Wilhelm Teudt (7 December 1860 in Bergkirchen – 5 January 1942 in Detmold) was a German cleric and völkisch lay archaeologist who believed in an ancient, highly developed Germanic civilization. His 1929 work Germanische Heiligtümer was rejected by experts even at the time of publication, but continues to have some influence in esoteric and neopagan circles in Germany.
Life and career
Teudt was born on 7 December 1860 in Bergkirchen, Schaumburg-Lippe as the son of a Protestant priest. He studied theology and philosophy at the universities of Berlin, Leipzig, Tübingen and Bonn. He was ordained in 1885 and was a pastor in Probsthagen and Stadthagen. In 1894/95, he succeeded Friedrich Naumann as the head of the Inner mission at Frankfurt. In 1907, Teudt co-founded the ' (a group fighting the ideas of Charles Darwin) before renouncing his status as a priest in 1909. Teudt volunteered for military service and served in World War I from 1915 to 1918.
In 1921, due to the Occupation of the Rhineland by French and Belgian troops he moved to Detmold. That same year he founded the Cheruskerbund – Heimatbund für Lippe, which in 1924 was incorporated into Der Stahlhelm. Teudt joined the German National People's Party (DNVP). He likely joined the ' in 1924 and in 1925 supported the Nationalsozialistische Freiheitsbewegung Deutschlands. In 1928/29, he became Gauherr or Deutschmeister of the Deutschbund in Detmold. Teudt founded the Vereinigung der Freunde germanischer Vorgeschichte in 1928 and in 1929 published the book Germanische Heiligtümer. Though his ideas overlapped with those of Hermann Wirth and Wirth published some articles in Teudt's monthly Germanien, after the Nazi takeover of power the two became competitors.
In Teudt's view, the Christianisation of the Saxons after 800 AD was nothing less than a cultural genocide. He thought that a highly advanced Germanic civilization had predated contact with the Romans.