The Thule Society, originally called the Studiengruppe für germanisches Altertum, was a German group that studied mystical and Germanic traditions. It was formed in Munich shortly after World War I and was named after a legendary northern land from Greek stories. This group is best known for supporting the Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (DAP), which Adolf Hitler later changed into the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP or Nazi Party). Ian Kershaw, a biographer of Hitler, said the society's members included many early supporters of the Nazi Party and important figures in Munich, such as Rudolf Hess, Alfred Rosenberg, Hans Frank, Julius Lehmann, Gottfried Feder, Dietrich Eckart, and Karl Harrer.

Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke, an author, said that Hans Frank and Rudolf Hess were members of the Thule Society, but other important Nazis were either invited to speak at Thule meetings or had no connection to the group. Johannes Hering, another researcher, stated there is no proof that Hitler ever joined the Thule Society.

Origins

The Thule Society was first created as a "German study group" by Walter Nauhaus, a man who had fought in World War I and later studied art in Berlin. He worked as a keeper of family histories for the Germanenorden, a secret group formed in 1911 and officially named the following year. In 1917, Nauhaus moved to Munich, and his Thule Society was meant to hide the Munich branch of the Germanenorden. However, a split within the group changed this plan. In 1918, Nauhaus met Rudolf von Sebottendorf, a man interested in mystical practices and the new leader of the Bavarian branch of a separate group called the Germanenorden Walvater of the Holy Grail. The two men worked together to recruit members, and Sebottendorf used the Thule Society as a cover name for his Munich lodge of the Germanenorden Walvater during its official ceremony on August 18, 1918.

Beliefs

A main interest of the Thule Society was a belief about the origins of the Aryan race. In 1917, people who wished to join the "Germanic Order," from which the Thule Society formed in 1918, had to sign a special "blood declaration of faith" about their family background:

The person promises, to the best of their knowledge and belief, that no Jewish or non-white blood is present in themselves or their wife, and that their ancestors do not include members of non-white races.

"Thule" (Greek: Θούλη) was a place described by ancient Greek and Roman mapmakers as being in the farthest north (often shown as Iceland). The Latin term "Ultima Thule" appears in poems written by Roman poet Virgil called the Georgics. Originally, "Thule" likely referred to Scandinavia, though Virgil used it as a saying for the edge of the known world. His reference should not be considered a direct mention of Scandinavia. The Thule Society believed "Ultima Thule" was a lost land in the far north, near Greenland or Iceland, which Nazi mystics claimed was the capital of an ancient place called Hyperborea.

Activities

The Thule Society had about 1,500 members in Bavaria, with 250 of them living in Munich. These members were interested in racial theories and wanted to oppose Jewish people and communists. The group did not support the socialist government of the People's State of Bavaria. In December 1918, a leader named Sebottendorff tried but failed to kidnap the government’s prime minister, Kurt Eisner. In April 1919, after a communist government called the Bavarian Soviet Republic was formed, members of the Thule Society were accused of trying to take control of the government. On April 26, communists searched the Thule Society’s building in Munich and arrested seven members. These members were executed on April 30. Among them were Walter Nauhaus and three aristocrats, including Countess Heila von Westarp, who was the group’s secretary, and Prince Gustav of Thurn and Taxis, who was related to European royal families. In response, the Thule Society organized a citizens’ uprising when White troops arrived in the city on May 1.

In 1918, the Thule Society purchased a local newspaper called the Münchener Beobachter (Munich Observer) and later renamed it Münchener Beobachter und Sportblatt (Munich Observer and Sports Paper) to increase its readership. This newspaper later became the Völkischer Beobachter (“Völkisch Observer”), which was the main newspaper of the Nazi Party. Karl Harrer was the editor of this newspaper.

Anton Drexler connected the Thule Society with extreme-right worker groups in Munich. He helped start the Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (DAP; German Workers’ Party) on January 5, 1919, along with Karl Harrer of the Thule Society. Adolf Hitler joined this party in September 1919. By the end of February 1920, the DAP was reorganized as the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (NSDAP; National Socialist German Workers’ Party), commonly known as the Nazi Party.

At this time, Sebottendorff had already left the Thule Society and did not join the DAP or the Nazi Party. Dietrich Bronder (in Bevor Hitler kam, 1964) claimed that other Thule members later became important in Nazi Germany, including Dietrich Eckart, Gottfried Feder, Hans Frank, Hermann Göring, Karl Haushofer, Rudolf Hess, Heinrich Himmler, and Alfred Rosenberg. However, historian Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke said these claims were not true, noting that Feder, Eckart, and Rosenberg were only guests who received hospitality from the Thule Society during the 1918 Bavarian revolution. He later acknowledged that Hess and Frank were members of the Thule Society before becoming prominent in the Nazi Party. Some people claimed Adolf Hitler was a member of the Thule Society, but evidence shows he never attended meetings, as recorded in the diary of Johannes Hering. It is clear that Hitler (unlike Himmler, for example) was not interested in or had time for “esoteric” topics.

Wilhelm Laforce and Max Sesselmann, who worked on the Münchener Beobachter, were members of the Thule Society and later joined the NSDAP.

Dissolution

In 1920, Karl Harrer was forced to leave the DAP. At that time, Hitler was trying to break the party's connection with the Thule Society. The Thule Society later declined and was dissolved about five years later, before Hitler became powerful.

Rudolf von Sebottendorff left the Thule Society in 1919. He returned to Germany in 1933, hoping to restart it. That year, he wrote a book called Before Hitler Came, in which he claimed the Thule Society helped prepare the way for Hitler. He said Thule members were the first to support Hitler. However, Nazi leaders did not like this claim. After 1933, secret groups were banned. Some were shut down by laws against Masonic groups in 1935. Sebottendorff's book was banned, and he was briefly arrested in 1934 before going into exile in Turkey.

Some people say that some Thule members and their ideas were used in Nazi Germany. Some of the Thule Society's teachings were in the books of Alfred Rosenberg. Many mystical ideas were liked by Heinrich Himmler, who was interested in mysticism, unlike Hitler. However, the SS under Himmler followed the structure of the Jesuit order, not the Thule Society, according to Hohne.

Conspiracy theories

The Thule Society has been the focus of many conspiracy theories about Nazi Germany because of its interest in mystical or secret practices, such as the Ahnenerbe group within the SS. These theories suggest that the society was involved in the development of flying machines called UFOs that were powered by a mysterious energy known as vril.