NOSTRADAMUS, ASTROLOGY AND THE BIBLE
SUBSTUDY "WORLD WAR II"
Quatrain 03-57 and Die Weissagungen des Nostradamus (C. Loog, Pfullingen in Württemberg, 1921 [1920])
- T.W.M. van Berkel -

Foundations of quatrain 03-57 and comments
This paragraph contains a discussion about the foundations of quatrain 03-57. Such foundations might determine how the period of 290 years, mentioned in the second line of this quatrain, must be dated. Also, there is a brief discussion of the comments on this quatrain, published in the course of the years.

In the fourth line of quatrain 03-57, the zodiacal sign of Aries is mentioned, the sign which is ruled by the planet Mars. According to Claudius Ptolemy, the author of e.g. the Tetrabiblos, and Cyprian Leowitz, a German astrologer and contemporary of Nostradamus, Brittania Minor, Gallia, Germania and Bastarnia, areas which are mentioned in this quatrain, are ruled by Aries.[2] This means that astrology is one of the foundations of this quatrain.
The period of 290 years, mentioned in the second line, might be based upon an astrological time structure. In the quatrains which are part of the Centuries, periods of about 290 years occur more than once. According to Brind'Amour and Lenoble, quatrain 01-54 contains an allusion to ten revolutions of Saturn, which lead to changes in time and government. The average time span of a Saturn revolution is 29,46 years; ten revolutions last altogether about 294,6 years.[3] The first two lines of this quatrain correspond to a great extent with some lines in Le periode c'est à dire la fin du monde (Pierre Turrel, Dijon, 1531, in 1549 revised by Richard Roussat and published under the title Livre de l'estat et mutation des temps). Turrel and Roussat referred to Libro de Magnis Coniunctionibus, written by the Arabian astrologer Albumasar (Abu Ma'Shar), who lived in the 9th century and counted with time structures of about 300 years, based upon ten revolutions of Saturn.[4] Quatrain 10-100 contains an allusion to a period of English supremacy which lastst more than 300 years. 
Perhaps, the period of 290 years, mentioned in quatrains 03-57, has to be related to a series a ten revolutions of Saturn. In that case, the question is in which year such a series might begin and in which zodiacal sign. In the 16th century, as is noted in the books by Turrel and Roussat, people expected that in 1789 a maxima coniunctio of Jupiter and Saturn would occur in the first degrees of Aries, with Saturn at that moment completing its tenth revolution. [5] If in the 16h century this idea was generally accepted, one could calculate, by estimation, the years in which such a series of ten revolutions would start. According to the Preface to Cesar, the time span of the Centuries runs from 1555 to 3797. The first line of quatrain 03-57 is written in future tense, which implies that this quatrain deals with a period of 290 years which begins in 1789, 2079, 2369, 2659, 2949 or 3239. However, taking the ideas of Jacques Halbronn D.Litt into account, that the Centuries are a collection of quatrains, published after the decease of Nostradamus in 1566 while using his name, it is possible that quatrain 03-57 is based upon a prediction which dates from before 1555.
Another questions deals with the foundations of the seven changes, mentioned in quatrain 03-57. Is this a series of astrological aspects (conjunctions, oppositions) in which the zodiacal sign of Aries is involved in one way or another? Do these changes occur with the same time interval? Does the first change occur in the first year of the period of 290 years and the last change in the last year of this period? In the investigation upon which Nostradamus, astrology and the Bible is based, this quatrain is not dated, because of the lack of information. According to my opinion, such a dating should be the result of the author's intentions and the used sources and should not be based upon attempts to compile a series of seven events which in some way deal with changes and cover a time span of 290 years.
In Das Mysterium des Nostradamus (Leipzig, 1926), Christian Wöllner Ph.D related the period of 290 years in quatrain 03-57 with ten revolutions of Saturn, from the point of view that the time span of a series of ten revolutions is 294 years and that they begin in the first degree of Cancer. He supposes that from 5030 BC, the year in which, according to Epiphanius, Adam was born, until 3797 AD, there are 30 series of ten revolutions of Saturn. According to Wöllner, quatrain 03-57 refers to the 22nd series, which runs from 1444 to 1738. Regarding England during this period, he notes seven changes in ruling dynasties: 1461: the House of York; 1485: the House of Tudor; 1603: the House of Stuart; 1649: the Republic; 1660: the House of Stuart; 1689: the House of Orange; 1714: the House of Hannover. As far as Wöllner is concerned, this quatrain is fulfilled. In France, there were only two changes in ruling dynasties. In Poland (pole Bastarnan), the number of changes was ten, which huge number was indicated, according to Wöllner, in the last line of quatrain 03-57.[6]
Wöllner is not the only Century-scholar who assumes that the period of 290 years begins earlier than in 1555. Brind'Amour for example thinks that this period began in 1265, the year in which the first English parliament was founded. He wrote nothing about the foundations of the 290-year period. Lemesurier also thinks that this period began in 1265, but, following the French Century-scholar Roger Prévost, he supposes that quatrain 03-57 refers to the violent death of seven prominent English citizens: Simon de Montfort, Edward II, Richard II, Henry VI, Edward V, Richard III and Lady Jane Grey.[7] The German Century-scholar Faber considered 1501 as the year of beginning, thus following the comment by Le Pelletier. In Und dies geheimnisvolle Buch...! (Görlitz, 1937), Winkler counted from 1461 to 1751; his list of seven changes is the same as Wöllner's list. Three years later, in Englands Aufstieg und Niedergang... (Leipzig, 1940), he silently replaced this list by the one, compiled by Nicoullaud (1914), and added Loogs remark in 1921 that the words pole Bastarnan refer to Poland.
In his comments upon quatrain 03-57, De Fontbrune sr. supposed that England in a series of seven conflicts alternately would choose the side of France or the side of France's adversaries. In the last conflict, England would join France's adversaries, which would result in the loss of the British fleet and the British empire. In the editions of De Fontbrune's Les Prophéties de Maistre Michel Nostradamus - Expliquées et commentées, dating from 1939, 1940 and 1946, the time span of quatrain 03-57 was the period 1557-1947 and the war which would become fatal for England would begin in 1947. However, such a war did not take place. In his comment, dating from 1957, which was published in 1958, he changed the time span of quatrain 03-57 and stated that the time span began with the year 1667, in which the Spanish succession war began. As a result, the war which would become fatal for England, would begin in 1957. This expectation also did not became true. In the revised 1975-reprint of the 1958-edition, De Fontbrune jr reproduced his father's comment word-for-word. De Fontbrune jr himself thought that the time span of quatrain 03-75 ran from 1628 to 1918.
In 1985, the American Century-scholar John Hogue reckoned with a time span of 336 years (from 1603 to 1939). In 1997, he reckoned with a time span of 390 years (from 1555 to 1945). 

