Adolf Josef Lanz was born on 19 July 1874 in the Penzing district of Vienna in what was then Austria-Hungary, as the son of schoolmaster Johann Lanz and his wife Katharina, née Hoffenreich. His parents were middle class, and his father's ancestors had been burghers in Vienna since the early 18th century.
Lanz became a monk in the Cistercian order in 1893, assuming the name Georg and living in the Heiligenkreuz monastery. In 1894, he claimed to have been "enlightened" after finding the tombstone of a Knight Templar, and began developing his theories of "blue-blond Aryanism" and "lower races". He left the monastery in 1899; although Lanz claimed that this was due to "growing nervousness", the official documents recorded "carnal love" as the reason.
One is, of course, tempted to feel sorry for a neurotic young Cistercian who got kicked out of his monastery for fantasising about blond-haired, blue-eyed Knights Templar.[Wikipedia (Adapted slightly)]
After all, who am I to judge?
The Knights Templar themselves were of course de facto the Cistercians' "military wing". They were suppressed in the late middle ages, for bum-sex, and for doing weird things with crucifixes.
But still, they did lots of good fighting, they lived (most of the time) according to a strict rule, and their singing was jolly impressive.
The Knights Templar themselves were of course de facto the Cistercians' "military wing". They were suppressed in the late middle ages, for bum-sex, and for doing weird things with crucifixes.
But still, they did lots of good fighting, they lived (most of the time) according to a strict rule, and their singing was jolly impressive.
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