The Schneider-Rothauser House

A Tale of Cards, Freedom, and Forbidden Films

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The Deck of Cards: A Symbol of Swiss Freedom

Friedrich Schiller's world-renowned play, "William Tell," premiered on stage in March 1804. The Weimar performance, showcasing the story of the Swiss freedom fighter, was such a success that Thuringian card painters immediately copied the theatrical costume designs.

The German serial card series based on the play reached Hungary via Vienna. Ödön Chwalowszky, a Budapest card painter, and József Schneider, who worked at 55 Kazinczy Street, published their adapted Tell cards in 1835.

The Hungarian copies differed from the German and Austrian single-figure card images in several ways. Here, not only the allegories of the seasons appeared, but here the two-headed, Helvetian, or from 1870, also called Hungarian card, became a mirror-image deck.

Due to the changing habits of play, the number of cards in the Tell deck was reduced from 36 to 32 after 1850. At this time, the four red cards with the VI mark were removed from the deck, which depicted the Swiss hero shooting the apple from his son Walter's head.

The Schneider-Rothauser House: A Changing History

In 1869, Mór Rothauser, an ornamental dealer, purchased the smallest property in the district, and in the same year he had an upper floor built above his property according to the plans of Pál Schusbeck.

The building became a brothel in 1895. It was the third in Europe to introduce the rule that courtesans should bathe at least twice a week. Since the girls also shaved their intimate hair in the hope of higher wages, regular guests included the young writer Gyula Krúdy, the syphilitic poet Endre Ady, and the great storyteller, the old writer Mór Jókai.

In 1907, the house became the center of the Hungarian representation of the theosophical movement founded by Helena Blavatsky. Members of this occult spiritual history movement included, among others, politician Mahatma Gandhi, physicist Albert Einstein, and inventor Thomas Edison.

Members of the Hungarian movement included transformer inventor Károly Zipernowsky, painter Róbert Nádler, and religious historian Vilmos Tordai. The society moved from here in 1914.

A Secret Recording Studio and Forbidden Films

In 1986, nine-time canoe world champion Tamás Wichmann bought the building to open his pub named after Saint Jupiter. In the apartment above the pub, there was a secret amateur recording studio where a man synchronized Hollywood films (e.g., Rambo, Terminator) that were banned by the socialist Hungarian state. (The duplication of VHS cassette copies was no longer done here.)

The Symbolism of the Theosophical Society and the Templar Knights

The emblem of the Theosophical Society, which delves into Gnostic teachings, incorporates symbols from various religions. The emblem, which is also visible on the door of the house at Kazinczy Street 55, harmoniously combines the Star of David and the swastika.

The hexagon was not originally a Jewish symbol. This 70,000-year-old fertility symbol was used by King Solomon for his magic. The six-pointed star only became widespread among Semites in the 17th century.

When Swedish troops failed to capture Prague in 1648, Holy Roman Emperor and Hungarian King Ferdinand III awarded a decorative banner to each of the victorious defenders. Since Judaism did not yet have an official symbol at that time, the Viennese Jesuits "created" the Star of David. According to them, when King David went into battle, his shield only displayed the first and last letters of his name, which corresponded to an equilateral triangle in the Phoenician alphabet. The Jesuits rotated these two "D" letters 180 degrees, which did not please the Jews.

The hexagon only became widespread among Semites when the Rothschild brothers were granted the rank of baron by Holy Roman Emperor Francis I in 1816. Since their coat of arms was also designed by the Viennese Jesuits, the six-pointed star was once again placed on the red shield (Rot Schild). This hexagram was chosen as the symbol of the Zionist movement in 1891 by Theodor Herzl, who was born in Budapest.

The serpent biting its own tail, encircling the Star of David, symbolizes eternity and continuous renewal. The earliest known depiction of the Ouroboros can be found on the sarcophagus of Tutankhamun.

When French King Philip IV the Fair and Pope Clement V, in a well-organized operation, captured the members of the Knights Templar on Friday night, October 13, 1307, the knights were executed on the Île des Juifs in Paris on charges of blasphemy, heresy, homosexuality, and simony.

According to the Vatican, the heretical knights kissed each other's anuses because "from there starts the spiritual serpent that runs along the spine and ends in the human head. Under the influence of excitement, the serpent opens its mouth to establish a cosmic connection with heaven. It needs this to steal as much divine knowledge as possible from there so that man can become a god."

Templar Grand Master Jacques de Molay was burned at the stake in the spring of 1314, on March 18. During his death throes, the general cursed both the king and the pope. His curse lasted for 13 generations. Philip and Clement died that same year. Since then, the Western world has feared the day of the capture of the Grand Master (October 13, 1307), the date of which is none other than: Friday the 13th.

The swastika above the Star of David was not originally a Nazi symbol. The symbol was also used by Hindus, Celts, Slavs, Egyptians, and Vikings. It generally symbolizes the Sun, the winds blowing from the four cardinal directions, and lightning. For Buddhists, it is a symbol of luck. After the excavation of Troy in 1871, the Western world rediscovered the symbol. It was used, for example, by Coca-Cola, the American Boy Scouts, and for a while was also part of the Carlsberg brewery logo.