Robert Eisler (27 April 1882 – 17 December 1949) was an
Austrian Jewish
The history of the Jews in Austria probably begins with the exodus of Jews from Judea under Roman occupation. Over the course of many centuries, the political status of the community rose and fell many times: during certain periods, the Jewis ...
polymath
A polymath ( el, πολυμαθής, , "having learned much"; la, homo universalis, "universal human") is an individual whose knowledge spans a substantial number of subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific pro ...
who wrote about the topics of
myth
Myth is a folklore genre consisting of Narrative, narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or Origin myth, origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not Objectivity (philosophy), ...
ology,
comparative religion
Comparative religion is the branch of the study of religions with the systematic comparison of the doctrines and practices, themes and impacts (including migration) of the world's religions. In general the comparative study of religion yie ...
,
the Gospels
Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...
,
monetary policy
Monetary policy is the policy adopted by the monetary authority of a nation to control either the interest rate payable for very short-term borrowing (borrowing by banks from each other to meet their short-term needs) or the money supply, often a ...
,
art history
Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...
,
history of science
The history of science covers the development of science from ancient times to the present. It encompasses all three major branches of science: natural, social, and formal.
Science's earliest roots can be traced to Ancient Egypt and Meso ...
,
psychoanalysis
PsychoanalysisFrom Greek: + . is a set of theories and therapeutic techniques"What is psychoanalysis? Of course, one is supposed to answer that it is many things — a theory, a research method, a therapy, a body of knowledge. In what might b ...
,
politics
Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...
,
astrology
Astrology is a range of Divination, divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that claim to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the apparent positions of Celestial o ...
,
history of currency, and
value theory
In ethics and the social sciences, value theory involves various approaches that examine how, why, and to what degree humans value things and whether the object or subject of valuing is a person, idea, object, or anything else. Within philosophy, ...
. He lectured at the
Sorbonne
Sorbonne may refer to:
* Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities.
*the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970)
*one of its components or linked institution, ...
and
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
,
served briefly on the
International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation
The International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation, sometimes League of Nations Committee on Intellectual Cooperation, was an advisory organization for the League of Nations which aimed to promote international exchange between scientists, r ...
in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
after
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
,
and spent fifteen months imprisoned in
Dachau
,
, commandant = List of commandants
, known for =
, location = Upper Bavaria, Southern Germany
, built by = Germany
, operated by = ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS)
, original use = Political prison
, construction ...
and
Buchenwald
Buchenwald (; literally 'beech forest') was a Nazi concentration camp established on hill near Weimar, Germany, in July 1937. It was one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps within Germany's 1937 borders. Many actual or su ...
, where he developed heart disease. He is best remembered today for advancing a new picture of the
historical Jesus
The term "historical Jesus" refers to the reconstruction of the life and teachings of Jesus by critical historical methods, in contrast to religious interpretations. It also considers the historical and cultural contexts in which Jesus lived. ...
based on his interpretation of the
Slavonic Josephus
The Slavonic Josephus is an Old East Slavic translation of Flavius Josephus' ''History of the Jewish War'' which contains numerous interpolations and omissions that set it apart from all other known versions of Josephus' ''History''. The authentic ...
manuscript tradition, proposing a dual currency system to control
inflation
In economics, inflation is an increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy. When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation corresponds to a reductio ...
, and arguing for a prehistoric derivation of human violence in ''
Man into Wolf: An Anthropological Interpretation of Sadism, Masochism, and Lycanthropy.'' His life and work intersected with those of
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating psychopathology, pathologies explained as originatin ...
,
Carl Jung
Carl Gustav Jung ( ; ; 26 July 1875 – 6 June 1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who founded analytical psychology. Jung's work has been influential in the fields of psychiatry, anthropology, archaeology, literature, philo ...
,
Alois Riegl
Alois Riegl (14 January 1858, Linz – 17 June 1905, Vienna) was an Austrian art historian, and is considered a member of the Vienna School of Art History. He was one of the major figures in the establishment of art history as a self-sufficient ac ...
