Leseprobe

203 B ö hme ’s E a r l y C o n t a c t s He may have begun as a simple shoemaker, but Jacob Böhme went on to become a world-class philosopher, lay theologian and author, whose writings have fasci­ nated generations of readers. The exhibition “Time of the Lily” traces the outlines of his thought, his devel­ opment as a writer and the movement of his writings into the world. The story begins with Böhme’s roots in Zgorzelec/Görlitz, today on the border between Poland and Germany, and both countries can rightly consider him part of their cultural heritage. In the Early Modern period, the city was a melting pot of ethnicities, languages and religions and it attracted the foremost minds of the day. This rich environment was nurtured by the special confessional situation in Silesia and Lusatia. Lutheranismwas the official con­ fession, but instead of rejecting the old Catholic tra­ ditions, these were simply reinterpreted, so that a unique religious identity, so-called Silesian Excep­ tionalism, emerged in the region. This tradition of free thinking allowed Böhme’s thought to develop and the theosophic circles that he participated in to thrive. He and his friends were not concerned with the boundaries between confessions or disciplines and mixed ideas as they saw fit. Böhme emphasized a holistic view of the world that made the study of scripture and nature equally important. His writings were banned during his lifetime and it was only his early Silesian and Lusatian networks that kept his legacy alive, especially through the turbulence of the Thirty Years’ War. His supporters, including mem­ bers of the nobility, helped to get his works published in the Netherlands, and from there they reached England in translation. The manuscripts in Böhme’s hand and the early documents of his circle were se­ cretly cared for by a group of Böhme enthusiasts over the centuries. During WWII these papers were seized by the Nazis and for a time there was a real fear that they would be destroyed. After scholars convinced of­ ficials of the importance of the documents, they were hidden in bunkers in different locations to protect them from bombs. At the end of the war – when na­ tional boundaries had changed significantly – the man­ uscripts were in different countries and some had been lost completely in the confusion of war. Today, the larg­ est and most important collection of Böhme’s original papers resides at the University Library in Wrocław. Lu c i n d a Ma r t i n JACOB BÖHME ’ S INHER I TANCE FROM GÖRL I TZ TO WROCŁAW AND AL L THE WORLD IN-BETWEEN