Investigation

La Berlin de entreguerras era una ciudad conocida en toda Europa por su sub-cultura bohemia y sus jovenes intelectuales. Entre los personajes que ardientemente celebraban los abundantes «ismos» que estaban fracturando las viejas certezas ideologicas, las cuales habian compactado el siglo XIX, pocos individuos eran mas coloridos que un joven de ojos verdes y cabellos oscuros llamado Otto Rahn. Su figura delgada, envuelta en un caracteristico abrigo negro y sombrero tiroles, arrojaba una larga sombra desde esos anos sombrios, una «gran silueta» alrededor de la cual se han acumulado  los mitos mas extravagantes. El fue considerado igualmente como mason, rosacruz, luciferino, y un agente de la Sociedad Thule. Como lo plantea el autor Phillip Kerr, los contemporaneos de Rahn no se habrian sorprendido de ver «la Dama Escarlata y la Gran Bestia salir volando desde la puerta del frente» de su apartamento en Tiergartenstrasse. Uno de sus companeros de la Orden Negra de Heinrich Himmler comento en un memorandum interno que el «medio sospechaba que Rahn tenia relaciones con el pueblo pequeno».

Берлин между мировыми войнами был городом, известным по всей Европе своей богемной субкультурой молодых интеллектуалов. Среди лиц, которые горячо обсуждали много модернистских "измов", которые ломали старые идеологические определения, что склеивали 19-ое столетие, немногие были более колоритными, чем этот темноволосый, зеленоглазый молодой человек по имени Отто Вильгельм Ран. Его худая фигура, одетая в характерный черный плащ и фетровую шляпу, бросает длинную тень из тех сумеречных лет, ‘великий силуэт’, вокруг которого вращались самые невероятные мифы. Он, как говорили, был Масоном, Розенкрейцером, Люциферианцем, посланцем Общества Туле, посвященным Катаром и даже руководителем некоего неизвестного международного тайного общества.

Hi, Jeanne! 
I congratulate you on the release of your book White Lie. This is a great event for all who are familiar with the work, searching and life of Otto Wilhelm Rahn. When did you first hear of him?

Jeanne:
The first time I heard of Otto Rahn was probably during my research of the history of Montségur and the Cathars in connection with Grail lore. I never studied the man himself and only knew what most people know; that he researched Grail lore, visited Montségur and was working for Himmler as a relic hunter in a pre-war Germany. It wasn't until 2008 that a friend sent me "Crusade against the Grail" in English, followed by "Lucifer's Court" and Nigel Graddon's "Otto Rahn, Quest for the Holy Grail". I was thinking of writing a thriller book at that time about the 1st century, and the mysteries of the Languedoc. I had already done a lot of research for the book, but didn't get around to actually writing it, because the financial crisis had made me and my husband work 7 days a week to make a living. In 2011 I first had the chance to sit down properly and started writing in January. I would write almost 18 to 20 hours a day for several months and Otto slowly became one of the key players in the book.

The Secret of Otto Rahn - Relic Hunter

The nineteen thirties, Nazi Germany. Organisations like the Nordische Gesellschaft and the Thule Gesellschaft were researching the origin of the Germanic people, the Arian race. Obsessed with the ancient cultures which connected their ancestors, they searched all corners of the earth trying to find relics and remains of these old civilizations. Relic hunter Otto Rahn seached for the Grail treasure. Here, in Occitania.

Rahn visited Occitania many times and stayed for months at the time during 1929 - 1932. In '32 he leased a hotel called 'Les Maronniers' in Ussat-les-Bains. On the photo we see him entertaining his mother in the garden of the hotel. He is wearing a sweater which his mum nitted for him, showing the symbol of the Thule Gesell-schaft of which he was a member. When the hotel went bankrupt, he had to leave France.