![Baron Rudolf von Sebottendorff (1875-1945)](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0545/8601/5937/files/RudolfVonSebottendorff-min.jpg?v=1634422116)
Baron Rudolf von Sebottendorff (1875-1945), was a Freemason and practitioner of alchemy. In 1900 he moved to Turkey where he met the Jewish Termudi family, who introduced him to Rosicrucianism and led to his initiation into a local Masonic lodge. In 1910 he founded a lodge of the Bektashi Order in Constantinople. Returning to Germany, in 1917 he founded the Thule Society, an occult organization that led to the German Workers' Party-joined in 1919 by Adolf Hitler, who transformed it into the Nazi Party. Sebottendorff left the Thule Society as it became increasingly political, fleeing to Turkey.