Loogs version of quatrain 03-57
In 1850, the first German translation of the Centuries, the Preface to Cesar and the Epistle to Henry II was published. This translation, entitled Die erstaunlichen Bücher des Grossen Artztes, Sehers und Schicksals-Propheten Nostradamus in’s Deutsche übertragen und dem Verständnisse aufgeschlossen, was made by Eduard Roesch. 
Roesch did not only translate the Centuries, he also wrote comments. In the case of quatrain 03-57, he gave no comment. 

In this quatrain, Roesch applies the rhyme scheme a-b-b-a. The rhyme scheme in the original French text is a-b-a-b. 
Loogs version of quatrain 03-57 in Die Weissagungen des Nostradamus is not in rhyme, but in prose, and reads as follows:

According to Loogs version, the British people changes seven times in 290 years, after being stained with blood. This translation cannot be lead back to the original French text of the second line of quatrain 03-57, which line reads in English: stained with blood in 290 years. The use of the word nachdem (after) is the result of Loogs findings regarding the contents of this quatrain.
Many times, according to Loog, England loaded bloodshed, but only once, England executed her king. This happened in 1649, when king Charles I was beheaded, because of Oliver Cromwell's verdict. While referring to quatrain 08-37, in which, according to Loog, this event was predicted, he marked the year 1649 as the year in which the 290-year period began, and the beheading of Charles I as the bloody event which was the first in the series of seven. The changes which he summed up (the coronations of Charles II and James II, the deposing of James II by Willem III, the economic crisis during the reign of queen Anne and the coronation of George I) were not bloody.[8] Loogs German text of quatrain 03-57 is not a literal translation of the French text, but a German phrasing, which contains some of his findings.

Loog versus Nicoullaud
Howe discussed Loogs comment on quatrain 03-57 because of the significance of this quatrain for the events in the life of the Swiss astrologer Karl Ernst Krafft in December 1939. According to Howe, Loog copied the year 1649 from Nicoullaud's Nostradamus - ses propheties (Paris, 1914), the year in which the 290-year period, mentioned in the second line of quatrain 03-57, began. From Le Pelletiers Les Oracles de Michel de Nostredame (Paris, 1867), Loog copied the explanation of the geographical Bastarnia, i.e. the residence area, east of the Vistule river, of a dwelling tribe, i.e.: Poland.[9]
During the literature study upon which this article is based, it became clear that things are different. It is correct to say that both Loog and Nicoullaud supposed that the 290-year period started in 1649. Both of them mentioned six changes which took place in England in the period 1649-1714. The changes, summed up by Nicoullaud, took place in 1649, 1653, 1660, 1689, 1702 and 1714. Howe did not discuss the fact that not all changes, mentioned by Loog, can be lead back to Nicoullaud's comment. The changes, mentioned by Loog, took place in 1649, 1660, 1685, 1689, 1711 and 1714.  
All changes in the period 1649-1714, mentioned by Loog, are present in the comment on quatrain 03-57 in Merckwürdige Fata Der Groß-Britanischen Crone / Sint der Zeit / da die Religion reformiret worden / Schon damals verkündiget Durch den Welt-berühmten Michael Nostradamus, Der Anno 1566. gestorben; Jetzt aber Aus dessen Vaticiniis ... zusammen gesuchet / Und Mit einer kurtzen Erzehlung der Geschichten Erläutert / Von D. D. ([Dietrich von Dobbeler, 1673-1718], Hamburg, 1715). A remark on page 26 in Die Weissagungen des Nostradamus shows that Loog consulted this book; in 1715, it was also published in Dutch and English.[10] Sometimes, Loogs descriptions of the events which took place in the period 1649-1714, differ slightly from the descriptions by D.D. However, he points to the same years and persons as D.D., who considers the beheading of Charles I as the bloody event which marks the beginning of the series of seven events.
According to D.D., Bastarnia is an Arab word which in an astrological sense refers to the zodiacal sign of Gemini. Le Pelletier's opinion was that pole Bastarnan was a reference to an area, corresponding with Poland as he knew it. In astrology, Poland is ruled by the sign of Aries.] Die Weissagungen des Nostradamus contains remarks which show that Loog used Les Oracles de Michel de Nostredame as a source text, which means that it is very well possible that Loog copied his explanation of the words pole Bastarnan from Le Pelletier.[12] However, Loog does not refer to Le Pelletier, but to astrology in general and to the book Germania, written by the Roman historian Tacitus. Le Pelletier does not spend one word on Tacitus.
In this article, the assumption is that in the case of quatrain 03-57, Loog consulted D.D.'s Merckwürdige Fata Der Groß-Britanischen Crone Sint der Zeit da die Religion reformiret worden and copied the six events regarding the period 1649-1714, next astrological books, Tacitus' Germania and perhaps Le Pelletier's Les Oracles de Michel de Nostredame. All by all it seems not likely that he copied from Nicoullaud's Nostradamus - ses Propheties.

