Anna Sprengel (allegedly died in 1891), countess of Landsfeldt, love-child of

Ludwig I of Bavaria en, Louis Charles Augustus , image = Joseph Karl Stieler - King Ludwig I in his Coronation Robes - WGA21796.jpg , caption = Portrait by Joseph Stieler, 1825 , succession=King of Bavaria , reign = , coronation ...

and

Lola Montez Eliza Rosanna Gilbert, Countess of Landsfeld (17 February 1821 – 17 January 1861), better known by the stage name Lola Montez (), was an Irish dancer and actress who became famous as a Spanish dancer, courtesan, and mistress of King Ludwig ...

, is a person whose existence was never proven, and who it now seems was invented by

William Wynn Westcott William Wynn Westcott (17 December 1848 – 30 July 1925) was a coroner, ceremonial magician, theosophist and Freemason born in Leamington, Warwickshire, England. He was a Supreme Magus (chief) of the S.R.I.A and went on to co-found t ...

to confer legitimacy on the Golden Dawn. In 1901 Mathers, leader of the Golden Dawn, briefly supported the claim of Swami Laura Horos, who had long campaigned for recognition as that countess, to have written to Westcott as Anna Sprengel.

Westcott's anecdote

According to William Wynn Westcott, with whom he claimed she entered into voluminous correspondence, Anna Sprengel was born in

Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...

and was responsible for the foundation of the Golden Dawn around 1886. She is supposed to have held a

Rosicrucian Rosicrucianism is a spiritual and cultural movement that arose in Europe in the early 17th century after the publication of several texts purported to announce the existence of a hitherto unknown esoteric order to the world and made seeking it ...

ritual and to have nominated Westcott as the head of the Golden Dawn in

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

. One of Westcott's friends had decoded a series of manuscripts which the

occultist The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism a ...

Fred Hockley Sub-Lieutenant Frederick (Fred) Hockley Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, RNVR (1923–1945) was an England, English Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm fighter pilot who was shot down over Japan while taking part in the last combat mission flown by British ...

had brought from

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

which were given to him by a German

secret society. The address which was encoded there was that of a certain Anna Sprengel, countess of Landsfeldt, near Nuremberg. It was thus that Westcott is supposed to have been put into contact with Anna Sprengel. By 1886, Anna Sprengel is supposed to have already established contact with the person who would become the main leader of the Golden Dawn in Britain,

Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers Samuel Liddell (or Liddel) MacGregor Mathers (8 or 11 January 1854 – 5 or 20 November 1918), born Samuel Liddell Mathers, was a British occultist. He is primarily known as one of the founders of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, a cerem ...

(1854–1918). Anna Sprengel is supposed to have given Mathers a charter authorising him to found lodges of the Golden Dawn in Britain. Westcott and Mathers henceforth collaborated to develop the Golden Dawn, notably in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

and in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

References

* Riffard Pierre, ''L'Ésotérisme - Qu'est que l'ésotérisme ? - Anthologie de l'ésotérisme occidental'', Ed. Robert Laffont, 1990 - p.878 *

Serge Hutin Serge Hutin (1927 – 1 November 1997) was a French author of books on esoterica and the occult. He was born in France. Writer Hutin was a writer of many books on the occult and esoteric, he wrote about Freemasonry, secret societies, Rosicr ...

, ''Aleister Crowley'', Ed. Marabout, Verviers 1973 (chapitre sur la Golden Dawn). {{DEFAULTSORT:Sprengel Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn People whose existence is disputed Rosicrucianism