Zodiac and Swastika

Short description: 1968 book by Wilhelm Wulff

Zodiac and Swastika

Cover of the first American edition

Author| Wilhelm Wulff
Original title| Tierkreis und Hakenkreuz: Als Astrologe an Himmlers Hof
Country| Germany
Language| German
Subject| Occultism in Nazism
Published|

* 1968 (Bertelsmann Sachbuchverlag, in German)
* 1973 (Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, in English)

Media type| Print (hardcover)
Pages| 248
ISBN| 0-698-10547-8 first American edition
OCLC| 5814065

Dewey Decimal

| 940.5343
LC Class| BF1728.H6 W8

Zodiac and Swastika: How Astrology Guided Hitler's Germany (German: Tierkreis und Hakenkreuz: Als Astrologe an Himmlers Hof) is a 1968 book by Wilhelm Wulff. It was first published by Bertelsmann Sachbuchverlag in German in 1968, and was translated into English in 1973, published in the United States by Coward, McCann & Geoghegan and in the United Kingdom by Arthur Barker Limited of London. The English edition has a foreword by the historian Walter Laqueur. The book covers Wulff's claims of occultist influence on the Nazi regime.

## Contents

* 1 Background and publication history
* 2 Contents
* 3 Reception
* 4 References
* 4.1 Works cited
* 5 Further reading

## Background and publication history

The author Wilhelm Theodor H. Wulff (27 March 1892 - 9 June 1979) was a German-Austrian astrologer.. The book was first published by Bertelsmann Sachbuchverlag in German in 1968, under the title Tierkreis und Hakenkreuz: Als Astrologe an Himmlers Hof.[1][2][3][4]

It was translated into English and released in 1973 in the United States by Coward, McCann & Geoghegan[3] and in the United Kingdom by Arthur Barker Limited of London, under the title Zodiac and Swastika: How Astrology Guided Hitler's Germany. The English edition has a foreword by the historian Walter Laqueur.[5] This edition is 192 pages long.[3]

## Contents

The book covers Wulff's claims of occultist influence on the Nazi regime, and his own involvement. The historian Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke takes the book as evidence that Wulff was consulted by Heinrich Himmler in the last weeks of the war.[6] Wulff claims that Arthur Nebe and Walter Schellenberg had assigned him various astrological tasks. He also mentions that they had used pendulum dowsers like Ludwig Straniak for similar purposes.

He concludes the book by arguing that "National Socialism was smashed and disappeared from the scene. Astrology [...] remained".[3]

## Reception

A review by Otto Friedrich in Time magazine called it the "autobiography of a septuagenarian astrologer who occasionally was summoned to deliver prophecies".[3] Friedrich argued it was not a "serious study", contrary to what its title implied, was generally absurd, and contained some sentences he found ridiculous, for example:[3]

> Not long afterward the Nazis were to take over completely. These circumstances had a profound effect on my astrological practice.

Kirkus Reviews said it had a "certain macabre interest", and was, at least, more credible than the writings of Trevor Ravenscroft.[5]

## References

1. ↑ LTO. "Prozess nach Eingriff in astrologische Ausführungen" (in de). https://www.lto.de/recht/feuilleton/f/astrologie-ns-okkultismus-astrologie-bgh-wuerdigung-wissenschaft-wulff.
2. ↑ "Weibliches Navamsa" (in de). Der Spiegel. 1968-10-27. ISSN 2195-1349. https://www.spiegel.de/politik/weibliches-navamsa-a-dc818195-0002-0001-0000-000045949908.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Friedrich, Otto (1973-08-20). "Books: Wulff! Wulff!" (in en-US). Time (New York City) 102 (8): 81. ISSN 0040-781X. https://time.com/archive/6841601/books-wulff-wulff/. Retrieved 2025-11-23.
4. ↑ "Welt intern: Hitler und die Astrologie - WELT" (in de). https://www.welt.de/wams_print/article1777825/Hitler-und-die-Astrologie.html.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Zodiac and Swastika" (in en-US). 1973-07-01. https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/a/wilhelm-wulff/zodiac-and-swastika/.
6. ↑ Goodrick-Clarke 2004, p. 165.

### Works cited

* Goodrick-Clarke, Nicholas (2004) (in en). The Occult Roots of Nazism: Secret Aryan Cults and Their Influence on Nazi Ideology. London: Tauris Parke. ISBN 978-1-86064-973-8.

## Further reading

* Daniel Hermsdorf. Saturn Hitler. Banken, Astrologie, Kabbala und die Bilderwelt des Dritten Reichs. filmdenken Verlag, 2016. ISBN 978-3-9813921-7-3. Info (German)

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*[OCLC]: Online Computer Library Center number
*[LC Class]: Library of Congress Classification