Kritzinger (1922a, 1922b), Noah (1928) and Winkler (1937)
In 1922, in Mysterien von Sonne und Seele (1922a), Hans-Hermann Kritzinger Ph.D included Loogs comments on the quatrains 03-57 and 10-100. He compared Loogs findings with time structures he himself used for the "periodicity of world history. In Mysterien von Sonne und Seele, the text of quatrain 10-100 is given; the text of quatrain 03-57 is not given. In Magische Kräfte 1922b), he more or less summarized what he wrote about the Centuries in Mysterien von Sonne und Seele and he extensively discussed Loog's findings. In connection with quatrain 03-57, Kritzinger wrote that the zodiacal sign of Aries deals with Asia Minor and the East-European countries until the Caspian Sea (Loog wrote that Aries dealt with "the East") and that the Bastarnans lived in present-day Poland. According to Kritzinger, in 1939 there would be the seventh and last change in England; he wrote nothing about the nature of this change. Further, he hoped that in future a historian would be able to explain the fourth line of quatrain 03-57 properly.[13] 
In 1928, in Nostradamus - Prophetische Weltgeschichte von 1547 bis gegen 3000, Bruno Noah included Loogs comment on quatrain 03-57 without mentioning his name. In his comment, Noah wrote that it should not be expected that Gods verdict over England would be executed before 1939. [14] Like Loogs version, Noah's version of quatrain 03-57 is not the result of a literal translation from a French source text

The first line deals with the beheading of Charles I. The series of events in the period 1649-1714, summed up by Noah, is the same as the series, summed up by Loog.
According to the third line, England is not supported by France, but by Germany. This line deals with the coronation of George I of the Hannover dynasty, in 1714. In contrast with Loog, Noah writes nothing about the part which was played by France during the succession problems in England in 1714. 
The original words pole Bastarnan in the fourth line are not translated in Bastarner Pol  (Roesch) or Bastarner Schützland (Loog), but in polnischen Bastard. In Noah's comment on quatrain 03-57, Poland is not mentioned at all.
On p.65 of Und dies geheimnisvolle Buch...! Das Leben des Michel Nostradamus. Die Geschichte eines Mannes zwischen zwei Welten (1937), dr. Bruno Winkler gave the following German text of the first two lines of quatrain 03-57: Ihr werdet das englische Volk, das sich mit Blut befleckt, in 290 Jahren sich sieben Mal verändern sehen. The French source text of these two lines is printed on p.127. The comment on this quatrain, which is given in a footnote, shows that according to Winkler's opinion, the time span of this quatrain runs from 1461 to 1751. The series of seven changes of dynasties in England he gives, is the same series as the one, given by Wöllner in Das Mysterium des Nostradamus.

Loogs comment in 1921 on quatrain 03-57
According to Loog, quatrain 03-57 points to the cause of England's supremacy as well as to the moment on which its decline begins. He describes six changes which took place in England in the years between 1649 and 1714. It was Nostradamus who pointed to all these events, to begin with the beheading of Charles I. 
In Loogs version of quatrain 03-57, the third line reads: "In no way a Frenchman, because of German support". After the decease of queen Anne, Louis XIV wanted that a Bourbon prince would succeed. However, George I of the Hanover dynasty succeeded; the "German support" of the British throne.
According to Loog, there were no significant changes in England between 1714 and 1921 (the year of issue of Die Weissagungen des Nostradamus). 
Loog thought that the time span of quatrain 03-57 ran from 1649 until 1939, which meant that the last crisis in the series of seven should occur around 1939. He closed his comment by writing that in quatrain 03-57, Nostradamus apparently intended to state that in 1939, the last and most severe crisis in England would occur together with a crisis in the resurrected Poland.[15] Loog did not write anything about the nature of these crises (civil war, economic crisis, war, revolution etc.). This led prof. dr. Eberhard Dennert in Nostradamus und das zweite Gesicht (Pfullingen in Württemberg, 1931, p.31) to the conclusion that Loog's comment upon quatrain 03-57 was quite vague, as was the case with some of his other comments.
In connection with the decline of England's supremacy, Loog also discussed quatrain10-100, in which is written that England will rule the world for more than 300 years. Loog supposed that this period began during the reign of queen Anne (1702-1714). According to Loog, quatrain 03-57 indicated that England's decline would start in 1939.[16]
About Germany's position after World War I, Loog wrote: "Poor Germany, you need a lot of time to work yourself a little bit upwards"[17] Basing himself upon quatrain 10-46, Loog expected that one day, Germany would no longer be a republic, but there would be a monarch or perhaps an emperor.[18] By 2100, the next World War would begin, with Germany and France as fighting parties. About that war, Loog wrote that Germany would need almost 200 years, counting from the present humiliation, i.e. the Versailles Treaty, to reach her natural state of supreme power. In Loog's eyes, the Versailles Treaty was a repeat of what happened to Germany at the time of the Westphalia Treaty (1648), when Germany lost its prosperity and needed about 200 years to recover.[19] 
In connection with the period 1930-1940, Loog did not expect political changes in Germany. He did not write that Germany would be involved in the crises he expected for England and Poland. 
These findings show that it can not be attributed to Loog that he gave a comment on quatrain 03-57, in the sense that in September 1939, Germany would invade Poland, and that England would declare war to Germany. It is therefore quite peculiar that around 2000, in his comment on quatrain 03-57, the German Century-scholar Kurt Allgeier wrote that he copied this comment from Loog, who according to Allgeier had explained that in 1649, Charles I was beheaded, and that in 1939, World War II would begin.

