Baron Adolphe von Knigge, Philo's Reply to Questions Concerning Is Association with the Illuminati (trans. Jeva Singh-Anand)(Lulu Press 2012) [Purchase link.]

An overdue book translates Knigge's 1788 work intended to defend himself from rumor and accusation, and misimpression, about his role in the Illuminati.

What is obvious is that Knigge was himself kept in the dark by Weishaupt. Even though Knigge loaned the Order his connections to recruit many important people, and Knigge wrote much of the ritual of the Order, it is obvious that Weishaupt pretended that there was no ultimate objective of the order. Knigge's book proves he naïvely still assumes that to be the case. Knigge never puts two and two together, as I will demonstrate below.

What I mean begins with Knigge's explanation at page 101 that the exposure entitled Original Writings of the Illuminati misleadingly cast him as one of the chiefs. Knigge then repeatedly says his role as one of the 12 Areopagites was to recruit people and to write the ritual (with Weishaupt as the final decision-maker). Knigge never in this work suspects he was confined to a limited role, and hence there was a secret agenda that he, Knigge, himself did not know.

A further example of importance is that Knigge mentions that at Wilhemsbad that it was Minos (Dittfurth) who attended the sessions, and that Knigge surrendered his right to attend as a delegate (page 61). Yet, Knigge never thinks it's possible that an agreement was reached at Wilhemsbad in a private conference which agreement reflected the true practical secret goal of the Illuminati, but that Knigge himself was not made privy.

Yet, what we now know independently about the Wilhemsbad Conference of the Templars / Strict Observance (not Freemasons at that time) from personal memoirs of five delegates (which writings were found / made many years later) is that the plan to overthrow France was adopted at that conference. One of the five, for example, the host of the Wilhemsbad Conference, Karl Von Hesse, wrote in his memoir of 1817 about the plan to overthrow France was agreed upon at the 1782 Wilhemsbad Congress of Templars. (See my work Illuminati Manifesto of World Revolution (2011) at pages 297 et seq.).

By contrast, Knigge only had a very vague idea about the general goal of the illuminati. At one point he says it had no real aim. (Page 51.) At another point, Knigge said that he wrote a ritual with a vague goal of the Illuminati to fuflill the aim of the Redeemer, Jesus Christ, to remove the conditions of inequality and that ultimately man would do without artificial institutions and government due to heightened morality. (Page 80.)

What proves that Knigge was kept in the dark was his statement that Wilhemsbad was "fruitless." (Page 92.) By contrast, the Original Writings of the Illuminati include several reports by Minos that he was able to convince the other delegates to adopt their plan – which he did not detail in the letter. Minos boasted of great success. Given what we now know about the several memoirs converging upon the agreement at Wilhemsbad to have the Templars (not Freemasons) to overthrow France, we must conclude that Knigge was kept in the dark. This work by Knigge shows that he indeed is a man of strong character, noble intentions, and very unlikely would be lying.

From one more item in Knigge's work, it is obvious how this happened. Knigge despite all his activities to help the Order kept himself in a subordinate rank even to the people he recruited. Knigge acknowledges this but doesn't see what it could imply – that even he was being kept in the dark. Here is the key quote to consider: "I enjoyed my work, delegated all management tasks, and worked, where there was an opportunity, as a subordinate member, yes! I reported to my own subordinates whom I elevated to chiefs, as can be seen in the reports printed in the Original Writings." (Page 92.)

Beyond that clarifying material, this work is an essential item for all researchers on the Illuminati to acquire. It includes many extensive quotes of rituals and rites. Knigge gives a first-hand account of why he wrote a certain way, and perhaps too unwise at times, etc. Knigge describes various figures in the Illuminati and their zeal including Ajax (Cato), Nicolai, Bassus and of course Weishaupt. It is also obvious that he's admitting to all the correspondence that was published as the Original Writings of the Illuminati as authentic. This thereby precludes any one considering that there's an option to deny these writings are genuine writings of Knigge, Weishaupt, et al.

Further Reviews: Mr. Melanson did a thorough review at http://www.bavarian-illuminati.info/2012/07/knigge-on-the-illuminati/

The publisher was particularly proud that this book won a Regulus award within Freemasonry. See this blog article at this link.

This article summarizes the background of the three authors:

Josef Wäges is a Freemason, historian, and author of the forthcoming book The Columbian Illuminati.

Reinhard Markner is a German historian and philologist. An expert in early modern secret societies, he is the chief editor of Die Korrespondenz des Illuminatenordens (2 vols, 2005/13). He is a member of the Gotha Research Centre at the University of Erfurt and currently works as a researcher at the University of Innsbruck.

Jeva Singh-Anand is a Freemason and professional translator specializing in eighteenth century German literary texts. He has translated over a half dozen works relating to Freemasonry and the Bavarian Illuminati.