Interest in secret societies and conspiracy theories has been rising for some time now: As early as 1925, Franz Schweyer examined and described the history and activities of political secret organizations, dedicating a somewhat larger chapter to the Freemasons, while also addressing the Illuminati, the Bundschuh movement, student fraternities, the Ku Klux Klan, the Mafia, as well as Bolsheviks and National Socialists. In his description of the latter, Schweyer draws on his insider knowledge as a former Bavarian Minister of the Interior. He warned years before the National Socialists came to power that their brutality often knows no bounds of humanity. The PhD lawyer and political scientist Franz Xaver Schweyer (1868-1935) was a member of the Bavarian People's Party (BVP) and was actively involved in politics during his career.