The German invasion in Poland in September 1939 and the subsequent comments on quatrain 03-57
On September 1, 1939, the Germans invaded Poland from three sides. The Polish army was no party for the Germans. After the bombardment on Warsaw, it was certain that the Germans would gain the victory. On September 3, 1939, England and France declared war to Germany. Other countries like Belgium and the Netherlands mobilized their armies. On September 17, 1939, the Russians invaded the east of Poland and took strategic points in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. On September 28, 1939, the last Polish troops surrendered.
In 1961, Kritzinger told Howe that one night, shortly after the German invasion in Poland, Magda Goebbels, the wife of Paul Joseph Goebbels, the German minister of Propaganda, read his quotation of Loogs comment on quatrain 03-57 in Mysterien von Sonne und Seele. She was so impressed, that she woke her husband and read him this comment. Shortly afterwards, fout people showed this comment, in which the year 1939 was printed bold, to Goebbels. This made him curious and he decided to use the Centuries for psychological warfare. Goebbels summoned Kritzinger to talk with him. This interview happened on December 4, 1949. In this interview, Goebbels told Kritzinger that he was very impressed by the way in which quatrain 03-57 was fulfilled. In conversation with Howe in 1961, Kritzinger talked about "Loogs famous explanation" [20] 
In 1940, on page 71 in Nostradamus Profetior med originaltexter för första gången på svenska, the Swedish Centurie-scholar Salamar linked quatrain 03-57 to the German invasion in Poland, arguing that Germany and Poland were under the influence of the planet Mars, the ruler of the zodiacal signs Aries and Scorpio, and that Germany, England's pillar, feared England's Polish ally. Salamar also wrote that this quatrain, due to the course of history, was quite popular in Germany. 
In the paragraph Loogs comment in 1921 on quatrain 03-57, it has been argued that Loog did not suppose that Germany would invade Poland in September 1939. After the German invasion, his comment was taken out of its context. His words "crisis for the resurrected Poland" were explained as a prediction by Nostradamus of the German invasion in Poland. His words "greatest and most severe crisis in England" were explained as a prediction by Nostradamus of England's fall, caused by the fact that England declared war to Germany. All this only happened because Loog mentioned the year 1939, a year which in Mysterien von Sonne und Seele was printed bold. Loog's opinion that a new World War would not occur before 2100, was ignored. 
Something similar has happened in Die Prophezeiungen des Nostradamus (Elisabeth Noelle, Berlin, 1940). In this article, Noelle quotes a remark, published in 1925 in an article in the Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, in which it reads that, according to Nostradamus, Germany and France would be at war in 1940 and that the Germans would conquer Paris. Noelle did not discuss the fact that in the article, published in 1925, it was explicitly written that the other European countries would not interfere. In other words: Noelle presented something else than the contents of the prediction in the article, published in 1925.[21]  
The table above shows that in quite a large number of comments, dating from the period between the German invasion in Poland in September 1939 and Germany's capitulation in May 1945, quatrain 03-57 in one way or another was linked with the events in Poland in September 1939. Only half of these comments had a propagandistic nature, which shows that the linking of quatrain 03-57 to the events in Poland in September 1939 was quite popular in these days.