,
Gilbert Murray
George Gilbert Aimé Murray (2 January 1866 – 20 May 1957) was an Australian-born British classical scholar and public intellectual, with connections in many spheres. He was an outstanding scholar of the language and culture of Ancient Greece ...
,
Karl Popper
Sir Karl Raimund Popper (28 July 1902 – 17 September 1994) was an Austrian-British philosopher, academic and social commentator. One of the 20th century's most influential philosophers of science, Popper is known for his rejection of the cl ...
,
Hugo von Hofmannsthal
Hugo Laurenz August Hofmann von Hofmannsthal (; 1 February 1874 – 15 July 1929) was an Austrian novelist, librettist, poet, dramatist, narrator, and essayist.
Early life
Hofmannsthal was born in Landstraße, Vienna, the son of an upper-class ...
,
G. R. S. Mead,
Aby Warburg
Aby Moritz Warburg, better known as Aby Warburg, (June 13, 1866 – October 26, 1929) was a German art historian and cultural theorist who founded the Kulturwissenschaftliche Bibliothek Warburg (Library for Cultural Studies), a private library, ...
,
Fritz Saxl
Friedrich "Fritz" Saxl (8 January 1890, Vienna, Austria – 22 March 1948, Dulwich, London) was the art historian who was the guiding light of the Warburg Institute, especially during the long mental breakdown of its founder, Aby Warburg, whom h ...
,
Gershom Scholem
Gershom Scholem () (5 December 1897 – 21 February 1982), was a German-born Israeli philosopher and historian. Widely regarded as the founder of modern academic study of the Kaballah, Scholem was appointed the first professor of Jewish Mystici ...
,
Oskar Goldberg Oskar Goldberg (5 November 1885 - 13 August 1953) was a German-Jewish philosopher, religious thinker and medical doctor.
Biography
Goldberg was born in Berlin where he attended the orthodox Veitel-Heine-Ephraim school. While he was still at scho ...
,
Martin Buber
Martin Buber ( he, מרטין בובר; german: Martin Buber; yi, מארטין בובער; February 8, 1878 –
June 13, 1965) was an Austrian Jewish and Israeli philosopher best known for his philosophy of dialogue, a form of existentialism c ...
, and
Walter Benjamin
Walter Bendix Schönflies Benjamin (; ; 15 July 1892 – 26 September 1940) was a German Jewish philosopher, cultural critic and essayist.
An eclectic thinker, combining elements of German idealism, Romanticism, Western Marxism, and Jewish mys ...
.
Life
Early life and education
Eisler was born in
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
on 27 April 1882. After gymnasium, Eisler attended the
University of Vienna
The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich histor ...
, where he received his first doctorate in
economics
Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services.
Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...
. In 1902, he published ''Studien zur Werttheorie'' (''Studies on Value Theory'', 1902), a collection of five essays belonging to “The Second Austrian School of
Value Theory
In ethics and the social sciences, value theory involves various approaches that examine how, why, and to what degree humans value things and whether the object or subject of valuing is a person, idea, object, or anything else. Within philosophy, ...
,” associated with his teachers
Christian von Ehrenfels
Christian von Ehrenfels (also ''Maria Christian Julius Leopold Freiherr von Ehrenfels''; 20 June 1859 – 8 September 1932) was an Austrian philosopher, and is known as one of the founders and precursors of Gestalt psychology.
Christian von Eh ...
and
Alexius Meinong
Alexius Meinong Ritter von Handschuchsheim (17 July 1853 – 27 November 1920) was an Austrian philosopher, a realist known for his unique ontology. He also made contributions to philosophy of mind and theory of value.
Life
Alexius Meinong' ...
. Around 1904 he traveled through the Mediterranean visiting museums and archaeological sites. When he returned to Austria in 1905, he took a second doctorate in
Art History
Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...
under
Alois Riegl
Alois Riegl (14 January 1858, Linz – 17 June 1905, Vienna) was an Austrian art historian, and is considered a member of the Vienna School of Art History. He was one of the major figures in the establishment of art history as a self-sufficient ac ...
and
Franz Wickhoff
Franz Wickhoff (7 May 1853 – 6 April 1909) was an Austrian art historian, and is considered a member of the Vienna School of Art History.
