Translation from German by Robert Hutwohl
Dr. Franz Hartmann died at the age of 74 in Kempten, his hometown, while passing through. With him has faded away one of those old collaborators of the theosophical movement who had the privilege of personally having known H. P. Blavatsky and of having worked with her. At the time of the first crisis of the Theosophical Society in 1885 he held his ground and fended off the attacks against H. P. Blavatsky as far as possible. It was during this time that he wrote his best works, for example “White and Black Magic,” “Jakob Böhme,” “Among the Rosicrucians” and others. During the later crises of the “T. G.” [Theosophical Society] he was not so lucky, for although he had many good friends among the members of the parent society, which has its headquarters in New York, he was not able to gain a firm footing in it, but joined the organization which supported the main principle of the “T. G.” [Theosophical Society] at a time when the messengers of the White Lodge, H. P. Blavatsky and W. Q. Judge were slandered and disowned.
Dr. Hartmann was good-natured and had a great talent for entertaining, but he was very sensitive, almost mediumistic, and was therefore extremely easily influenced by his surroundings, often against his will; he had often complained to me that his name was being misused as a figurehead and for certain advertising purposes for theosophy without his knowledge or consent.
The deceased dedicated a good part of his life to the theosophical movement and the Theosophical Society, so we will always honor his memory! P. R.[1]
Note:
[1] Obituary. Dr. Franz Hartmann. P[aul] R[aaz] Theosophisches Leben XV, no. 7 (October 1912), 218 {This article was reformatted from the original, but with the content unchanged other than minor typos, by Robert Hutwohl, ©2025}