The Occult Roots of Nazism

The Occult Roots of Nazism: The Ariosophists of Austria and Germany, 1890–1935
Cover of the first edition
AuthorNicholas Goodrick-Clarke
LanguageEnglish
SubjectOccultism in Nazism, Ariosophy
PublisherAquarian Press
Publication date
1985
Publication placeUnited Kingdom
Media typePrint
Pages294
ISBN0-85030-402-4
OCLC16645743
133
LC ClassDD256.5 .G596 1985
Followed byThe Enchanted City 

The Occult Roots of Nazism: The Ariosophists of Austria and Germany, 1890–1935 is a book about Nazi occultism and Ariosophy by historian Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke, who traces some of its roots back to esotericism in Germany and Austria between 1880 and 1945. The foreword is by Rohan Butler, who had written The Roots of National Socialism in the 1930s. The book is based on Goodrick-Clarke's 1982 Ph.D. thesis.

It was first published by The Aquarian Press in 1985, and republished in paperback form by New York University Press in 1992. The book was highly regarded upon its publication and has been called the seminal work on the topic of Nazism and occultism and as Goodrick-Clarke's most influential work.

Background and publication history

The book is based on Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke's 1982 Ph.D. thesis The ariosophists of Austria and Germany 1890-1935: Reactionary political fantasy in relation to social anxiety.[1][2] It was first published in England by The Aquarian Press in 1985 (ISBN 0-85030-402-4). In 1992, it was republished as a paperback with a different subtitle by New York University Press in New York, as The Occult Roots of Nazism: Secret Aryan Cults and Their Influence on Nazi Ideology (ISBN 0-8147-3060-4), and again by that title in an expanded edition with a new preface in 2004 by I.B. Tauris & Co (ISBN 1-86064-973-4).

The book has been continually in print since its first publication in 1985, and has been translated into twelve languages, including Spanish, French, Polish, Italian, Russian, Czech, German and Greek.[3][4] The German edition features a preface and an additional 15-page essay Nationalsozialismus und Okkultismus (transl. National Socialism and Occultism) by H.T. Hakl.

Contents

The book traces the connections between Nazism and esotericism in Germany and Austria between 1880 and 1945. He profiles the various leaders of the movement at hand, for which he coins the name Ariosophy.[5] Goodrick-Clarke does not directly attribute the Nazi Party to the occultist German nationalism he profiles.[6][7]

Reception

The book was highly regarded upon its publication and has been called the seminal work on the topic of Nazism and occultism,[8][9][10] as well as the author's most influential work.[11][12] Jeffrey Kaplan stated in 1998 that it "remains the definitive work on the subject".[8] Eric Kurlander noted it as "arguably the best book in this genre: it illustrates the significance, as well as the limits, of the influence of Austro-German occultism on National Socialism."[9] It received praise for being a serious scholarly effort on a subject which otherwise attracted many fringe or mythical claims.[5][13]

References

  1. ^ "Scientific Commons". En.scientificcommons.org. Archived from the original on 30 June 2019. Retrieved 13 September 2012.
  2. ^ McIntosh, Christopher (February 2013). "Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke". Aries. 13 (1): 169–171. doi:10.1163/15700593-013010015. ISSN 1567-9896.
  3. ^ German edition, front jacket
  4. ^ McIntosh, Christopher (February 2013). "Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke". Aries. 13 (1): 169–171. doi:10.1163/15700593-013010015. ISSN 1567-9896.
  5. ^ a b Bramwell, Anna (1988). "Review of The Occult Roots of Nazism. The Ariosophists of Austria and Germany, 1890-1935". The English Historical Review. 103 (407): 536–537. ISSN 0013-8266. JSTOR 571294.
  6. ^ Crews, Frederick C. (3 October 1996). "The Consolation of Theosophy II". The New York Review of Books. Vol. 43, no. 15. ISSN 0028-7504. Retrieved 28 July 2025.
  7. ^ "Building a Fortean Library: 28. A Village of Crazies to Raise a Madman". Fortean Times. No. 362. 1 January 2018. pp. 58–59. ISSN 0308-5899.
  8. ^ a b Kaplan, Jeffrey (1998). "Hitler's Priestess: Savitri Devi, the Hindu-Aryan Myth, and Occult Neo-Nazism". Nova Religio. 2 (1): 148–149. doi:10.1525/nr.1998.2.1.148. ISSN 1092-6690. JSTOR 10.1525/nr.1998.2.1.148.
  9. ^ a b Kurlander, Eric (2015). "The Nazi Magicians' Controversy: Enlightenment, "Border Science," and Occultism in the Third Reich". Central European History. 48 (4): 498–522. ISSN 0008-9389. JSTOR 43965203.
  10. ^ Kingsepp, Eva (1 January 2014). "Julian Strube,Vril: Eine okkulte Urkraft in Theosophie und esoterischen Neonazismus, München: Wilhelm Fink 2013. 222 pp. ISBN: 978-3-7705-5515-4". Aries. 14 (2): 264–267. doi:10.1163/15700593-01402009. ISSN 1567-9896.
  11. ^ McIntosh, Christopher (February 2013). "Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke". Aries. 13 (1): 169–171. doi:10.1163/15700593-013010015. ISSN 1567-9896.
  12. ^ Churton, Tobias (2011). "Review of The Western Esoteric Traditions—A Historical Introduction". Nova Religio. 15 (1): 130–131. doi:10.1525/nr.2011.15.1.130. ISSN 1092-6690. JSTOR 10.1525/nr.2011.15.1.130.
  13. ^ Housden, Martyn (1994). "Review of The Occult Roots of Nazism: Secret Aryan Cults and their Influence on Nazi Ideology". History. 79 (255): 179–179. ISSN 0018-2648. JSTOR 24422044.
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