Loog's comment in 1940 upon quatrain 03-57
Prophete rechts - Prophete links - War Nostradamus wirklich Scharlatan und Betrüger?, a letter by Loog which was published in volume 1940, #50 of the German weekly Der Reichswart - Wochenschrift für nationale Unabhängigkeit und deutschen Sozialismus; Organ der Deutschen Glaubensbewegung, shows that Loog was convinced of the fulfilment of the Centuries and that between 1921 and 1940 he considered a number of quatrains to be fulfilled in a way which strongly resembled what he had written about it in 1921 in Die Weissagungen des Nostradamus. On this website, this letter is entitled Nostradamus Scharlatan?
In Nostradamus Scharlatan?, Loog also discussed quatrain 03-57. He began his comment with a reference to his comment in Die Weissagungen des Nostradamus and his expectation at that time that there would be a crisis in England in 1939 and at the same time a crisis in Poland. The comment he gave in 1940, shows that he considered the German invasion in September 1939 in Poland to correspond with his comment in Die Weissagungen des Nostradamus.
The German text of quatrain 03-57 in Nostradamus Scharlatan? is not identical with the text in Die Weissagungen des Nostradamus. Instead of the word Britenvolk, he used the words britische Geslecht (actually, according to his comment: britische [Herrscher-] Geslecht). Loog explained that by doing so, he had corrected a translation mistake. As far as I am concerned, however, this change is a projection of the nature of the sevenfold series of events in England in Nostradamus Scharlatan? Actually, Loog wrote that the seven changes in England which were mentioned in quatrain 03-57, were related to the end of dynasties - for reasons of convenience, the Cromwell period is also marked as a dynasty. This series differs from the series in Die Weissagungen des Nostradamus, which was based upon the beginning of dynasties (with the exception of the beheading of Charles I). Taking the year 1837 as the year in which the House of Hannover went to an end, Loog (without stating this explicitly) withdrew the remark in Die Weissagungen des Nostradamus that there was no significant change between the coronation of George I in 1714 and the publication of Die Weissagungen des Nostradamus in 1921. We notice that Loog's remark about the end of the House of Hannover in 1837 can be contested. In 1837, queen Victoria mounted the throne. She was a member of the House of Hannover. In 1840, she married Albert von Saksen-Coburg. The reign of the House of Saksen-Coburg started in 1901, when Victoria was succeeded by Edward VII, her son. George V, who reigned from 1910 to 1936, renounced his German titles and replaced the name Saksen-Coburg by the name Windsor.
According to Loog, the seventh change would occur next to the developments in 1939. Basing himself upon newspapers in which rumours were published about the preparation of the flee of the British king, Loog wondered if this flee would mean the end of the House of Windsor, in other words: the seventh end of a dynasty in a period of about 290 years, counting from 1649 to 1940, which would match with his series of seven endings of dynasties in the period 1649-1939. The course of history did not meet with Loog's expectations: as far as I know, George VI did not flee during World War II and was succeeded in 1952 by Elisabeth II, his daughter. In other words: the United Kingdom was ruled by the House of Windsor until far beyond 1940, which means that the series of seven changes in a period of 290 years, counting from 1649, as mentioned by Loog, cannot be linked to quatrain 03-57. 
In the third line of the 1940-version of quatrain 03-57, Loog replaced the word deutsche by the word germanische. In Die Weissagungen des Nostradamus, Loog had linked the word deutsche to George I, elector of Hannover who in 1714 mounted the throne. In 1940, he wrote that several English dynasties had Germanic roots, among which the Koburg-dynasty (the Saksen-Coburg dynasty) and the House of Windsor, which ruled England in 1940 and which, according to Loog, soon might come to an end.

Quatrain 03-57 in Englands Aufstieg und Niedergang... (Winkler, 1940)
In Und dies geheimnisvolle Buch... (1937), Winkler wrote that the time span of quatrain 03-57 ran from 1461 to 1715. The series of events he summed up, was also summed up in 1926 by Wöllner. 
Nostradamus und seine Prophezeiungen für das zwanzigste Jahrhundert (1939) contains some comments in favour of Hitler and his domestic politics. A remarkable comment is Winkler's linking of quatrain 03-58 to Hitler's birth and his blame that Loog is wrong in supposing that Germany needs 200 years to recover from the Versailles Treaty. According to Winkler, Germany already recovered, which had taken less than 20 years.[22]
In Nostradamus und seine Prophezeiungen für das zwanzigste Jahrhundert, quatrain 03-57 is not discussed. This quatrain is discussed in Englands Aufstieg und Niedergang..., which was published one year later. There, Winkler silently revised his 1937-comment on quatrain 03-5. In Englands Aufstieg und Niedergang..., he writes that the time span of this quatrain runs from 1649 to 1939. He gives a series of six events for the period 1649-1714, while referring to Nicoullaud, and adds Loogs notes about Poland. He closes his comment by writing that in 1914, a French Century-scholar, while commenting quatrain 03-57, characterized 1939 as a fatal year for England and that in 1921, a German Century-scholar characterized 1939 as a fatal year for Poland. In Winkler's eyes, this was a striking evidence of Nostradamus' skills and those of his commentators.[23]
A comparison between the 1937-version and the 1940-version of quatrain 03-57 in the books, written by Winkler, shows that in 1940, Winkler, following Nicoullaud, states that the series of seven events start with the beheading of Charles I. 
The third line of Winkler's 1940-version of quatrain 03-57 contains the word frei (EN: legitimate).  Winkler bases himself upon Nicoullaud, since the source text, used by Nicoullaud, does not contain the word France but the word Franche.

Quatrain 03-57 in national-socialist Nostradamus comments

a. Hoe zal deze oorlog eindigen? and Nostradamus spådomar om kriget (Berlin, 1940 [1939])
This publication, written in November - December 1939 by order of Goebbels, was published from the end of March 1940 in Dutch, English, French, Italian, Rumanian, Serbian and Swedish. In the literature study upon which this article is based, the Dutch and the Swedish copy were studied.  
In connection with quatrain 03-57, it is mentioned that the Frenchmen Rochetaillée, Piobb, De Fontbrune and Amiaux, the Germans Kritzinger and Loog and the Englishman Rupert Taylor, independently of each other, calculated that 1939 would be a fatal year for England. Loogs comment regarding Poland was quoted word for word as an example of a striking explanation of the events which took place in 1939.[24]
In the third line, the Dutch translation of the original French word appuy is druk (EN: pressure); in the Swedish copy, this word was translated in stöd (EN: pressure). Because of this intervention, the third and the fourth line could be linked to Poland, especially since the words pole Bastarnan were linked to Poland as it was in 1918, after World War I.

