Rudolf Schumann

Background

Born in 1855, Houston Stewart Chamberlain was the son of an English admiral. It had been expected that he would join the army or the navy, but his health proved delicate, making such a career impossible. In his teens, he had a Prussian tutor, who instilled in him a great admiration for the military glory and culture of Prussia. At nineteen, he fell in love with Anna Horst, a Prussian woman 10 years his senior and married her. In 1882, while studying in Geneva, he visited Beyreuth, where he met Richard Wagner and his wife, to who he became passionately devoted. In 1885, he moved to Dresden.

In Germany, Chamberlain also became a member of the Gobineu society. This group was devoted to the teachings of Count Joseph Arthur de Gobineau, a French diplomat. He had written of the supriority of the Aryan race, which was destined to rule over all others.

"Hypersensitive and neurotic and subject to frequent nervous breakdowns, Chamberlain was given to seeing demons who, by his own account, drove him on relentlessly to seek new fields of study and get on with his prodigious writings. One vision after another forced him to change from biology to botany to the fine arts, to music, to philosophy, to biography to history. Once, in 1896, when he was returning from Italy, the presence of a demon became so forceful that he got off the train at Gardone, shut himself up in a hotel room for eight days and, abandoning some work on music that he had contemplated, wrote feverishly on a biological thesis until he had the germ of the theme that would dominate all of his later works: race and history." [William Shirer, Rise and Fall of the Third Reich]

The book which brought him most fame was Foundations of the Nineteenth Century, published in 1899. This book proclaimed the destiny of the Teuton race, as the epitome of Aryan culture, to rule all others and condemmed the Jews as an inferior race, even to the extent of 'proving' that Christ was an Aryan. The book was very popular, going through eight editions in the first ten years. It was especially popular amongst the upper classes including Kaiser Wilhelm II, with whom Chamberlain subsequently corresponded. Unknown to Chamberlain, Foundations also attracted the attention of even more powerful figures within Germany. The Prince of Beyreuth decided that, despite his nationality, Chamberlain would make a perfect recruit for the Ventrue Clan. In 1905, Chamberlain divorced his wife and entered the ranks of the undead.

Before and during the Second World War, the Kindred of Germany were divided over the merits of National Socialism. Many Ventrue supported the young Nazi Party because they saw it as a bulwark against the threat of Brujah controlled Communist Russia. Chamberlain was an enthusiastic member of this group. He had met Hitler in 1923, shortly before he faked his mortal death. Disillusioned by the defeat of Germany in 1918 and the fall of the monarchy, Chamberlain had been greatly impressed with the Austrian and in the four years before his 'death' in 1927, he wrote articles for the Nazi press. On Hitler's part, he found Chamberlain's works a great inspiration and they are regarded by many as the philosophical foundation of the Nazi party.

As the threat of war loomed, many of the Ventrue who had supported the Nazis switched their allegiance. European wide conflict was neither good for business nor conducive to their continued unlife. Although they could not bring themselves to support any coalition including the Brujah lead Communists, they at least became neutral, many moving to Switzerland or America. However, some few ancilla and neonates, including Chamberlain, continued to support the German command in secret. After the war began a group of them, known as the Berchtesgaten Seven, revealed something of their Kindred powers to the Nazi leaders and played upon the superstitious beliefs of the Nazi inner circle. Although they had little effect on the progress of the war, they had a profound effect on those they contacted and they were instrumental in shaping Nazi ideology and social policy during the war.

Towards the end of the war, the Sabbat began to take a more active interest in events as the arrival of American troops provided cover for their movements. By trying to prolong the conflict, they hoped to wreak destruction upon the European Camarilla. They came into contact with the Seven. The Sabbat liked both the supremecist ideology and open Vampirism of the Seven and they began to trade ideas and information.

Before the end of the war, rumours of this treachery and the additional grave breach of the Masquerade had reached the outside world. After the war, the Kindred of Europe held their own Nuremberg trails, concentrating mainly on those who had commited diablerie or broken other Traditions. However, there was also an investigation into the Berchtesgaten Seven. The names of the conspirators were uncovered, along with the extent of their breach of the Masquerade.

The Ventrue Elders of the Camarilla were highly embarassed by the revelation that all the Seven were Ventrue. Pressured by the newly influential Russian Brujah, they were forced to call a worldwide Blood Hunt against the known members. However, they managed to persuade the Brujah to allow the blood Hunt to be announced only to the Princes, "in order not to warn the conspirators."

Much to the annoyance of the Camarilla, there have been no definate reports of any members of the Seven being apprehended. The official attitude of the Inner Council is that all seven were destroyed in Berlin during the final days of the war and they dismiss persistant rumours of their continued existance. However, in secret they believe that some of the group may have escaped to America and the 'failure' of the American Princes to detain them has been a source of continued friction.

In fact, four of the original seven survived the fall of Germany. At the end of the war, the Sabbat offered them a deal. In return for information about the Ventrue and the rest of the Camarilla in Europe they would alter the identity of the Seven and they would become Sabbat agents working within the Camarilla. Chamberlain and the others accepted.

Changing his name to Rudolf Schumann, Chamberlain moved to Britain, where he thought he would be less likely to be recognised. Although he had acquired a pronounced German accent, his English was still good. The fief of London was in turmoil after the presumed death of Mithras in a German bombing raid. The Ventrue factions there were squaring up for conflict and although Lady Anne appeared to be holding onto power, London was still a dangerous place for newcomers. Schumann decided to look elsewhere for his new home. The fief of York was attractive to the Sabbat spy because of it's history of independance from London. Refugees fleeing the Russian conquest of Eastern Europe were common after the war and after presenting himself to the Prince without exciting any suspicions, Schumann settled in York.

Since then, he has lived quietly in the fief with his Childe. He is writing a very extensive history of European literature, which occasionally leads him off on travels abroad. In fact, he often uses these trips to meet with his Sabbat superiors. Recently his loyalty to the Sabbat has begun to waver. In 1991, he made his first trip to meet the Sabbat leadership in America. He was horrifed to discover the large numbers of blacks, hispanics and other racial 'undesirables' in the Sabbat. A convinced Aryan supremecist, he now doubts that the mongrel Sabbat has the racial purity required to defeat the largely white Camarilla of Europe. However, he is much too sensible to reveal his concerns to the Sabbat!

Schumann is known to be rather anti-Garou in his sentiments. He often argues that is is unbecoming for the Ventrue Clan to be beholden to such savages and forced to make inconvenient accomodations with them. This view is heartily supported by the new Clan Head, Sir John.

Clan

Image

Influence

Secrets

Habitat

Ultimate Goal

Immediate Goal

Rudolf pretends that his greatest ambition is to complete his great work on European Literature. To this end, he is always interested in hearing about manuscripts and other sources of information.

Resources