Frankenstein was a name well known in Germany when Mary Shelley visited Darmstadt Germany months before she penned her famous novel titled Frankenstein. When she revisited Darmstadt Germany years later she wrote in her diary that the surrounding ruins and hills spoke volumes about German history. The Frankenstein Ruins overlook Darmstadt and sit on Magnet mountain. Frankenstein was a name filled with romantic imagery to the Hessen Germans. Johann Wolfgang Goethe influenced the Hessen mind and was an important statesman and scientist much like his American contemporary and fellow Freestone Mason Benjamin Franklin Goethe and his fellow initiates would meet at the Frankenstein ruins. The name is a metaphor not only for Free stone (Frank), (stein), but also for the Holy Grail a free (Frank) stone cup(Stein) from which Christ last drank. A chalice which imparted a powerful knowledge to those that drank from it. The symbolism of the name Frankenstein was not lost on Mary Shelley or Goethe. Mary Shelley was very interested in the meaning of names "What's in a name I can dwell for hours on the meaning of a name"...... Shelley was taking her cue from Shakespeare with this thought. Goethe would read from his novel "The Sorrows of Young Werther" at the Frankenstein Ruins, a novel read by Shelley's fictional monster, in Frankenstein. Goethe's work caused an epidemic of suicides when it was published referred to as Werthercide, it was so depressing. It is no wonder that the Frankenstein monster was so dysfunctional, learning to read with Goethe's novel so soon after his creator had abandoned him.

The image of Frankenstein in 1776 was connected to the legend of St. George the Dragon Slayer and a beautiful woman in distress referred to as the Rose of the Valley. The crypts located at the Frankenstein ruins date to the 16th century and inspired the legend of Frankenstein the" Dragon Slayer", recorded in folklore the same year Shelly published Frankenstein in 1818. The Rose and St. George the Dragon slayer is the calling card of the Rosicrucians or the invisible order of the Rosie Cross.

In 1776 the order of the Rosie Cross is a high degree in Freestone Masonry. The order of the Rosie Cross is based on the works of two German writers from the 13th and 16th centuries and was translated by Thomas Vaughn author of the Golden Fleece. Paracelsus a 16th. cent. Alchemist (scientist), is one of the influences cited by the order. Paracelsus is recognized as discovering that disease could be caused by foreign agents, it involved experiment and observation. Dr. Frankenstein, in Mary Shelley's science fiction, reads Paracelsus in order to create life. The Hessen Frankenstein was about Science and spirituality, an individual light guiding a fraternity of kindred spirits to focus on the study of nature in their search for God, with an open mind. Shelley's "Dr. Frankenstein "is using science as a challenge for the intellect with no thought of the outcome or responsibility for the results but never the less profoundly influenced by his actions.

For a more in depth understanding of the Hessen Frankenstein influance in America, explore the CD-Rom Frankenstein Art and Legends. The paintings of George and Godfrey Frankenstein, painted before and after the Civil War, can be seen at the Notchland Inn, in Crawford Notch NH.

Copyright Michael Callis 2003