b. Die Prophezeiungen des Nostradamus (Brochure-18, Europa-Verlag, 1940)
This brochure is volume 18 in the series Informations-Schriften, a series which has been published in Bulgarian, Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Hungarian, Portuguese, Rumanian, Spanish and Swedish. In the literature study upon which this article is based, the Dutch, French and German copy were studied. The text of these translations is almost identical. None of these copies contain the name of the author.
In the comment regarding quatrain 03-57, it is written that the beheading in 1649 of Charles I was the first bloody event in the series of seven. Adding 290 to 1649, the fatal year 1939 was unveiled. Regarding Poland, Loog was quoted, without mentioning this as a source.
Like in Hoe zal deze oorlog eindigen? and Nostradamus spådomar om kriget, the original French word appuy was translated in pressure (DE: Druck, FR: pression, NL: druk). The zodiacal sign of Aries, given in the fourth line, is said to be a symbol for England, since this country cannot count on an alliance with Poland (Poland being situated at Germany's east side). The combination of the third and the fourth line is supposed to refer to the German invasion in Poland. This comment also occurs in Kraffts Comment Nostradamus a-t-il entrevu l'avenir de l'Europe? (1941), which will be discussed in the next paragraph.
In the French version of Brochure-18, the text of quatrain 03-57 is not copied from an original French edition of the Centuries, but translated from the German version of Brochure-18. The result of this translation differs quite a lot from the text in e.g. the facsimile-Choramat-2000, but back in that time, only connoisseurs of the Centuries might have noticed this. In the third line, the word pression is the translation of the German word Druck. One will also notice that in the second line of the French version of quatrain 03-57 in Brochure-18, it reads that each time there is a change in England, the British people will soil their hands with blood, in contrast with the German text in Brochure-18, in which this only is linked to the beheading of Charles I.[25]

c. Comment Nostradamus a-t-il entrevu l'avenir de l'Europe? (Krafft, 1941)
Originally, Kraffts Comment Nostradamus a-t-il entrevu... dates from 1940 and was written in German and published in Danish, French, Hungarian, Portuguese, Rumanian and Spanish. In the literature study upon which this article is based, the French copy is studied. In this copy, the quatrain texts are taken from Kraffts Les Propheties de Maistre Michel Nostradamus, Bildgetreuer, vergrösserter Abdruck einer Ausgabe der "Prophéties", erschienen bei Benoist RIGAUD Lyon unter dem Datum 1568 (1940-Krafft-copy) (Frankfurt am Main).
In his comment on quatrain 03-57, Krafft follows Nicoullaud and without mentioning Loog's name, he refers to a German commentator, who wrote back in 1921 that the crisis which would occur in England in 1939, had a connection with the crisis in Poland. Krafft qualifies the books of Loog and Wöllner as "one or two more or less successful comments amidst an absurd assumption". Regarding the series of seven events, the opinion of Krafft is that the abolition of the British Constitution in 1940 was the seventh event, meant by Nostradamus.
According to Krafft, the third line of quatrain 03-57 shows that back in 1939, the French were unable to help Poland. He wrote that the fourth line unveiled England's plan to have a treaty with Poland, at the eastern border of the Reich. This comment also occurs in Brochure-18, discussed in the previous paragraph.[26] 

d. Der Seher von Salon (Brochure-38, Europa-Verlag, 1941)
This brochure is volume 38 in the series Informations-Schriften. In the literature study upon which this article is based, the German copy was studied. The name of the author is not mentioned. Ulrich Maichle's research made clear that this brochure was written by dr. H.H.-Kritzinger.
In this brochure, quatrain 03-57 is linked to the German invasion in Poland, with the remark that Nostradamus exactly indicated the year in which this would happen. In order to explain the time span of 290 years, there is a reference to the beheading of Charles I in 1649, the first event in the series of seven. Regarding the meaning of the words pole Bastarnan, there is a reference to the astrological system, as developed by Ptolemy. 
In the version of quatrain 03-57 which has been given in this brochure, we also see that the French word appuy is translated in the German word Druck. As a result, in combination with pole Bastarnan = Poland, there is a link with the German invasion in September 1939.
The comment closes with the remark that the fourth line means that Nostradamus points to the fact that Aries doubts the further existence of his "district" Poland.[27]

e. Voorspellingen die uitgekomen zijn... (De Tombre, 1941)
This booklet was published in The Netherlands in 1941 by Hijman, Stenfert Kroese & Van de Zande NV in Arnhem, a publishing company which from 1941 to 1945 was a branch of the national-socialist publishing company "Volksche Uitgeverij Westland", run by J.G. van Ditmarsch. Most probably, this booklet was completed by the summer of 1941, but in any case before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. There is a copy in the Berliner Staatsbibliothek, with a stamp of the Prussian State Library on the title page and a handwritten remark, reading: 1941 - verfasst von dr. Alexander Centgraf, Berlin W.30, Hohenstauffenstr. 35. On the open backside of this title page, there is another handwritten remark, reading: Der Preußischen Staatsbibliothek als Geschenk überreicht vom Verfasser Dr. Centgraf. This implies that originally, this book was written by dr. phil. Alexander Max Centgraf, also known as dr. N. Alexander Centurio.[28] According to a reader of the Dutch newspaper Het Vrije Volk, De Tombre was a fascist astrologer.[29]  
In Voorspellingen die uitgekomen zijn..., almost all quatrains are given in French and Dutch. The French source text was taken from the 1940-Krafft-copy.[30] The Dutch translation is different from the meaning of the French source text. According to De Tombre, the words Poolse bastaard (EN: Polish bastard) in the fourth line of quatrain 03-57 (a phrasing which also occurs in Noah's version of quatrain 03-57, published in 1928), do not refer to the Bastarnians, living east of the Vistule river, but to the fact that Nostradamus writes about bastard nations if there are several nationalities in the people of a nation. Poland was, according to De Tombre, a striking example of such a bastard nation, since in Poland Slavian people were heavily mixed with Jews. He even mentions the concept of the Arian people. In this comment, there is a reference to the national-socialist racial laws. This comment is very malicious.[31]
In the third line, the original French word appuy is not translated in pressure (NL: druk), but in base (NL: steunpunt). In the fourth line, the zodiacal sign of Aries symbolizes Germany. The third and the fourth line refer to the German invasion in Poland.

