is if Goebbels had the Deutsche Metapsychische
Gesellschaft in mind when he wrote about this "group of
experts". Another question is if and if yes which was the function
of the 1940-Krafft-copy and the Einführung... within this
society. The author of this article considers the possibility that the
1940-Krafft-copy and the Einführung... were a
guideline or manual for the writing of propaganda, based upon the Centuries,
meant for abroad.[13]
A number of publications, published in World War II, contain material,
copied from the 1940-Krafft-copy. Krafft himself used quatrain texts and
parts of the Epistle to Henry II as illustrations for the translations
of Nostradamus
sieht die Zukunft Europas.[14]
A number of quatrain texts were used as illustration material for the
cover of the brochure Die Prophezeiungen des Nostradamus, volume 18 in
the series Informations-Schriften, and its translations.[15]
Voorspellingen die uitgekomen zijn..., the Dutch translation
of a national-socialist Nostradamusbrochure, written and/or finished
between June and December 1941 by dr. phil. Alexander Max Centgraf, contains
in an appendix photocopies of quatrain texts. These photocopies were
copied from the 1940-Krafft-copy.[16]
From Nostradamus - Prophetische Weltgeschichte (Bietigheim, 1968),
a book which he wrote under the pseudonym dr. N. Alexander Centurio, we
learn that Centgraf actually possessed a copy of the 1940-Krafft-copy.
In the chapter Bibliographische Angaben, he wrote that his source
text while writing Nostradamus - Prophetische
Weltgeschichte was the photocopy by Krafft, which was known to be
very reliable.[17]
Probably, Centgraf used the 1940-Krafft-copy as an illustration source
for his article Nostradamus und Berlin - und
andere Weissagungen (Berlin, 1949).[18]
Nostradamus
on Krafft's meddling with the Centuries
On top of the
backside of the title page of the 1940-Krafft-copy, there is a fragment
from the Epistle to Henry II, which shows the gloomy nature of the Centuries:
"Et
pource, ô tres-humanissime Roy, la plus part des quatrains prophetiques
sont tellement scabreux, que l'on n'y scauroit donner voye ni moins
aucuns interpreter...."
At the
bottom of the backside of the title page, the text of quatrain 03-53 is
printed:
Quand
le plus grand portera le pris
De Nuremberg, d'Augspourg, & ceux de Basle
Par Agrippine chef Frankfort repris:
Traverseront par Flamand jusqu'en Gale.
In the Einführung..., quatrain 03-53 is
mentioned as an example of quatrains which are very difficult to
understand since time indications have disappeared. In the Einführung...,
a mix of parts of the second and third line of this quatrain reads chef
repris à Francfort par ceux de Basle, without one word about the
differences between this mix and the original text.[19]
Neither
the 1940-Krafft-copy nor the Einführung... show why quatrain
03-53 is printed on the backside of the title page of the
1940-Krafft-copy. The explanation for this all can be found in Krafft's comment upon
quatrain 03-53 in Nostradamus sieht die Zukunft Europas. There, Krafft
wrote that Le plus grand
was an allusion to Hitler and that Nuremberg
was an allusion to on the one hand the NSDAP-meetings in Nuremberg and on the other hand German
troops. According to Krafft, the names Flamand (Flanders) and Gale (France)
were part of Nostradamus' prediction of the German invasion in May 1940
in Belgium and France. This invasion would take place when the Centuries,
the most important book which Nostradamus wrote, indicated in the third
line with the word chef, would be published again in Francfort
(an allusion to Frankfurt am Main) on the initiative of those from Basel (ceux de Basle), next to a publication in Augsburg
(Augspourg) in 1589 of a medical writing by Nostradamus and a
publication of the Centuries in Cologne (Agrippine) in
1689.
In Nostradamus sieht die Zukunft Europas, Krafft did not
explain why he linked the word chef with the Centuries.
Krafft's Einführung... contains the clue to this link. On page
XXII, he wrote, in reference to quatrain 03-53, that one of the meanings
of chef was "masterpiece"; in that sense, chef was
supposed to be an abbreviation of chef d'oeuvre.
Krafft closed his comment upon quatrain 03-53 with the remark that he was in the
position to ensure that since spring 1940, on the initiative and with
the cooperation of citizens of Basel, a reprint of the Centuries was
prepared in in Frankfurt am Main. Actually, he wrote about himself, born and raised in Basel.
Considering all this, we can conclude that quatrain 03-53 was printed on the backside of the title page of the
1940-Krafft-copy since, according to Krafft, it was an allusion to the
1940-Krafft-copy and contained predictions about the German invasion in Belgium and France in May 1940 and
about his meddling with the Centuries, resulting in the
re-edition at the time of the German invasion of a 1568-B.Rigaud-edition.
