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A Scandal in Königsberg: A Guest Post by Christopher Clark
Scandal, struggle and political resistance — a true story from the aftermath of the Enlightenment period. Christopher Clark retells the cult scandal that sent shockwaves across nineteenth-century Prussia and sparked a movement for sexual freedom and liberation. Read on for an exclusive essay from Chris on writing A Scandal in Königsberg.
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As told by one of our greatest historians, the story of the scandal that took down two Lutheran preachers in the heart of nineteenth-century Prussia—a chamber piece of cultish esotericism, pseudoscience, and political resistance that conjures up Europe at the end of the age of reason and presages our current age of misinformation
Between 1835 and 1842, scandal tightened around two clergymen in the Baltic port city of Königsberg, capital of the easternmost province of the Kingdom of Prussia. The two men, pastors at two of the city’s most important churches, were accused of having founded an illegal religious sect whose members engaged in sexual rituals so obscene that merely to describe them would be illegal. The resulting storm of negative publicity triggered a criminal investigation, drove the men out of their jobs and into prison, and banished them from public life.
Most scandals erupt because something secret and transgressive has been exposed. But this one was different, because an appeal trial revealed that the charges of sexual impropriety levelled against the two clergymen were extravagant inventions, entirely lacking in substance. For me, this was what made the case so interesting. If the charges were false, what was all the fuss about? Why was there such a whirlwind of lurid stories and why did people believe them? Why did these two men become the target of such a campaign and who was behind it?
I happened upon the files on this case in the early 1990s when I was working in the Prussian State Archives in Berlin. I was chasing up something else at the time and couldn’t go through them properly. But even a quick look was enough to catch my attention. As soon as you opened the files, you could feel the emotion radiating off the pages. I resolved to come back one day and give them the attention they deserved.
What emerged was a story about religious uncertainties, sensationalist journalism, self-righteous elites and the fragility of reputation. The campaign of denunciations and rumour that took down the Lutheran preachers Johann Ebel and Heinrich Diestel unfolded in an age before paparazzi, radio, television and digital social media, but that is precisely what endows their story with such power. Resemblances to present-day persons and situations, though not intended, cannot be ruled out.