Early life
Franz Wickhoff was born on 7 May 1853 in Steyr. He studied at the University of Vienna und ...
at the University of Vienna Institute of Art History. In 1908, Eisler converted to
Roman Catholicism
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...
in order to marry Rosalia “Lili” von Pausinger, an Austrian
baron
Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knig ...
ess and the daughter of the landscape painter Franz von Pausinger.
Attempted Art Theft in 1907
On 9 June 1907, during a trip to
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
, Eisler visited the library of the Archbishop’s Palace in
Udine
Udine ( , ; fur, Udin; la, Utinum) is a city and ''comune'' in north-eastern Italy, in the middle of the Friuli Venezia Giulia region, between the Adriatic Sea and the Alps (''Alpi Carniche''). Its population was 100,514 in 2012, 176,000 with t ...
to photograph some
codices
The codex (plural codices ) was the historical ancestor of the modern book. Instead of being composed of sheets of paper, it used sheets of vellum, papyrus, or other materials. The term ''codex'' is often used for ancient manuscript books, with ...
. After Eisler had finished taking photographs and left, the librarian noticed that a fifteenth century codex called the ''Virginis et Passionis'' was missing and called the authorities to report the theft. The police picked up Eisler for questioning, and while he was being held at the station he grabbed a pen knife from a desk and stuck it into his throat, but the wound was superficial. Upon confessing to the theft, Eisler was confined to await trial and, as a foreigner, he was held without bail. In his jail cell one night, Eisler broke a bottle of disinfectant and tried to slash his left wrist with a shard of glass. This wound, too, was stitched up by a doctor, who also diagnosed Eisler with
malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...
. At his trial, in which
Hugo von Hoffmannsthal
Hugo Laurenz August Hofmann von Hofmannsthal (; 1 February 1874 – 15 July 1929) was an Austrian novelist, librettist, poet, dramatist, narrator, and essayist.
Early life
Hofmannsthal was born in Landstraße, Vienna, the son of an upper-class ...
testified as a character witness, Eisler confessed to having taken the codex and was ultimately allowed to pay his court costs and avoid jail time so that his family could take him to a sanitarium in nearby
Gorizia
Gorizia (; sl, Gorica , colloquially 'old Gorizia' to distinguish it from Nova Gorica; fur, label= Standard Friulian, Gurize, fur, label= Southeastern Friulian, Guriza; vec, label= Bisiacco, Gorisia; german: Görz ; obsolete English ''Gorit ...
.
Service in World War I
From 1914 until 1917 Eisler served as an officer in
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...
’s 59th “Erzherzog Rainer” Infantry Regiment, and was awarded the silver medal and was made a knight of both the
Order of Francis Joseph
The Imperial Austrian Order of Franz Joseph (german: Kaiserlich-Österreichischer Franz-Joseph-Orden) was founded by Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria on 2 December 1849, on the first anniversary of his accession to the imperial throne.
Classes
...
and the Iron Cross.
Connections to the Warburg Circle in Hamburg
Eisler’s contacts with the “
Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
, utc_offset1 = +1
, timezone1_DST = Central (CEST)
, utc_offset1_DST = +2
, postal ...
School” of art history, which included
Aby Warburg
Aby Moritz Warburg, better known as Aby Warburg, (June 13, 1866 – October 26, 1929) was a German art historian and cultural theorist who founded the Kulturwissenschaftliche Bibliothek Warburg (Library for Cultural Studies), a private library, ...
and
Fritz Saxl
Friedrich "Fritz" Saxl (8 January 1890, Vienna, Austria – 22 March 1948, Dulwich, London) was the art historian who was the guiding light of the Warburg Institute, especially during the long mental breakdown of its founder, Aby Warburg, whom h ...
and the philosopher
Ernst Cassirer
Ernst Alfred Cassirer ( , ; July 28, 1874 – April 13, 1945) was a German philosopher. Trained within the Neo-Kantian Marburg School, he initially followed his mentor Hermann Cohen in attempting to supply an idealistic philosophy of science.
