General Anthroposophical
Society Anthroposophy Worldwide
5/14
■ Goetheanum
Michaelmas Conference 2014 with re-opening of Goetheanum stage
A culture of peace
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Anthroposophy Worldwide
5/2014
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Annual Conference and
Annual General Meeting 2014
Procedures and contents
Anthroposophic Medicine
Emergency Education
Statement on the Critical Edition of
Steiner’s written work
Statement on the location of
the Group by the head of the
Goetheanum Stage
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Anthroposophical Society
Michaelmas Conference 2014
Meeting of General Secretaries
and Country Representatives
14 Eva Lunde’s 100th birthday
15 Membership news
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Goetheanum
Invitation to the festive re-opening
of the Goetheanum’s Main Stage
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Anthroposophy Worldwide
Germany: Helmut von Kügelgen and
45 years of International Waldorf
Kindergarten Association
10 Germany: Conference on Rosicrucianism in Kassel
11 Russia: The cultural work of the ISIS
Foundation
12 India: Review of 2013/2014
13 China: University founds Waldorf
Teacher College
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Forum
14 Exhibition: “Rudolf Steiner.
The Alchemy of Everyday.”
14 The ‘I’ knows itself
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Feature
16 Eurythmeum Stuttgart
The Michaelmas Conference 2014 will be guided by a quotation from Rudolf Steiner’s
Samaritan Course “Into my questioning soul […] in bond of human brothers”. Together
with the Michaelmas Conference 2015 it will form a preparation for the Michaelmas
Conference of 2016 with which we will begin the seven annual steps on the way to the
centenary of the Christmas Conference of 1923/24.
W
hat contribution can we, as a global
anthroposophical society, make
today towards a culture of peace? This is
the question with which we would like to
work at the Michaelmas Conference 2014
– one hundred years after the
outbreak of World War I. We
should approach our work in
a self-critical way – not for
the sake of being critical but
to help us to move forward.
The conference will proceed
in three steps. The motto
of the first day will be “Into
homelessness”. In his lecture
cycle on the folk souls, Rudolf
Steiner described the detachment of the individual from the collective,
into which our origin has placed us, as a
necessary precondition for gaining the
knowledge and ability to live together as
nations. How do we achieve this homelessness today? How do we experience it
and how can we live with it? What part of
this step is as it always has been and what
has changed in the age of globalization, instant communication and budget flights?
Anthroposophy and folk culture
Under the motto “You, spirit of my
earthly realm”, the second day will open up
a wide panorama of peoples and countries,
presented by the general secretaries and
national representatives. A few words of
welcome will resound in various languages and allow us to experience what we will
set out to explore: how does anthroposophy live in the different cultures and how
can each folk culture be inspired by anthroposophy? Or will the variety be replaced
by an internationalized anthroposophy?
How will this development manifest in the
branches, in schools and on farms?
A mission for all of humanity
On the third day we will try to give a
face to the auspicious term
“Michaelic
Cosmopolitanism”. What did Rudolf
Steiner mean by it? Do we
have authentic experiences
in this respect? How can
we bring this quality to the
way we live anthroposophy
today? Rudolf Steiner spoke
of the “self-knowledge of
peoples” as a precondition
for committing freely and
decisively to a joint human mission. What
has become of this aspiration over the past
hundred years within the global anthroposophical community? Can we see a foundation on the strength of which we can
make an active contribution to a culture
of peace, now and in future? The conference will be embedded in the festivities
for the reopening of the newly renovated
stage in the Main Auditorium. The various
events are described in detail in this and
other programmes.| Seija Zimmermann,
Ueli Hurter, Goetheanum Leadership
Information/registration:
goetheanum.org/6175.html
Recommended reading
The Mission of the Folk Souls, GA 121
The Spiritual Guidance of the Individual and
Humanity, GA 15 Das Geheimnis der Wunde,
Aufzeichnungen zum Samariterkurs, Beiträge zur Rudolf SteinerGesamtausgabe Nr. 108
[These notes on Rudolf Steiner’s Samaritan
Course are in the process of being translated
into English. The translation is due to be published by Mercury Press in May 2014]
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| Anthroposophy Worldwide No. 5/14
■ Goetheanum
■ Anthroposophical Society
Goetheanum Main Stage
Festive Re-Opening
On Friday, 26 September 2014, between 3 – 4 p.m. we will celebrate
the re-opening of the Goetheanum
stage with a festive act.
– Welcome and introduction by Dr
Seija Zimmermann, Executive Council
at the Goetheanum
– Address by Councillor Dr Remo Ankli, Department of Education and Culture, Canton of Solothurn
– Address by Roger Dahinden, Deputy
Mayor of Dornach
– Ludwig van Beethoven Fantasia op.
