Karl Ernst Krafft facts for kids
Karl Ernst Krafft (born May 10, 1900, died January 8, 1945) was a Swiss astrologer. He was born in Basel. Krafft also studied graphology, which is the study of handwriting.
Krafft's Astrology Work
Krafft studied at the University of Basel and the University of Geneva. He earned a degree in mathematics. For about ten years, he worked on a large book called Traits of Astro-Biology. In this book, he shared his own idea called "Typocosmy." This theory was about predicting the future by studying a person's personality or "type."
Krafft opened an office in Zürich. There, he offered horoscopes and advice on investments. However, his business did not do well, and he lost his own money. He had used divination (a way of trying to predict the future) to make his investment choices.
In the early 1930s, when Adolf Hitler became powerful, Krafft gained a special place among people who studied the occult (mysterious or supernatural things). At first, the National Socialists, who later supported him, were a threat to people like Krafft. Many National Socialists disliked and even attacked occultists and Freemasons. But some important leaders, like Rudolf Hess and Heinrich Himmler, still asked astrologers for advice.
Krafft moved to Germany after being invited by the Nazis. The Ministry of Propaganda supported his work. Krafft then joined the Nazi Party and added anti-Jewish ideas to his writings.
In November 1939, Krafft became closer to the National Socialist leaders. He made a surprising prediction. He said that Hitler's life would be in danger between November 7 and 10. On November 2, he wrote to his friend, Dr. Heinrich Fesel, who worked for Himmler. Krafft warned him about a plan to harm Hitler. Fesel kept the letter but did not want to get involved in something so risky.
On November 8, a bomb exploded at a beer hall in Munich. Many people were hurt, but Hitler was safe. He had left the hall just a few minutes before the bomb went off. When newspapers reported the near-disaster, Fesel quickly sent a telegram to Hess. He pointed out Krafft's prediction.
Krafft was arrested and taken to the Gestapo Headquarters in Berlin. The Gestapo was a secret police force. Krafft convinced them that astrology could accurately predict future events. Because of this, he began working for the Nazi Propaganda Ministry, the SS, and even the Foreign Office. He carried out astrological studies for political reasons.
After he was released, Krafft was called to the Reich Propaganda Ministry, which was run by Joseph Goebbels. Goebbels had been studying the prophecies of Nostradamus, trying to find propaganda messages in them. He felt Krafft should help understand these mysterious quatrains (four-line poems). Krafft then started to work on interpreting Nostradamus's prophecies in a way that supported Germany.
Krafft believed that Nostradamus's prophecies showed good things for the Third Reich (Nazi Germany). Tens of thousands of pamphlets based on his interpretations were translated and shared. They were available in six languages: French, Danish, Hungarian, Portuguese, Romanian, and Spanish. Soon, Hitler himself learned about Krafft's work. In the spring of 1940, Krafft gave a private horoscope reading for Hitler to an aide. However, he never actually met Hitler.
British intelligence became worried that their enemy's war was being guided by a mystic. For a time, they hired their own astrologer, Louis De Wohl. De Wohl was later quietly let go after he could not find any solid information about Krafft's work.
Krafft warned the German leaders that for Germany to win the war, it had to end by 1943. Krafft was still important when Rudolf Hess made his surprising flight to Scotland in 1941. Hitler was very angry. Hess was one of the biggest supporters of the occult. Hitler then ordered a crackdown on astrologers, occultists, and other wise people. Krafft was caught in this.
He continued to work on horoscopes for Allied generals and admirals. He had informal contacts with Kurd Kisshauer and Amt Rosenberg. One of his predictions, after looking at the charts of both Erwin Rommel and Bernard Montgomery, who were enemies in the desert war, was: "Well this man Montgomery's chart is certainly stronger than Rommel's."
Later Life and Death
Krafft was arrested on June 12, 1941. This was part of a wider arrest of astrologers and occultists after Rudolf Hess's flight to Scotland. He was released in 1943 and went back to propaganda work. However, his predictions were not always what the Nazis wanted to hear.
Krafft complained a lot about the work he was expected to do. This led to his re-arrest in 1944. He was held in very bad conditions and caught typhus fever. Karl Ernst Krafft died on January 8, 1945, while being moved to the Buchenwald concentration camp.
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