Thule Society

Rudolf von Sebottendorff founded the Thule Society in Munich in 1918; it was a lodge-like secret society that strove for a dictatorship based on ethnic-chauvinist principles. The name 'Thule' - fabled land in the north - was used as a code name for the association, which maintained premises at the Four Seasons Hoteland had more than 200 members in Munich by the end of 1918. Among these were Anton Drexler, Karl Harrer, Rudolf Hess, and Dietrich Eckart. In its emblem, the anti-semitic Thule Society included a swastika with a sword.

During the soviet republic, the Thule Society became the conspiratorial headquarters of the counter-revolution. It was actively involved in the defeat of the soviet republic with the specially founded 'Thule Militants'. In the so-called ‘hostage murder’ at the Luitpoldgymnasium secondary school on April 30, 1919, members of the Red Army shot ten prisoners, including seven members of the Thule Society. Although the workers’ councils and soldiers' soviets publicly distanced themselves from this act of violence the following day, right-wing propaganda continued to use the horrific image of the 'hostage murder' for its anti-republican agitation. The Münchener Beobachter, which changed its name to the Völkischer Beobachter in August 1919 and functioned as the official propaganda paper of the Nazi Party starting in 1920, served as the press organ of the Thule Society.

In the following years, the importance of the Thule Society within the ethnic-chauvinist movement declined. At the beginning of Nazi rule in 1933, it experienced a "brief comeback" (Gilbhard, p.168) in the figure of Rudolf von Sebottendorff, who had returned from abroad. In his book Bevor Hitler kam (Before Hitler came)(1933), he attempted to portray the Thule Society as the sole predecessor of the Nazi Party, thereby incurring the displeasure of the Nazi regime. Until 1942, the Thule Society played only a minor role in National Socialism and only appeared at commemorative events to mark the defeat of the soviet republic.

Many myths were propagated about the secret order after 1945. The club was dissolved in 1951. The West German right-wing scene revived the name Thule in the 1980s and 1990s. For example, a far-right internet domain 'Thule-Netz'/'Thule Web' existed as a communication platform. In the Kirchtrudering district in Munich, there are still three streets named after Thule members who were murdered in 1919: Hella-von-Westarp-Straße, Deikestraße, and Teuchertstraße. A name change is under discussion.