 otto wilhelm rahn (18 february 1904 &ndash; 13 march 1939) was a german writer, medievalist, ariosophist and an obersturmfÃ¼hrer (first lieutenant) of the schutzstaffel, who researched grail mythos. he was born in michelstadt, germany, died in sÃ¶ll (kufstein, tyrol) in austria. speculation still surrounds otto rahn and his research. from an early age, he became interested in the legends of parzival, the holy grail, lohengrin and the nibelungenlied. while attending the university of giessen he was inspired by his professor, baron von gall, to study the albigensian (catharism) movement and the massacre that occurred at montsÃ©gur. rahn is quoted as saying that "it was a subject that completely captivated me". == work == in 1931 he travelled to the pyrenees region of southern france where he conducted most of his research. aided by the french mystic and historian antonin gadal, rahn argued that there was a direct link between wolfram von eschenbach's parzival and the cathar grail mystery. he believed that the cathars held the answer to this sacred mystery and that the keys to their secrets lay somewhere beneath the mountain peak where the fortress of montsÃ©gur remains, the last cathar fortress to fall during the albigensian crusade. rahn believed it was possible to trace the cathars, who guarded the holy grail in their castle at montsegur, back to druids who converted to gnostic manichaeism. the druids in britain were forerunners of the celtic christian church. he saw that the culture of the medieval cathar stronghold of languedoc bore a strong resemblance to the ancient druids. their priests were akin to the cathar parfaits. the cathar secret wisdom being preserved by the later troubadours, the travelling poets and singers of the medieval courts of france-m. sabeheddin, [countermedia] at www.geocities.com. ==rahn's ss service and death== rahn wrote two books linking montsÃ©gur and cathars with the holy grail: kreuzzug gegen den gral (crusade towards the grail) in 1933 and luzifers hofgesind (lucifer's court) in 1937. after the publication of his first book, rahn's work came to the attention of heinrich himmler, the head
1904_births 1939_deaths Catharism Dachau_concentration_camp_personnel German_Jews German_Nazi_politicians German_archaeologists Holy_Grail LGBT_Nazis Nazi_leaders Nazis_who_committed_suicide_in_Austria People_from_Michelstadt Pseudoarchaeology Pseudohistorians SS-ObersturmfA 1/4 hrer University_of_Giessen_alumni