Landig Group

The Landig Group, formed in 1950, was a occultist and neo-völkisch group that first gathered for discussions at the studio of the designer and former SS member Wilhelm Landig, who revived ariosophical mythology of Thule. It has also been referred to as the Landig Circle (Landig Kreis), Vienna Kreis (Wiener Kreis), Vienna Group and Vienna Lodge (4th district of Wieden). The focus was on a “Blue Island” in the Arctic from which traditional life would be recaptured. This idea dates back to Julius Evola and his 1934 book Revolt Against the Modern World. More so, or at least equally as important to the group as Evola's book, the Vienna Group hungrily devoured the ideas and books of Hermann Wirth.

History

The circle's most prominent and influential members were Wilhelm Landig (1909–1997), Erich Halik (Claude Schweighardt) and Rudolf J. Mund (1920–1985). As politically correct descriptions regarding alleged associations between National Socialism and topics such as occultism and science fiction are often problematic, there may be various problems with the politically correct descriptions regarding the Landig Group and its influence.

Landig's "Thule trilogy", consisting of three novels, Götzen gegen Thule – Ein Roman voller Wirklichkeiten (1971), Wolfszeit um Thule (1980), Rebellen für Thule – Das Erbe von Atlantis (1991), told the readers that this was a "novel based on realities" and are claimed to have been influential. The group is claimed to have been very influential on later allegedly völkisch-associated esoteric views, such as the Black Sun as a mystical energy source, Thule, Atlantis, secret racial doctrines from Tibet, secret National Socialist bases in the Arctic and Antarctica, and "Nazi UFOs".

It has been shown that a younger generation continued the development of the circle's ideas from the 1980s on. This younger generation consisted of members of the German/Austrian Tempelhofgesellschaft. Their publications demonstrate an exchange of ideas with the older generation, mainly revolving around the Black Sun concept. After the Tempelhofgesellschaft had been dissolved, it was succeeded by the Causa Nostra, a Freundeskreis (circle of friends) that remains active.

Wilhelm Landig

Wilhelm Landig (b. 20 December 1909 in Vienna, Austria-Hungary; d. 1997 or early summer 1998 in Tribuswinkel near Vienna, Republic of Austria) was a member of the Mittelschul-Freikorps, the Hitler Youth since 1926 and the Allgemeine SS since 1933. After the failed July Putsch (Juliputsch) in Vienna in 1934, he fled to the German Reich and joined the security service of the Reichsfuhrer SS (SD) and later the 8th SS Cavalry Division "Florian Geyer", in the latter he rose to SS-Oberscharführer.

He then worked at the Ergonomics Institute of the German Labor Front in Berlin and was ordered back to Vienna after the Anschluss of Austria, where he became an SD clerk for secret Reich matters. He reported directly to Baldur von Schirach, but also had good relations with Heinrich Himmler. On 1 May 1938, he officially joined the NSDAP (membership number 6,297,877).

According to his own statements, Landig was working on the development of the so-called Reichsflugscheibe (the flying disks were powered by Vril energy, a concept from Edward Bulwer-Lytton's 1871 novel The Coming Race). Little is known about his exact work during this era. From 1942, he served with the Waffen-SS in the fight against partisans (Bandenbekämpfung) in the Balkans. In 1944, he was wounded in Belgrade and returned to Vienna, where he worked in Department I of the SD. After the end of the war he was taken prisoner by the British in 1945.

After his release in 1947, he sold Soviet intelligence information to the services of the western powers, especially the Organisation „Gehlen“. Landig joined various patriotic parties, such as the Association of Independents (a forerunner of the FPÖ) and the DNAP.

The author Landig, who was highly esteemed for his Thule trilogy, gave Jan Udo Holey, the author Jan van Helsing, a video interview. At Landig's request, this historical documentation was not released for publication until after his death, since Landig considered reprisals by certain powerful opponents, including revenge murder, to be possible.

See also

• Esoteric Hitlerism
• Miguel Serrano
• National Socialism and occultism
• Samisdat Publishers
• Völkisch movement