Rosenkreuzer, Rosicrucians, members of the Orden der wahren Rosenkreuzer (alternatively styled Orden des goldenen Rosenkreuzes), a secret society with vague philosophical and religious aims, which included a fusion of a revived ideal classical antiquity with Christianity. It had its origins in the early 17th c. and was chiefly active in central and north-west Germany. A similar society (Orden der neuen Gold- und Rosenkreuzer) was founded in South Germany in the mid-18th c. and spread northwards and also north-eastwards into Russia. The Rosenkreuzer became notorious because the secrecy of their proceedings led to abuses. King Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia was connected with the order to the detriment of his reputation.

The Oxford Companion to German Literature. Copyright © 1976, 1986, 1997, 2005 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.