Francis von Kahler

In my nearly 86 years on the Planet, I’ve been blessed by close encounters with some real characters. The one I want to introduce you to today is amongst the most memorable: one Francis von Kahler. A half-Jewish Austrian baron who grew up in the north German port city of Hamburg, where his father was the Austrian trade representative, Francis had a quirky dry sense of humor typical of Northwest Europe, known to people of my generation in the person of the Danish comedian Victor Borge. Since, per the Nuremberg Accords, a Jew was anyone with at least one Jewish grandparent, Francis, who had two of them, was smart enough to emigrate from Germany in 1935, when doing so was still possible. Consequently, he arrived in New York City during FDR’s first Presidential term. He said he was honored to have been officially greeted by the President himself during one of the latter’s fireside radio talks, which FDR always began by saying “Dear Friends.” Francis of course heard that as “Dear Franz,” his German name. My elderly friend did have some trouble eating in America, though. He would go to a café for lunch and sit at the counter. When the server asked him, “Hamburger?,” he would immediately answer “Ja!” He was surprised and pleased that the man knew where he was from. “And you know,” he told me, “for my initial two weeks in America, all I ate for lunch was beef patties...

I first met Francis at the New York meetings of Subud, my spiritual practice, in fall, 1961. He had been initiated among the first Americans in 1959 and had become what was termed a Helper, that is, a more experienced member who initiated, or “opened” in Subud terminology, new members, answered their questions about the practice, and gave advice when needed. One Sunday afternoon an isolated member in Connecticut called the Center and, in a panic, asked to speak with a helper. Francis answer the phone in the European way, “Von Kahler.” Then we overheld, “You did VHAT?!” Our Indonesian Spiritual Guide had advised that we shouldn’t do our Subud exercises, always done with individuals of our gender, with animals in the room. He meant larger ones like house pets. Francis continued: “But my good man, this is very zerious!” (He had b
een doing the exercise with his turtle in its aquarium!) “Tell me, Vas it a male or a female turtle?!”
In November 1963 my late German wife and I were married. Francis gave away the bride since her father in Germany couldn’t attend. After, at the reception, he read and translated the German telegrams into English. Not missing a beat, he then mechanically translated all the English telegrams into German, something no one needed. My favorite professor, Dr. Richard Sewall, came up and asked, “Where did you get this guy? He’s terrific!”

The most famous Francis story happened in 1971 at the Subud World Congress in Jakarta, Indonesia, a Muslim country. Afterwards, a number of male members, impressed by the Islam they’d seen in their stay, decided to “embrace” the religion. The price of admission, so to speak, was getting circumcised. Anyway, Francis, who wanted to stay in the country longer, was sent to a building on campus to get a new visa. By accident he got on a line with lots of young men. One asked him—he was well-known and loved by the community—“Francis, I can’t believe you intend at your age to be circumcised!” His response: “Why no, my good man. I’ve come for an extension!”
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Francis von Kahler died in New York City in December, 1973. Dear Francis, Rest in peace.