This quatrain is Krafft's covered
"signature", whose name is only mentioned once on page XXVI in
the Einführung... and not once in the
1940-Krafft-copy.[20]
Nostra
Damur
In 1940, Krafft published by private means two volumes of Nostra
Damur, a periodic magazine he himself wrote, meant for friends and
researchers of the 1940-Krafft-copy. In the second issue (Über ältere und älteste
Ausgaben der "Prophéties", dated on November 8, 1940), Krafft dealt in detail with early editions of the Centuries
without the slightest allusion to Hitler, national-socialism or the
circumstances in Europe. Die ältesten
Ausgaben der “Propheties” des Nostradamus, ein Beitrag zur
Nostradamus Bibliographie, an article by count Carl Ludwig Friedrich
Otto von
Klinckowstroem, published in 1913 in Zeitschrift für Bücherfreunde,
Leipzig, was Krafft's point of departure. Volume 2 of Nostra
Damur contained a pedigree with the oldest editions
of the Centuries and the most important copies, made in the 19th
and 20th century. In this pedigree, the 1940-Krafft-copy is mentioned with the words Frankfurt a/M 1940 - Fotokopie. However, there was
no reference to it in the text of Über ältere und älteste
Ausgaben der "Prophéties".[21]
National-socialist
critic
Some wings of the
NSDAP disapproved the fact that the Deutsche Arbeitsfront
sended copies of the 1940-Krafft-copy to prominent members of the NSDAP,
as can be read in a non-dated report about war prophecies, based upon
Nostradamus. The critics referred to a prohibition, issued in January
1940 by dr. Alfred Rosenberg, leader of the NSDAP, to quote the Centuries
within the party. Further, it was not approved that the 1940-Krafft-copy
and its Einführung... were produced by a professional
astrologer who thought he could raise astrology to a scientific level,
and thus placed the Centuries in a pure astrological context.
According to the critics, those who paid attention to the Centuries
handed themselves over to fatalism, which would undermine the readiness
to fight. Such an attitude was not desired.
The
report was closed with the urgent call to suppress war predictions,
especially those by Nostradamus.[22]
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Wilhelm Zannoth for sending a photocopy of the Einführung...,
parts of the 1940-Krafft-copy and for his additional information.
On the occasion of the 500th birthday of Nostradamus, Zannoth wrote the
trilogy Michel de
Nostredame (1503-1566) genannt Nostradamus - der neue Weg zu den
Prophezeiungen des Meisters, using the author's pseudonym Guillaume
Thonnaz. In 2003, this trilogy was published by Rhombos-Verlag in Berlin
(ISBN's: 3-930894-97-1,
3-930894-98-X and 3-930894-99-8). Volume 1 (Die Grundlagen),
contains a facsimile of the 1940-Krafft-copy.
De Meern, the Netherlands,
October 9, 2008
T.W.M. van Berkel
updated on February 15, 2009
Notes
- Van
Berkel: Information on Karl Ernst Krafft. [text]
- Zannoth
to Van Berkel, August 10, 2004. See also: Chomarat/Laroche, p.57 and
Benazra, p.85-86.
[text]
- Zannoth to Van Berkel, August 10 and 24, 2004. The
alphabetical quatrain index, made by Krafft, is published online on http://www.zannoth.de/nostradamus/nostra-html/inhalt1.htm.
[text]
- Van Berkel: Einführung zu den Prophéties de
maistre Michel Nostradamus. [text]
- Howe,
p.241. [text]
- Krafft-1940b,
p.XXVI. [text]
- Van
Berkel: Nostradamus sieht die Zukunft Europas. [text]
- The Danish, French,
Hungarian, Rumanian, Spanish and Swedish translations of Nostradamus
sieht die Zukunft Europas were accomplished after August 19,
1940 and published in the second quarter of 1941. Only in the French
translation, made by Krafft himself and dating from October 1940,
the remark about the preparing of the 1940-Krafft-copy was replaced
by the remark that this copy was already published. Its title was
also mentioned in the bibliography (Krafft-1941-FR, p.151 and 199).
The other translations contained the remark that the preparation was
still going on. [text]
- List in the edition
of January 1941 of Sterne und Mensch of articles, by
Krafft, published in this magazine (Staatsbibliothek
zu Berlin, nr. 4“
Ok 1354/6). [text]
- Maichle: Die
Nostradamus-Propaganda der Nazis, 1939-1942, document 22. [text]
- Howe, p.248. [text]
- Fröhlich, p.263. [text]
- Van Berkel: Einführung zu den Prophéties de
maistre Michel Nostradamus. [text]
- Van Berkel: Nostradamus sieht die Zukunft
Europas. [text]
- Van Berkel:
- Die Prophezeiungen des Nostradamus (Informations-Schriften,
#18);
- Les Prophéties de Nostradamus (Information Universelle,
#18);
- Les Prophéties de Nostradamus
(edition F.Beroud, Paris);
- De voorspellingen van Nostradamus (Brochures ter
informatie, #18). [text]
- Van Berkel: Voorspellingen die uitgekomen
zijn... [text]
- Centurio-1968, p.266. [text]
- Van Berkel: Nostradamus und Berlin - und
andere Weissagungen.[text]
- Krafft-1940b,
p.XVII.
[text]
- Krafft-1940c, p.63-65. On page 65, Krafft writes
that the name Gale not only refers to France, but also to
Wales, which according to him shows that in quatrain 03-53,
Nostradamus predicted that England would have the same fate as
France. See further Krafft-1941-DK (1040c), p.72-74; Krafft-1941-ES
(1940c),
p.11-3-116 and Krafft-1941-FR (1940c), p.148-153. [text]
- See also: Van Berkel:
Nostra Damur - Über ältere und
älteste Ausgaben der "Prophéties". [text]
- Maichle: Die
Nostradamus-Propaganda der Nazis, 1939-1942, document 22.
[text]
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