Aft ...
, began in the early 1920s. During this period, Eisler also introduced
Gershom Scholem
Gershom Scholem () (5 December 1897 – 21 February 1982), was a German-born Israeli philosopher and historian. Widely regarded as the founder of modern academic study of the Kaballah, Scholem was appointed the first professor of Jewish Mystici ...
to Warburg’s circle.
On 3 December 1922, Eisler went to Hamburg to give a paper titled “''Orphische und altchristliche Kultsymbolik''” (“
Orphic
Orphism (more rarely Orphicism; grc, Ὀρφικά, Orphiká) is the name given to a set of religious beliefs and practices originating in the ancient Greek and Hellenistic world, associated with literature ascribed to the mythical poet Orpheus ...
and Early Christian Cult Symbolism”) at the Bibliothek Warburg and received spontaneous applause at the end of his lecture. Warburg himself was taking a leave of absence, having suffered a nervous breakdown in 1918. It was Saxl, Warburg’s secretary who had read ''Orpheus the Fisher'' and invited Eisler. As they were setting the date, Eisler began to try Saxl’s patience with his frequent requests: before he had even arrived, Eisler wanted to set up two more lectures, one on ancient seafaring and another on the history of money, the latter being an area of his scholarship that he seemed convinced would be of special interest to Warburg, whose
brothers
A brother is a man or boy who shares one or more parents with another; a male sibling. The female counterpart is a sister. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to non-familia ...
were major figures in the world of finance. In 1925 Saxl published Eisler’s ''Orphisch-dionysische Mysterien-Gedanken in der christlichen Antike'' (''Orphic-Dionysian Mystery Thought in Early Christianity'') in the ''Vorträge der Bibliothek Warburg'' (''Warburg Library Lectures'').
Writing from the Bellevue Clinic in
Kreuzlingen
Kreuzlingen is a municipality in the district of Kreuzlingen in the canton of Thurgau in north-eastern Switzerland. It is the seat of the district and is the second-largest city of the canton, after Frauenfeld, with a population of about 22,000. ...
, Warburg, who was much concerned with professionalism and distinguishing himself from the amateur scholars of his day, vehemently opposed Eisler’s invitation. He later complained about Eisler’s excessive “''chutzpah''” and insisted that he did not want to attract “such people” and provide “a stage for immodest dilettantes.”
At the time, Warburg was suffering from severe
depression and was subject to “terrible tantrums and phobias, obsessions and delusions which ultimately made him a danger to himself and his surroundings and lead to his confinement in a closed ward.” In 1924, having recovered from his breakdown, Warburg sought Eisler’s help with his own work and corresponded with him on the topic of the
Zoroastrian
Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religion and one of the world's oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a dualistic cosmology of good and evil within the framework of a monotheistic on ...
god
Zurvan
Zurvanism is a fatalistic religious movement of Zoroastrianism in which the divinity Zurvan is a first principle (primordial creator deity) who engendered equal-but-opposite twins, Ahura Mazda and Angra Mainyu. Zurvanism is also known as "Zurva ...
. When Warburg died in 1929, Eisler asked to write his obituary for a scholarly journal. And upon his own death, Eisler’s widow donated most of his papers to the
Warburg Institute
The Warburg Institute is a research institution associated with the University of London in central London, England. A member of the School of Advanced Study, its focus is the study of cultural history and the role of images in culture – cros ...
’s archive.
Diplomatic and Scholarly Work in Paris
In 1925, with the recommendation of the classicist
Gilbert Murray
George Gilbert Aimé Murray (2 January 1866 – 20 May 1957) was an Australian-born British classical scholar and public intellectual, with connections in many spheres. He was an outstanding scholar of the language and culture of Ancient Greece ...
