Johann Valentin Andreae, Fantasist and Utopist

A category of fantastic fiction that has not received much critical attention is the alchemical fiction that flourished during the Renaissance and early Baroque periods in Europe. A literature of wide variety, ranging from pretended historical accounts rendered with some verisimilitude to total fantasies, some of it is proto science-fiction of a sort, since it fantasized the generally accepted science of the day, physical alchemy. One of the most interesting of these alchemical fictions is the short novel Chymische Hochzeit Christiani Rosencreütz Anno 1459 [A Chemical Wedding by Christian Rosencreütz] (1616) by Johann Valentin Andreae (1586-1654). An outgrowth of the contemporary Rosicrucian hoax, it describes the ritual decapitation and dissolution of triple monarchs who are reconstituted and revived by a traditional alchemical process. The narrative, which embodies elements from various cultural configurations of the day, centers on the experiences of the aged hermit Christian Rosencreütz, who attends the magical court and is witness of and participant in the successful alchemical operation. While much of the novel remains puzzling, it is most interesting in working alchemical ideas into fictional form. Andreae is generally considered one of the most important German authors of the seventeenth century. A pioneer in bringing Italian literary techiques into German literature, he is also the author of the eutopia Christianopolis (1619).