Otto Rahn Otto Wilhelm Rahn ( 18 February 1904 — 13 March 1939 ) was a German medievalist and an Obersturmführer ( First Lieutenant ) of the SS , born in Michelstadt , Germany . Speculation still surrounds Otto Rahn and his research . From an early age , he became interested in the legends of Parsifal , the Holy Grail , Lohengrin and the Nibelungenlied . While attending the University of Giessen he was inspired by his professor , the Baron von Gall , to study the Albigensian ( Catharism ) movement , and the massacre that occurred at Montségur . 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 pog where the fortress of Montségur 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 ] " . Rahn ' s SS service and death . Rahn wrote two books linking Montségur 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 of the SS , who was fascinated by the occult and had already initiated research in the south of France . Rahn joined his staff as a junior non - commissioned officer and became a full member of the SS in 1936 . Journeys for his second book led Rahn to places in Germany , France , Italy and Iceland . Openly homosexual , he was assigned guard duty at the Dachau concentration camp in 1937 as punishment for a drunken homosexual scrape . He resigned from the SS in 1939 . On 13 March 1939 nearly on the anniversary of the fall of Montségur , Rahn was found frozen to death on a mountainside near Söll ( Kufstein , Tyrol ) in Austria . His death was officially ruled a suicide . Rahn in popular culture . Rahn has been described as the inspiration behind the Indiana Jones film " Raiders of the Lost Ark " , although neither George Lucas nor Steven Spielberg has ever mentioned anything about his having inspired the film . Rahn appears as a minor character in Michelle Cooper ' s " A Brief History of Montmaray " and " The FitzOsbornes in Exile " . Rahn has been the object of many rumours and strange stories , including that his death had been faked , although all such speculation has failed to be substantiated . He features as a character in the 2008 novel " The Judas Apocalypse " by Dan McNeil . In the novel , Rahn helps a fellow German archaeologist search for the lost treasure of the Cathars . He also figures in the " Berlin Noir " novel " The Pale Criminal " by Philip Kerr and " Blood Lance " by Craig Smith . In the Italian comic book Martin Mystère , Rahn fakes his death and joins the US secret service " Elsewhere " . Richard Stanley , cult director of such films as " Hardware " and " Dust Devil " , also made a documentary about Rahn and his fixation on the Holy Grail called " The Secret Glory " in 2001 . Quotation . " My ancient forbears were heathens , and my ancestors were heretics . For their exoneration I collect the pieces that Rome left over . " ( " Luzifers Hofgesind " , i . e . " Lucifer ' s Court " )