, Eisler took a diplomatic post in Paris as a deputy chief of the ''Institut International de Cooperation Intellectuelle'' (
International Institute of Intellectual Cooperation) which had been created at the invitation of the French government to work with the
League of Nations’ International Commission on Intellectual Cooperation. However, Eisler accepted the position and moved into a large rented apartment in Paris without first obtaining the permission of the Austrian government, who lodged a complaint with the League of Nations.
While in Paris, Eisler received a visit from Scholem and
Walter Benjamin
Walter Bendix Schönflies Benjamin (; ; 15 July 1892 – 26 September 1940) was a German Jewish philosopher, cultural critic and essayist.
An eclectic thinker, combining elements of German idealism, Romanticism, Western Marxism, and Jewish mys ...
. Scholem later described the encounter:
“The visit we paid Eisler in the deserted rooms of his luxury apartment—the “official people” had already disassociated themselves from him—was a depressing experience for us. Eisler, however, cheerfully discussed his discoveries about the person and role of Jesus as the leader of a political revolt. We realized we were witnessing a sad turning point in the life of an unusual human being.”
While in Paris, Eisler gave lectures on the
Slavonic Josephus
The Slavonic Josephus is an Old East Slavic translation of Flavius Josephus' ''History of the Jewish War'' which contains numerous interpolations and omissions that set it apart from all other known versions of Josephus' ''History''. The authentic ...
manuscript, a version of
Josephus
Flavius Josephus (; grc-gre, Ἰώσηπος, ; 37 – 100) was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and military leader, best known for ''The Jewish War'', who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly d ...
's ''
The Jewish War
''The Jewish War'' or ''Judean War'' (in full ''Flavius Josephus' Books of the History of the Jewish War against the Romans'', el, Φλαυίου Ἰωσήπου ἱστορία Ἰουδαϊκοῦ πολέμου πρὸς Ῥωμαίους ...
'' that Eisler argued was translated by a “Judaisizing heretic” from a lost
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
version of an unattested
Aramaic
The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated in ...
original, and was therefore free from the Christian censorship coloring every other version of the text. In a letter to ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'' of 17 April 1926, Eisler laid out the new narrative of Jesus’s ministry and death that the reconstructed manuscripts described:
There is no doubt now that the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem and the “cleansing” of the Temple
A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...
were considered by Jews, as well as by Romans, as a revolutionary rising against the Roman government… Yet it is very important to see that even this hostile and prejudiced statement does not imply an accusation that Jesus started this rising against the Roman army of occupation, but admits that He was urged by His zelotic followers upon the path which led to the conscious self-sacrifice on the Cross.
This argument became the basis for a two-volume work in German, ''ΙΗΣΟϒΣ ΒΑΣΙΛΕϒΣ Οϒ ΒΑΣΙΛΕϒΣΑΣ: Messianische Unabhängigkeitsbewegung vom Auftreten Johannes des Täufers bis zum Untergang Jakobs des Gerechtenn ach der neuerschlossenen Eroberung von Jerusalem des Flavius Josephus und den christlichen Quellen'' (''Jesus, the King Who Did Not Reign: The Messianic Independence Movement from the Appearance of
John the Baptist
John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...
to the Downfall of Jacob the Righteous after the Newly Discovered “Conquest of Jerusalem” by Flavius Josephus and the Christian Sources,'' 1929-30). A year later he published a shorter English edition titled
The Messiah Jesus and John the Baptist According to Flavius Josephus’ Recently Rediscovered ‘Capture of Jerusalem’ and Other Jewish and Christian Sources' (1931).
Congressional and Parliamentary Testimony on Monetary Reform
In the early 1930s, as the world was suffering the
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
, Eisler turned his attention back to economics, the subject in which he earned his first doctorate. With a plan to reverse inflation and stave off future financial crises, he wrote three books for popular audiences on how to reform the banking system: ''This Money Maze: A Way Out of the Economic World Crisis'' (1931), ''Stable Money'' (1932), and, with economist Alec Wilson, ''The Money Machine: A Simple Introduction to the Eisler Plan'' (1933). Eisler drew on an historical practice from the Italian Renaissance called “banco-money” to argue for a dual currency system that would create an effective
negative interest rate
An interest rate is the amount of interest due per period, as a proportion of the amount lent, deposited, or borrowed (called the principal sum). The total interest on an amount lent or borrowed depends on the principal sum, the interest rate, th ...
by removing the
zero lower bound The Zero Lower Bound (''ZLB'') or Zero Nominal Lower Bound (''ZNLB'') is a macroeconomic problem that occurs when the short-term nominal interest rate is at or near zero, causing a liquidity trap and limiting the central bank's capacity to stimulate ...
