First comprehensive study examines the history and impact of Neo-Sannyas communes in Germany

While historical research has thoroughly examined politically and ecologically alternative groups and movements in the Federal Republic of Germany, religiously alternative movements have largely been ignored until now. In a recent study, Martin Papenheim therefore devotes himself for the first time to the largest religiously alternative commune movement that has ever existed in Germany: the Neo-Sannyas movement. This was founded in India in 1970 by the Indian guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh (1931–1990) – later known as Osho. From 1974 onwards, his ashram in Poona developed into a meditation and therapy center that attracted considerable attention throughout the Western world, and the movement soon gained a foothold in the USA, Western Europe, and Japan. The founding of the city of Rajneeshpuram in Oregon (USA) in 1981 was accompanied by scandals and ended in 1985 with Bhagwan's expulsion.

In Germany, the movement reached its spectacular peak in the early 1980s with around 30,000 neo-sannyasins, which corresponded to around one third of the worldwide following. Their communes, which were founded throughout the country, comprised up to 380 members. No other religious movement provoked such a huge media response and intense public debate as Bhagwan's followers. Although the organization has now largely disintegrated, it has left a lasting mark on German culture.

Papenheim's publication on the history of the German Neo-Sannyas movement, which was written as part of a project funded by the German Research Foundation, is based on comprehensive source material that has received little attention to date. This includes both published and unpublished writings as well as accounts by contemporary witnesses.

Martin Papenheim, an associate member of CERES and CRC 1475 “Metaphors of Religion,” conducts research on the history of new religious movements in the Federal Republic of Germany, the history of occultism, and the history of Freemasonry, among other topics.

Further information on the publication: https://brill.com/display/title/71081