[Briefkasten. Von Dr. Grävell. Neue Lotusblüten 6, no. 5-6 (May-June 1913), 191-192] [En]
Translation from the German by Robert Hutwohl[1]
I sent the following short obituary to the editors of the well-known Leipziger Illustrierte Zeitung for publication immediately after Hartmann’s death. It is characteristic of our time that no one felt the need to take notice of it.
Franz Hartman.
In the night from August 6th to August 7th, 1912, a man died on his way through Kempten, who had done a great deal for researching supernatural facts. Dr. Franz Hartmann was originally a pharmacist and then lived in America for many years as a general practitioner. There he became acquainted with spiritism and modern Theosophy. He then gave up his job and from then on lived only for the investigation of the truth and its dissemination. Long journeys brought him into contact with the Orient and its old customs. In India, he became a Buddhist. Closely connected to the founders of the Theosophical Society, he returned to his homeland and worked for the ancient wisdom teachings. The first impetus for the union of advanced spiritual men actually goes back to him, where Hübbe-Schleiden, who founded “Sphinx,” found its first expression [through Dr. Hartmann]. Numerous witty writings (first in English) gave evidence of Hartmann’s significant “occult” knowledge. As such, I only mention “Mysteries, Symbols and Magical Powers,” “Black and White Magic,” “Paracelsus,” translation of the “Bhagavad Gita,” etc. His magazine “Lotusblüten” contains a real treasure of important pearls of mystical articles and religio-philosophical explanations. In particular, he also sought to explain Christianity with the help of Indian mysticism; Freemasonry and Rosicrucianism found in him a lively explainer. In the end, he lived quite secluded in Algund near Meran, only occasionally interrupting his voluntary solitude with lecture tours. Now death has snatched him from his sphere of activity at the age of 74, but his memory will live as long as there are men who have metaphysical needs and are not satisfied by our present-day materialistic science.
There is a prospect that his numerous admirers will soon erect a worthy monument to the deceased, which meaningfully expresses his and the Theosophical Society’s motto: “[There is] No higher religion than the truth.”
Dr Grävell
Note:
[1] Obituary. Regarding the death of Dr. Franz Hartmann [Briefkasten. Von Dr. Grävell. Neue Lotusblüten 6, no. 5-6 (May-June 1913), 191-192] [En] [Briefkasten. Neue Lotusblüten 6, no. 5-6 (May-June 1913), 191-192] {This was reformatted from the original, but with the content unchanged other than fixing minor typos. Translation from the German by Robert Hutwohl, ©2025}