. Eisler presented this system to the British Parliamentary Finance Committee Review in 1932 and the U.S. Congress’s Committee on Banking and Currency in 1934, where he argued that if Great Britain and the United States both adopted his plan, “they could completely revolutionize the world and achieve such prosperity and such wealth as cannot be dreamed of under present circumstances.” Neither government implemented his plan.
Connections to Eranos
In 1935 Eisler was invited to give a lecture on lecturing about the identity of the author of the
Fourth Gospel
The Gospel of John ( grc, Εὐαγγέλιον κατὰ Ἰωάννην, translit=Euangélion katà Iōánnēn) is the fourth of the four canonical gospels. It contains a highly schematic account of the ministry of Jesus, with seven "sig ...
at the
Eranos
Eranos is an intellectual discussion group dedicated to humanistic and religious studies, as well as to the natural sciences which has met annually in Moscia (Lago Maggiore), the Collegio Papio and on the Monte Verità in Ascona, Switzerland sinc ...
conference, which marked the beginning of his connection to
Carl Jung
Carl Gustav Jung ( ; ; 26 July 1875 – 6 June 1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who founded analytical psychology. Jung's work has been influential in the fields of psychiatry, anthropology, archaeology, literature, philo ...
''.'' Jung had already been reading Eisler and went on to cite his work on Orphic symbolism in his 1935 essay “Dream Symbols and the Individuation Process” and subsequently in a lecture series on
Nietzsche
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, Prose poetry, prose poet, cultural critic, Philology, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philo ...
’s ''
Thus Spoke Zarathustra
''Thus Spoke Zarathustra: A Book for All and None'' (german: Also sprach Zarathustra: Ein Buch für Alle und Keinen), also translated as ''Thus Spake Zarathustra'', is a work of philosophical fiction written by German philosopher Friedrich Niet ...
''. The 1935 edition of the ''Eranos Jahrbuch'' (''Eranos Yearbook'') published the paper he had presented in the form of an essay titled “''Das Rätsel des Johannesevangeliums''” (“The Riddle of the Gospel of John”). Eranos founder
Olga Fröbe-Kapteyn reported to Jung that one of her cats had allowed Eisler to witness her birthing a litter, which had raised him in her estimation. Another Eranos attendee,
Ernst Robert Curtius
Ernst Robert Curtius (; 14 April 1886 – 19 April 1956) was a German literary scholar, philologist, and Romance language literary critic, best known for his 1948 study ''Europäische Literatur und Lateinisches Mittelalter'', translated in Eng ...
, called Eisler “a real ''aufklärer''
nlightener and commented: "
islershowed with uncanny clarity, where the cold dialectic of the white man’s intellect leads—to a petrifaction, a ''rigor mortis'' of the world as a concept. What remains is the inner malaise of Solomonic world-weariness."
Imprisonment in Dachau and Buchenwald
Following the ''
Anschluss
The (, or , ), also known as the (, en, Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the German Reich on 13 March 1938.
The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a " Greater Germany ...
'' in March 1938, Eisler wrote to
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
asking about being appointed to the Wilde Readership in Comparative and Natural Religion, thereby gaining a way out of Nazi-controlled Europe. Gilbert Murray stepped in and secured him the Oxford post, which he was to have taken in October and held for three years. But on May 20, Eisler was arrested and sent to Dachau under “protective custody” as prisoner 16547.
Lili Eisler stayed behind in
Unterach am Attersee
Unterach is a village in the Austria state of Upper Austria on the southern shore of lake Attersee in the centre of the Salzkammergut region.