77, Goetheanum Eurythmy Ensemble,
Margrethe Solstad, artistic director
– Peter Holtz, that hamburg gmbh –
on the stage renovation
– Margrethe Solstad and Nils Frischknecht, Goetheanum Stage: What happens on and behind the stage?
– Premiere: Overture for String Septet, composition commissioned for
String Septet Heiligenberg; Christian
Ginat, musical director
After the festive act refreshments
will be served in the Foyer | General Anthroposophical Section and Goetheanum Stage
Anthroposophy Worldwide is published in German, English and Spanish ten times a year. It is
distributed by the national Anthroposophical Societies – in some cases augmented by independently edited news and articles. It also appears as
a supplement to the weekly journal ‹Das Goetheanum›. • Editor: General Anthroposophical Society represented by Justus Wittich. • Editors:
Sebastian Jüngel (responsible for this edition),
Michael Kranawetvogl (responsible for the Spanish edition), Margot M. Saar (responsible for this
English edition), Wolfgang Held and Philipp Tok. •
German Proofreading: Merle Rüdisser. • Address:
Wochenschrift ‹Das Goetheanum›, Postfach,
4143 Dornach, Switzerland, Fax +41 61 706 44
65, [email protected]. • Correspondents/
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Network Anthroposophy (NNA). • We expressly
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year. An e-mail version is available to members
of the Anthroposophical Society only at www.
goetheanum.org/630.html?L=1. © 2014 General
Anthroposophical Society, Dornach, Switzerland
Between 200 and 400 members gathered in the Foundation Stone Auditorium
General Anthroposophical Society
Cultivating the art of living together
The Goetheanum Leadership explained how the Anthroposophical Society, School
of Spiritual Science and the fields of life work together. While the anthroposophical
activities in the world were accepted without problems, internal issues such as the
Weleda question and tolerance towards initiatives such as the Critical Steiner Edition
(SKA) remained unresolved.
W
hile the previous Annual General
Meeting had remained relaxed in
the face of controversy, I experienced a
strange ambivalence this year: The Executive Council adopted a number of suggestions from recent years, responded to
the criticism that it had chosen an annual
theme which was too philosophical and
too restricted to Central Europe by demonstrating how closely the theme was really connected with practical life, and allowed speakers unlimited speaking time,
a concession that was often abused by
the same people stepping onto the stage
repeatedly and speaking so long that the
meeting went overtime. Yet – some of
the contributions presented by members
reflected that there were issues that had
been left unresolved. What was not mentioned, on the other hand, was what had
become of the initiative that a group of
members should prepare the annual conference. During the preliminary meeting,
which was open to all members, someone
made a helpful suggestion, “the basis for
any change is to define what there is and
to say ‘yes, this is how it is.’ And on this
basis the next step can be taken.”
Consequences arising from the annual
theme
In her introduction to the annual
theme (“The ‘I’ knows itself in the light of
Michaelic world affirmation”) Constanza
Kaliks, leader of the Youth Section, started by looking back to the previous year
and by establishing that the General An-
throposophical Society was what people
were making of it. When we incarnate
each of us has to work on their relationship with reality. The first time we say
‘yes’ to the world is when we decide to be
born. Children, when they enter school,
become part of an organism that has its
own history. Constanza Kaliks referred
to Rudolf Steiner’s words that we should
connect with the world in love. Quoting from ‘Cosmic thoughts in the work
of Michael and Ahriman’, she said, “We
become ever more human by becoming
an expression of the world […]” (Anthroposophical Leading Thoughts, GA 26).
Michaelic world affirmation included also
the ability to adapt to changing circumstances. The physician Thomas Breitkreuz
elaborated on this theme in the context
of Anthroposophic Medicine (page 4) and
the teacher Bernd Ruf spoke of the essential contribution of Waldorf (emergency)
education in situations that are far from
ideal, such as in wars or following natural
disasters (page 5). Virginia Sease related
the statement “The ‘I’ knows itself” to
the evolution of the ‘I’ in the world when
she spoke about Palm Sunday and the
entry of Christ and his disciples into Jerusalem. The disciples spread their clothes
over an ass’ colt and the crowd scattered
their garments on the way – an image for
the casting off of old layers to allow for
a renewal through the Christ. In ancient
Greek, the term for ‘palm tree’ coincides
with that for ‘phoenix’, the bird that rises
from the ashes to new life, a symbol of
Anthroposophy Worldwide No. 5/14| 3
Stages of decision-making: getting information (here on the paths leading to the main entrance), expressing an interest (Youth Section information stand)
and sharing views (Haus Haldeck)
the overcoming of death. Copies of the
levels of Christ’s organization are available to advanced human beings: a copy of
the ether body to Augustine, for instance,
the image of the astral body to St Francis of Assisi and Thomas Aquinas and “in
1459, at the initiation through the Christ
with the help of Mani when a copy of the
Christ’s I was received by a human ‘I’”. The
development of the ‘I’, if seen in relation
with the Christ, is therefore a long-term
process.
