Hamburg School of Astrology
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
The Hamburg School of Astrology originally revolved around the research and teachings of surveyor/astrologer/amateur astronomer Alfred Witte. The term Hamburg School of Astrology originated in 1923 at the Second German Astrological Congress in Leipzig, where the astronomer/astrologer Dr Wilhelm Hartmann was a participant. Early students of Alfred Witte were Friedrich Sieggrün and Ludwig Rudolph. In his search for Pluto, Witte claimed four planets beyond Pluto, and Sieggrün claimed yet another four. These bodies are in the Transneptunian regions, where many planetary discoveries are being validated today. Ludwig Rudolph printed and published Witte's findings, the core of which were published in the Rulebook for Planetary Pictures (Regelwerk für Planetenbilder) in 1932. An increasing amount of the research of the Hamburg School revolved around work with astrological midpoints and use of the extra planets. Unfortunately, Witte and Rudolph were pursued by the Gestapo as enemies of the Third Reich. Witte committed suicide before being sent to a concentration camp, and Rudolph was indeed interned, the Rulebook for Planetary Pictures banned and burned by the Nazis. Reinhold Ebertin, a student of Hamburg School methods, then took the core teachings of the Hamburg School, renamed them "Cosmobiology" (Kosmobiologie), and published them in the "Combination of Stellar Influences" in 1940, last updated in English in 1972. Meanwhile, after the fall of the Third Reich, the Hamburg School reconvened, and Ludwig Rudolph played the key role in perpetuating the teachings of the Hamburg School. There were some Hamburg School astrologers, such as Hermann Lefeldt, who advocated coalescing with astrological traditions and perpetuating work with astrological houses. However, as Hamburg practitioners tested various astrological techniques, the focus was increasingly on work with astrological midpoints, abandoning traditional practices. A new branch of Hamburg School astrology, called Uranian Astrology (Uranische Astrologie) was formed in Germany in 1993, in a move to break with traditional biases and move forward with the focus on research on midpoints, and the integration of psychological considerations into astrological interpretation. The leader in this pursuit was Ruth Brummund, who published a new midpoint reference entitled Regelwerk-Neufassung in 1990, being translated into English as the Brummund Rulebook. The book interprets physical and psychological correlations with planetary configurations, primarily midpoints and 16th-harmonic angles, and serves as a current and somewhat comprehensive reference for astrological midpoint intepretation.
References: Brummund: Astropsychologische Charaktermerkmale, Ludwig Rudolph Verlag, Hamburg, 1972. Brummund: Regelwerk-Neufassung, Brummund Verlag, Hamburg, 1990. Witte: Der Mensch - eine Empfangsstation kosmischer Suggestionen, Ludwig Rudolph Verlag, Hamburg, 1975. Witte: Regelwerk für Planetenbilder, Ludwig Rudolph Verlag, Hamburg, 1959. Witte: Rulebook for Planetary Pictures, Ludwig Rudolph Verlag, Hamburg, 1977.
