The Grail Administration
Origin of the Grail Administration
In the year 1928, Oskar Ernst Bernhardt moved with his family to Vomperberg in Tyrol. Already from 1923, Oskar Ernst Bernhardt had published lectures from his message out of the Grail under the name Abd-ru-shin. On Vomperberg he found the place for the anchorage of his activity. At that time, there were only a few farmhouses and a former hunting lodge there and the latter now became the residence for the Bernhardt family.
From the beginning the work “In the Light of Truth – the Grail Message” by Abd-ru-shin met with a considerable echo in the German-speaking area, and many a reader harboured the wish to be permitted to live in close proximity to Abd-ru-shin. Thus it became necessary to build residences and other facilities whereby the Grail Settlement gradually came about. A hall was constructed for the Sunday Hours of Worship and the Grail Festivals which Abd-ru-shin arranged.
The Grail Administration was established to manage the settlement that had now come into being as well as to coordinate its affairs. At the same time, the international activity of the Grail Administration began. The Grail Message, in the meantime, was translated into different languages, and thus an institution was required to assist Abd-ru-shin in dealing with the enquiries that arose.
Until March 1938, Oskar Ernst Bernhardt was the director of the Grail Administration in all matters. Right at the beginning of the occupation of Austria by Hitler’s Germany, Oskar Ernst Bernhardt was arrested and the Grail Settlement together with the personal property of the Bernhardt family was confiscated and later expropriated. Since it was not possible to convict Oskar Ernst Bernhardt of any offense, he was released after some months. However, he was not permitted to return to the Grail Settlement Vomperberg. He and his family found accommodation in the east of Germany with people who, through his Grail Message, had gained a new meaning to life.
The Grail Message, which calls on man to examine all happenings independently and to take personal responsibility, was banned in Hitler’s Germany, and Abd-ru-shin was prohibited from publishing further lectures of his work.
Oskar Ernst Bernhardt died on 6th December 1941.
After the Second World War Oskar Ernst Bernhardt’s widow, Maria Bernhardt, was able to return to the Grail Settlement Vomperberg with her children. The expropriation was lifted, and Maria Bernhardt became the owner of the Grail Settlement. At the same time, the Grail Administration Vomperberg resumed its activities.
After Maria Bernhardt, her son Alexander Bernhardt was in charge of the Grail Administration, followed by his sister Irmingard Bernhardt, and since 1990 the Grail Administration has been led by Siegfried Bernhardt.