The tasks of the Goetheanum
One aspect of the tasks that rest on
the Goetheanum is tangible in the building work that is going on at present. Paul
Mackay explained the various plans that
address matters of safety (roof and stage)
and maintenance (terrace), improvements
to the campus and the building structure
(planning the course of paths or the conversion in the west of the building by
removing the outside stairs in order to
create new spaces) as well as extended
use (an orchestra pit and the opening up
of the Group room for esoteric work). All
these activities mean that one continues to build on the Second Goetheanum
so that it is better equipped to serve life,
also in the spiritual or conceptual sense.
These plans were presented on guided
tours of the building site and on information panels, but they were not discussed
in any detail. The argument in favour of
converting the west part of the building - that the outside stairs were never
used - was rejected by the architect and
general secretary of the Anthroposophical Society in Japan, Yuji Agematsu, with
the dry comment “hardly surprising, gates
closed.” (The project and aspects regarding the outside stairs will be presented in
one of the next issues of Anthroposophy
Worldwide.)
Practical work aspects became most
tangible in the Mathematical-Astronomical Section’s presentation of an engine
which is based on two oloids and could
be used to propel boats, for instance. The
device was set up above a water basin at
the South entrance and demonstrated by
Johann Wolfesberger.
Claus-Peter Röh spoke on behalf of the
Pedagogical Section on the question of
how the training of teachers can keep up
with the steady increase in the number
of Waldorf schools. Röh pointed out that
“we are Strader schools and we have to
get down to the mathematical and legal
aspects.” If we open up to the outside, he
said, it is important that we remain authentic inside. Jean-Michel Florin of the
Section for Agriculture faces similar decisions: high-quality viticulture is no longer
possible today without biodynamic methods. Wine of all things! But, as Florin said,
“if people ask us if they can treat their soil
biodynamically, we cannot say ‘no’!”
Margrethe Solstad of the Performing
Arts Section and co-director of the new
production of Faust I and II spoke about
preparations, planning, auditions and the
great joy that comes from this kind of
work, especially from young eurythmists.
The questions they are asking themselves
are, ‘What does one need nowadays for
a Faust production? And what do we
want to convey with our Faust here at the
Goetheanum?’
Low points
These were some of the highlights of
this meeting. The low points can be exemplified in one aspect: The blue conference
brochure contained a statement by the
Rudolf Steiner Nachlassverwaltung and
the Rudolf Steiner Verlag (page 6), referring to the concern regarding the Critical
Edition of Rudolf Steiner’s written work. In
addition Renatus Ziegler, board member
at the Rudolf Steiner Nachlassverwaltung
presented a statement during the meeting, outlining briefly – due to time pressure – what the Rudolf Steiner Nachlassverwaltung considers to be its task, i.e. the
looking after Rudolf Steiner’s physical estate. Since the copy right had expired, no
restrictions whatsoever could be applied.
“Our approach is that of radical publicity:
everything will be published.” Ziegler emphasized that interpretation or contextualization was not part of their responsibility. They do not see it as their task to judge
the services rendered by third parties or
to evaluate the quality of these services.
“If something is submitted that meets
the editorial requirements that is enough
for us.” Ziegler’s presentation evoked an
onslaught of hissing and booing from
the auditorium.When, on the next day,
emotive clapping was again used whilst
people were expressing their opinions, Alexander Overhage called the meeting to
order, asking people to respect the principles of Swiss democracy. In subsequent
contributions the way we deal with each
other came up repeatedly, which was a
new phenomenon. Hartwig Schiller spoke
of his perception that members of the
audience not only became emotional but
4 | Anthroposophy Worldwide No. 5/14
Anthroposophic Medicine
Being open to questions
I
n the 1970s and 1980s Anthroposophic Medicine was closely linked with
anthroposophical cultural impulses
such as Waldorf schools. Later it moved
more into the public eye when anthroposophic hospitals where founded and
politicians and the media were invited
to visit. In the years that followed, Anthroposophic Medicine established
itself as a “special discipline” within a
pluralist system, but this came with
the danger of disappearing into a particular niche. Today we are increasingly
asked pragmatic questions by GPs and
patients who want to know what we
have to offer. The Weleda alone has
around 1500 anthroposophical medicines many of which are produced in
small batches, which is not economical. Despite the increase in public interest, the number of anthroposophic
physicians has not grown. How would
it be, if in ten years’ time a third of all
GPs in Germany and Switzerland were
able to use ten anthroposophical medicines, say for dry eyes, hypertension or
cancer? A difficult question. Can we
entrust non-anthroposophic doctors
with our anthroposophic medicines?