The name derives from the Austro-Bavarian ''Untr, aha'' ~ ''between, waters'' based on the geographical ...
, trying to get her husband released. Because she refused to divorce him, her inherited properties in
Salzburg
Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian) is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872.
The town is on the site of the ...
and
Upper Austria
Upper Austria (german: Oberösterreich ; bar, Obaöstareich) is one of the nine states or of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as the other Austrian states of Lower Austria, Styria, a ...
were confiscated. Eisler was eventually transferred to
Buchenwald
Buchenwald (; literally 'beech forest') was a Nazi concentration camp established on hill near Weimar, Germany, in July 1937. It was one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps within Germany's 1937 borders. Many actual or su ...
on 22 September 1938.
At Buchenwald, prisoners worked from first light until dark and in 1938 and 1939, when Eisler was there, they were often made to work after dinner until one in the morning under floodlights. Eisler later reported having been confined to "'the solitary confinement of the 'black bunker.'" His fellow Austrian Jewish scholar, Heinrich E. Jacob, author of a landmark 1944 study of the history of baking and bread, was confined along with Eisler in the camps. In the acknowledgements section of his book, Jacobs thanks him directly, writing, “I also wish to thank my friend Robert Eisler, historian of religion, who in the dark days of Dachau and Buchenwald, kept awake my hope to finish and to publish this book.” In September 1939, Eisler wrote to a friend about his time in the camps:
tmay interest you that I have had some very fruitful and comforting discussions with one highly educated and intelligent member of the primitive Christian adventist community of the so-called Biblical Scientists, the members of which are mostly in the German concentration camps (about 500 in Buchenwald) and more cruelly treated even than the Jews because they believe Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and then ...
to be the foretold Anti-Christ
In Christian eschatology, the Antichrist refers to people prophesied by the Bible to oppose Jesus Christ and substitute themselves in Christ's place before the Second Coming. The term Antichrist (including one plural form)1 John ; . 2 John . is ...
, the Kingdom of God
The concept of the kingship of God appears in all Abrahamic religions, where in some cases the terms Kingdom of God and Kingdom of Heaven are also used. The notion of God's kingship goes back to the Hebrew Bible, which refers to "his kingdom" b ...
as a political organisation to be realized here on earth as a reign of justice and loving kindness and because they refuse military service. I was greatly surprised to learn that this man who had studied Hebrew and Greek as well as theology in order to be a preacher and teacher among his brethren (they have no clergy) should have read my German ΙΗΣΟϒΣ ΒΑΣΙΛΕϒΣ and derived from it what he felt to be the strongest possible confirmation of his own and he founder of the sect Judge Rutherford’s interpretation of the gospels!
Last Years in England
After his release, Eisler made his way to England via Italy and Switzerland and arrived in September 1939 to find that Oxford had appointed the
Anglo-Catholic
Anglo-Catholicism comprises beliefs and practices that emphasise the Catholic heritage and identity of the various Anglican churches.
The term was coined in the early 19th century, although movements emphasising the Catholic nature of Anglican ...
philosopher and historian of religion
Edwin Oliver James to the readership in his absence. At first, Eisler was assured that James, a full professor at Leeds, would step down now that Eisler had arrived, since “no Englishman would profit
rom
Rom, or ROM may refer to:
Biomechanics and medicine
* Risk of mortality, a medical classification to estimate the likelihood of death for a patient
* Rupture of membranes, a term used during pregnancy to describe a rupture of the amniotic sac
* R ...
such a situation.” But James, Englishman though he was, declined to give up his post, and so the university made a concession to Eisler, allowing him to deliver his scheduled 1938 lectures on “the pre-Hellenic populations of Crete and the Aegean” in the Michaelmas terms of 1939 and 1940, and to receive a stipend of £156. Eisler and Lili, who arrived in June 1940, stayed with a series of friends until Lili found work as a cook in return for modest lodging and bus fare for her husband’s one day a week in the library. The same month his wife finally joined him in England, Eisler was sent to another prison camp, this time by the British government, who had begun interning Jewish refugees on the
Isle of Man
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, image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg
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, map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe
, map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green)
in Europe ...