In the article Nostradamus und das jüngste Weltgeschehen (in: Schweizer Monatshefte - Zeitschrift für Politik Wirtschaft Kultur, Zürich, August 1959, p.397-404), Centgraf wrote that back in 1939, after reading Loog's Die Weissagungen des Nostradamus, he started to study Nostradamus and the Centuries. In this article, he characterized Loog's comment upon quatrain 03-57 as striking and correct.

Quatrain 03-57 in Nostradamus prophezeit den Kriegsverlauf (De Wohl et al., [pseudo-Winkler], London [Görlitz], 1943)  
Nostradamus prophezeit den Kriegsverlaufdates from 1943. Most parts of this brochure were written by Louis de Wohl (Louis von Wohl, 1903-1961), at that time working at the Special Operations Executive section of the British Secret Service. The explanations in this brochure, written in German, of 50 perverted quatrain texts were supposed to undermine the morale of German soldiers by announcing Hitler's final defeat by means of "predictions".
The five chapters which contained perverted quatrain texts were preceded by an untitled introduction, in which by means of original quatrain texts and traditional comments - some of them copied from the study of the Centuries by the Englishman De Garencières - was demonstrated that a number of quatrains already were fulfilled. 
On page 9 in the introduction, it reads that "meanwhile in England seven changes took place", a remark which can be linked to quatrain 03-57, although the text of this quatrain is not given. The years in which the time span of 290 years began or came to an end, were not given. The remark about the seven changes comes next to the remark that Nostradamus predicted the French Civil War, the Bartholomy-night and the reign of Cathérine de' Medici. The next line, in which was written that suddenly a brand new person comes in, i.e. Napoleon Bonaparte, seems to indicate that according to De Wohl c.s., the last of the seven changes in England occurred before the birth of Napoleon Bonaparte, i.e. before 1769, thus resulting in 1479 as the beginning year. It is also possible that they copied from Laver, since Laver considered the coronation in 1714 of George I to be the last of the seven changes. In the comment of De Wohl c.s., quatrain 03-57 is not linked to the German invasion in Poland in September 1939 or to World War II as such.

Summary
This article deals with possible foundations of quatrain 03-57 and the comments which were given on it in the course of the years, especially those comments in which the year 1939 played a part.
The German versions of quatrain 03-57 which were published between 1921 and 1937, are not the result of a literal translation. They are phrasings which contain elements, coming from the comments on this quatrain.
After the German invasion in Poland (September 1939), national-socialists linked quatrain 03-57 to it. Loog's original comment in Die Weissagungen des Nostradamus was taken out of its context. In this article, it has been argued that it can not be attributed to Loog that he commented quatrain 03-57 in the sense that in this quatrain, it was predicted that Germany would invade Poland in September 1939, which would be followed by England's declaration of war to Germany, which would mean that England would suffer from a serious crisis.
In several national-socialist Nostradamus comments, quatrain 03-57 is discussed. In all of these comments, the third and fourth line of this quatrain were changed in order to link it to the German invasion in Poland in September 1939. In most cases, this was done by translating the French word appuy into pressure. 
The national-socialist comments on quatrain 03-57 are not always identical with each other. One has to keep in mind that the nature of these comments was propagandistic. These comments were compiled for propaganda reasons.[32] 

The fortune of Die Weissagungen des Nostradamus
According to a remark on page 61, parts of Die Weissagungen des Nostradamus were written in March 1920. Die Weissagungen des Nostradamus was published in 1921. Within a year, the eighth edition was printed.[33] On the last page of the first edition, the publisher communicated that on December 22, 1920, Loog gave him the keyword by which all quatrains could be decoded. The publisher had to promise to keep this word secret.[34] In the epilogue to the fourth edition, dating from October 1921, Loog discussed a few aspects of his key and replied to his critics. In a more extensive version, this epilogue was published in 1922 in the January-issue of the monthly Psychische Studien, edited by dr. H.-H. Kritzinger, entitled Prophezeiungen - eine Erwiderung.[35] 
In 1924, a review by Camille Pitollet (1874-1964) of the third edition of Die Weissagungen des Nostradamus was published in the French magazine Revue des langues romanes (Montpellier). 
According to one of Loog's remarks in Prophete rechts - Prophete links, which article was published at the end of 1940, for many years, Die Weissagungen des Nostradamus was out of stock at the time of the writing of this article. In 1940 however, the Johannes Baum Verlag brought the fifth and sixth edition of Die Weissagungen des Nostradamus once again into circulation.[36]  
Around June 1941, as a result of the Aktion Heß, the Gestapo confiscated all circulating copies and closed the Johannes Baum Verlag.[37] 
After the war, Die Weissagungen des Nostradamus was not reprinted any longer. Only a few Century-scholars supposed the same time span for quatrain 03-57 as Loog did in 1921 (1649-1939) and linked it to the events in Poland in September 1939.

Expression of thanks
I would like to thank the Berlin State Library for sending me a copy of the article Prophete rechts - Prophete links by C. Loog and the Institut für Zeitgeschichte for sending me a copy of the article Nostradamus und das jüngste Weltgeschehen by dr. phil. A.M. Centgraf.

