ABSTRACT
Entering the city of Kamenz, one cannot miss the house of Gotthold Ephraim Lessing. A champion of religious tolerance, Lessing wrote a dramatic poem and famous theatre-piece called “Nathan the Wise”. Staged in Jerusalem, it tells the story of a Jewish merchant, Nathan whose wisdom invites to compare the three religions of the book, that is, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Midway through the tale, Nathan tells the parable in which three sons each receive a ring from their father, the sultan, as inheritance. After a series of defections and break-offs, six of Sigmund Freud’s closest followers came together in 1912 to create a “Secret Committee” for the defence and promotion of psychoanalysis. Freud gave a sealed ring each to Karl Abraham, Sandor Ferenczi, Ernest Jones, Max Eitingon, Hanns Sachs, and Otto Rank.
