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The Church Tower of Vries

Earlier this week my eye fell on something (or so I thought) which made me have an extra look at the subject of the church tower of Vries, about which Farwerck wrote in Nehalennia III-3 (1958).

Vries is a small village in the North of Drenthe, a province in the North of the Netherlands. There is a 12th century Romanesque nowadays Protestant church in the village, dedicated to Saint Boniface. It was enlarged in the 15th century and has been under restauration between 1946 and 1949 according to Wikipedia.

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Lecturing

After his political and Masonic careers were over and he was no longer a “Rotarian“, Farwerck did not sit still. He kept lecturing until very late in his life. Since some of these lectures were announced in newspapers, I can give you an idea what he lectured about and when. It appears that after World War II he found ‘new’ homes in an archaeological and a genealogical group (or at least, he wasn’t thrown out of them).

Some new info about the house

Every once in a while I check if new information has become available. I ran into two newspaper articles that give a somewhat new twist to the story how Farwerck has lost his house. The local government seems to have obtained the house for road reconstructions that never took place. One of the articles has a photo suggesting it was taken in front of Emmastraat 58, but I’m not sure it is.

Lost writings

In the bibliography I mention titles that appear to be lost and writings that never saw the light of day. Lost books? Farwerck was active in a local archaeological group. He even was one of the founders. In 1979 in the annual report (1), the group lists “literature”, “List of books of the society.” See below. Five titles by Farwerck are mentioned, none I know! Another founder of the same group, Siem Pos (1916-2001), is said to have been a long time friend of Farwerck. It could be that not the group, but rather Pos, was the owner of these titles. Pos’ library supposedly scattered after his passing (as did Farwerck’s). Even though the head says “books”, the titles actually suggest articles. “Vries I en II” (1 and 2) and “Volksgebruiken I, II en III” (1, 2 and 3) could be essays planned to be printed in two and three issues of, for example, the periodical Westerheem that the local archaeological group published since 1952 (2). Then again, Farwerck published only one text in Westerheem in 1954. Why would he have five (or even eight when you count the separate parts) texts ready in the year after his death and… Read More »Lost writings

Letter to 1927 International Convent

The National Archive of France in Paris contains (a part of) the archives of the French federation of Le Droit Humain. In this archive there is a letter of Farwerck who, since 1923, was the representative of the Dutch federation of this international organisation. At the time of the convent he was even Vice-President of the Supreme Council. I had hoped that the letter would make clear why Farwerck (or seemingly any Dutch representative) was not present at that convent. Instead, the letter turned out to be a 16 page printed and stapled booklet with both in French and in English. Farwerck gives his personal view on the future of Le Droit Humain. He strongly warns against Theosophical influences in spite of the fact that it was Theosophy who led himself to co-Masonry. The lengthy letter is perhaps the only text in English of Farwerck that I know (or French). It shows again how he wants to work for mankind, how strongly he opposed (certain) influences on Theosophy of Le Droit Humain and why and how he hoped to strengthen the international Masonic movement. TO THE MEMBERS OF THE SUPREME COUNCIL AND THE DEPUTIES FOR THE CONVENT OF 1927 OF… Read More »Letter to 1927 International Convent

New photo

I ran into a photo of Farwerck and Mussert that I didn’t know on the website oorlogsspullen.nl. Farwerck looks young, but since it’s a photo with Mussert, it must be from around 1933 when Farwerck was 44.

Nederlandsch Ario-Germaansch Genootschap

I have been looking through newspaper and magazine archives hoping to find a clue why Farwerck and a few others left so soon. I have not found a definitive answer yet, but perhaps painting the history of the organisation as portrayed by these sources could be helpful. As we saw, the society was founded in November 1931 in Utrecht as announced in different newspapers. 9 Days after the announcement of the foundation, Farwerck and a few other founders left. In the newspaper Barchem bladen in 1931 an author quotes an invitation that he received concerning the first meeting of the society. Only an organic (aristocratical-patriarchical-hierarchical) common living to the Divine Law – Ara Rita, supported by free Aryan (=nobel) people will lead a people to its highest education, to culture. Also a focus on Christianity shines through. In advertisements -seemingly from the society itself- it is mentioned that the group is aligned to the “Guido von List-Gesellschaft” and the “Edda-Gesellschaft”. Of course this can mean that the people behind the society were inspired by these organisations or simply used the names to boast their own, but it could also mean that they connected themselves to Ariosophic thinking. In a magazine… Read More »Nederlandsch Ario-Germaansch Genootschap

Ariosophy (in the Netherlands)

Armanism and Ariosophy are esoteric ideological systems that were largely developed by Guido von List and Jörg Lanz von Liebenfels respectively, in Austria between 1890 and 1930. The term ‘Ariosophy’, which means the wisdom of the Aryans, was invented by Lanz von Liebenfels in 1915, and during the 1920s, it became the name of his doctrine. […] the term ‘Ariosophy’ is generically used to describe the Aryan/esoteric theories which constituted a subset of the ‘Völkische Bewegung’. (1) Thus says Wikipedia. The current was there before the World Wars. Perhaps it can be seen as a somewhat more Western version of Blavatsky’s “Theosophy”, but of course the term “Aryan” refers to Indo-European culture, so Ariosophy is not entirely Western. There is more focus on Western elements such as runes and Norse mythology, but as it comes to the runes, the (in)famous “rune-Yoga” of Von List is -of course- not a very Western thing. The first organisation for Ariosophy (very broadly used) seems to be the “Guido von List Society” from 1908. According to the German Wikipedia (2) (translated): In 1908, friends and followers of List founded the Guido von List Gesellschaft to promote his “research” and publications, members included the industrialist… Read More »Ariosophy (in the Netherlands)