De Meern, the Netherlands, September 27, 2005
T.W.M. van Berkel
updated on May 21, 2010

Notes

1. Howe, p.222. In the note in the margin, the word Vorhersage (prediction) is put between quotation marks. [text]

2. Ptolemy, p.84; Leovitius: Eclipsium omnium... [text]

3. Brind'Amour-1993, p.218-220; -1996, p.124-127; Lenoble: Nostradamus et l'eclipse du 11 Août 1999. [text]

4. Turrel, fo XXIII; Roussat, p.155. [text]

5. Turrel, fo XXV; Roussat, p.162. [text]

6. Wöllner, p.35-36 en 46-47. Sometimes, the calculations in Das Mysterium des Nostradamus are based upon different sources. Because of his revision of the second biblical chronology in the Epistle to Henry II, Wöllner assumed that Adam was created in 4184 BC and that the world was created in 4220 BC (Wöllner, p.15). [text]

7. Lemesurier to Van Berkel, April 22, 2004. [text]

8. Loog-1921, p.68-69; the discussion of quatrain 08-37 is on p.20-21. In Englands Aufstieg und Niedergang..., Winkler copied Loogs version almost literally, including the phrase which reads in English: "after it was stained with blood". (Winkler [1940], p.23). [text]

9. Howe, p.218-219; Le Pelletier, book I, p.135-138; Loog (1921), p.68-69; Nicoullaud, p.105-107. [text]

10. D.D. (1715-NL), p.148-152. In 2000, in chapter 6 of his website Nostradamus, voorspellingen en profetieën voor verleden, heden en toekomst, the Dutchman Johan Moonen described that some elements of Loogs comment can be traced back to D.D.'s The Prophecies of Nostradamus... (NB: this website is only in Dutch). Moonen however did not correctly quote D.D.'s version of quatrain 03-57. His remark that, according to Loog, France fears his unwilling partner Poland, does not make any sense, since in Die Weissagungen des Nostradamus Loog did not write anything of that kind. His remark that Loog predicted that there would be a war in 1939 in which Poland, France, Germany and Great-Britain would be involved, also does not make any sense; neither France nor Germany occur in Loogs comments regarding 1939 (and also not in Kritzinger's comments). See the paragraph Loogs comment in 1921 on quatrain 03-57 in this article. [text]

11. Le Pelletier, book I, p.135. [text]

12. Loog-1921, p.8: Schlägt man seine Textausgabe, die Wiedergabe des Originals, auf [...] The word seine points to the books of Le Pelletier, mentioned in the previous line. [text]

13. Kritzinger-1922a, p.136 (on this page, the year 1939 is in bold print [1939]; Kritzinger-1922b, p.150.  [text]

14. Noah, 2005 (1928), p.156-157. [text]

15. Loog-1921, p.68-69. [text]

16. Loog-1921, p.70 and p.74-57. [text]

17. Loog-1921, p.66. [text]

18. Loog-1921, p.71. [text]

19. Loog-1921, p.86. [text]

20. Howe, p.221. See also: Van Berkel: The 1939-fortune of Mysterien von Sonne und Seele (dr. H.-H. Kritzinger, DE, 1961). [text]

21. See: Van Berkel: Die Prophezeiungen des Nostradamus (dr. E. Noelle, Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, Berlin, June 16, 1940 [1998 and 2003]). [text]

22. Winkler-1939, p.37-45. [text]

23. Winkler-1940, p.23-25. [text]

24. "Pasteur", p.27-30; "Norab"-1940a, p.33-36. The texts of these translations is not similar; in "Norab"-1940a, the names of Amiaux and De Fontbrune are not included in the summing up of commentators regarding 1939. [text]

25. Brochure-18-DE, p.9-10; Brochure-18-FR, p.10-11; Brochure-18-NL, p.10-11. [text]

26. Krafft-1941, p.105-110. The discussion of the books of Loog and Wöllner: p.200. Loogs book carries a wrong title (Das Schicksalsbuch der Weltgeschichte); the title of a book by dr. Wilhelm Faber (Pfullingen in Württemberg, 1922). [text]

27. Brochure-38, p.10-11. See also: Van Berkel: Der Seher von Salon (Informations-Schriften, #38, dr. H.-H. Kritzinger, Berlin, 1941) [text]

28. Maichle to Van Berkel, July 9, 2005. The Berliner Staatsbibliothek does not preserve the German original of Voorspellingen die uitgekomen zijn... or other translations of this book. [text]

29. Piet Heil in the Dutch newspaper Het Vrije Volk, December 24, 1966. On this website, the possibility is considered that the name De Tombre is a feigned name, like the name Jean François Pasteur in the national-socialist Nostradamusbrochure Hoe zal deze oorlog eindigen?. [text]

30. Zannoth to Van Berkel, August 24, 2004. [text]

31. De Tombre, p.53-55. [text]

32. See the minutes of the secret daily propaganda conferences at Goebbels' Ministry of Propaganda on December 5, 1939, in: Boelcke (1966), p.237. [text]

33. Maichle: Die Nostradamus-Propaganda der Nazis 1939-1942. [text]

34. Howe, p.218-219. [text]

35. Psychische Studien, vol. XIX, #1, p.44-49. [text]

36. The National German Library and the Berlin State Library have preserved copies of the 1940-reprints of Die Weissagungen des Nostradamus. [text]

37. See: Lagebericht aus den Gebiet des astrologischen Schrifftums in: Maichle: Die Nostradamus-Propaganda der Nazis 1939-1942 and Loog-1921, p.67. [text]

38. Drude-1963, p.340, Howe, p.268. [text]