. He was released in September due to his heart trouble.
The 1940s were years of frustration for Eisler. His body was badly damaged by his fifteen months in the camps, probably compounded by earlier war injuries and the long-term effects of malaria. He was suffering angina pectoris as well as severe pain in his hands and shoulders from bone degeneration, and he may have developed diabetes. In this state, Eisler tried to earn a living with a scattering of essays and lectures and occasional employment as a financial consultant or tutor. For extra money and when his health allowed, he sometimes worked stoking the boiler in his building. He applied for funding for a series of lectures on the fourth gospel from The Hibbert Trust, a
Unitarian endowment that offered grants to those seeking to “contribute to the education, knowledge or understanding of Unitarianism or liberal religion.” It was denied, prompting him to angrily accuse the board of bias against non-Christians. In 1942 Eisler proposed to the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
. It was likewise rejected. In 1946 he approached them once more with the same proposal and when he was rebuffed this time, he again claimed religious discrimination and, unsuccessfully, took his case to the Joint Committee on Matters of Religious Liberty.
In September 1941, Esther Simpson, secretary of the
, wrote a one-paragraph note to Eisler asking about his current employment so that she could update the Society’s records. Two days later, she received four pages covered front and back with crabbed handwriting detailing Eisler’s many indignities, humiliations, and rejections since coming to England. On the last page is written:
Despite his obvious depression and failing health, Eisler was still remarkably productive in the 1940s and producing some of his best work. He was lecturing throughout London on a wide variety of topics, including “The Philosophic Basis of Modern Physics.” 1946 saw the appearance of the lavishly illustrated ''The Royal Art of Astrology'', drawn from some of his earlier work in ''Weltenmantel und Himmelszelt'' and motivated partly by Eisler’s fear that
newspaper columns were encouraging “totalitarian dictatorship and abject mass servitude to an alleged fatality.”
That same year, after eight years of silence, he sent a 250-page manuscript to Scholem outlining his plan to implement
Scholem mailed it back with the one-word reply, “''Genug”'' (“enough"), and they never spoke again.
In 1948, he delivered a lecture to the Royal Society of Medicine that was later published as ''Man into Wolf: An Anthropological Interpretation of Sadism, Masochism, and Lycanthropy.'' Robert Eisler died on 18 December 1949, reportedly with the essay he was finishing, “The Passion of the Flax,” at his bedside. There were two obituaries in ''The Times''. The second one, written by his friend Cyril Goldsmid (the scion of a powerful
family) describes him as “possessed of encyclopedic knowledge,” but “entirely devoid of intellectual arrogance."
*''Studien zur Werttheorie'' (1902) The Theory Of Values
*''Die Legende vom heiligen Karantanerherzog Domitianus'', ''
'' 28, Innsbruck 1907
*''Die illuminierten Handschriften in Kärnten'' (1907)
*''Weltenmantel und Himmelszelt'', two volumes (1910
*''Die Kenitischen Weihinschriften der Hyksoszeit'' (1919)
*''Orpheus the Fisher: Comparative Studies in Orphic and Christian Cult Symbolism'' (1921)
*''Das Geld'' (1924)
*''Orphisch-Dionysische Mysteriengedanken in der christlichen Antike'' (1925)
*''Iesous Basileus ou Basileusas'', two volumes (1929/30)
*''The Messiah Jesus and John the Baptist'' (1931
*''This Money Maze (1931)
*''Stable Money'' (1932)
*''Monetary Theory and Monetary Policy'' (1934)
*''Zur Kritik der psychologistischen Konjunktur-Theorie'' (1935)
*''Das Rätzel des vierten Evangeliums'' (1936) as ''The Enigma of the Fourth Gospel'' (1938)
*''Flavius Josephus Studien'' (1938)
*''The Royal Art of Astrology'' (London 1946)
*''Una Tavoletta di Biccherna Nuovamente Scoperta'' (1950)
*''