I suggest that we think in concentric
circles: we practise an individualized
medicine based on the levels of the
human organization (and try to recruit
young physicians interested in inner
development), whilst making therapies available outside of anthroposophy with clearly accessible instructions
for use. People can take Cardiodoron
because it works; they don’t need to
know anything about its background
nor do they need to become anthroposophists first. Furthermore, we need
to be involved in finding solutions for
burning questions, such as the resistance to antibiotics that could be reduced if anthroposophic medicines
were used for minor infections. What
applies to each of us as individuals is
also true for our approach to medicine:
a successful biography needs an understanding of one’s own identity and
a healthy breathing between the inner
contemplation of our ideals and openness for the world around from where
the future comes towards us. | Thomas
Breitkreuz, Bad Liebenzell (DE)
■ Goetheanum
deliberately stirred the emotions in the
room. He pointed out that in the work
group where the Critical Steiner Edition
had been discussed, the tone had been
more polite, while this had not been the
case outside of that group. Bodo von Plato
warned that delicate spiritual matters or
questions regarding co-workers at the
Goetheanum must not be discussed in
heated, inflammatory or one-sided ways.
He was referring to a member who, speaking about the dismissal of a co-worker at
the Documentation department, had
said, “Ninety years ago, the Goetheanum
burnt down because the members were
asleep. I have the feeling that the spiritual
Goetheanum is burning now and that the
members are sleeping again.”
How disconcerting this kind of behaviour is, especially for people from non-German speaking countries, was apparent in
the address of Joan Sleigh, who has just
come to the end of her first year as a member of the Executive Council. “How are we
dealing with one another? We have the
possibility, the faculties and the research
to know and make true that we are spiritual beings.” In his farewell address, after
ten years as General Secretary of the Anthroposophical Society in Norway, Frode
Barkved said, “I often felt homeless in the
annual general meetings, like a stranger.
There were many clever, and often longwinded, presentations making sure that
everything was understood rightly: Rudolf Steiner, anthroposophy, the School
of Spiritual Science and the byelaws. The
astral space of the Main Auditorium was
plastered with these deliberations. My interest was inversely proportional to this.”
Annual General Meeting
The motions were presented on the
first day, followed on the second day by
the corresponding debates and decisions.
(The motions had been published beforehand in Anthroposophy Worldwide
3/2014 and in the programme.)
Amending the byelaws: Justus Wittich
pointed out that he had not found much
support for the concern that work on the
statutes should continue. “This cost a lot
of time and money. But if it were not possible to put it into practice in general, he
would at least like to address the most important points, including the task set from
the outside regarding the legal status of
the School of Spiritual Science. This was
Goetheanum tasks I: Demonstration of an inversion engine made from two oloids
important for the Weleda to enable them
to give donations to the School of Spiritual
Science. It was also important in connection with the Swiss University Law (Hochschulgesetz), due to become effective in
2015, which will determine whether an
institution can call itself an academic institution (Hochschule). Following various
procedural motions to defer or remove
the concern, the “proposal of the Executive Council” was ultimately accepted
with around a dozen votes against and
two dozen abstentions.
Motion 1: To appoint a chair within
the Executive Council at the Goetheanum.While not excluding the possibility
of a change, Bodo von Plato asked not to
be forced to make such an appointment
since the Executive Council wished to
work in a different way. The motion was
rejected by the majority of members present, with a few votes in favour and around
a dozen abstentions.
Motion 2: Provisional placement of
the Representative of Humanity on the
stage: the head of the stage department
had published a statement in the blue
brochure (page 7). In addition, a letter had
been received, dated 7 April 2014, from
the Office for the Preservation of Monuments and Archaeology in the Canton of
Solothurn: a reminder that the “Sculpture
Group of the Representative of Humanity” has been placed under a preservation
order on 31 October 2011 by the governing council. This compels the proprietor
“to keep the listed historical and cultural
monument in a way that guarantees its
preservation. There must be no altera-
Anthroposophy Worldwide No. 5/14| 5
Emergency Education
Goetheanum tasks II: Publishing research results(stand of
the Goetheanum publishers: Verlag am Goetheanum)
tions without the express permission of
the cantonal department responsible.”
According to a statement from the wood
expert Ulrich Bucher the taking down and
re-assembling of the Group in a different
location was possible in principle, but “Mr
Bucher states clearly that any intervention will cause damage to the sculpture
and that – even if all the criteria necessary
for the disassembly and reinstallation
are being met – the Group could only be
moved once. An interim solution or “trial
placement” are therefore out of the question.” Moritz Christoph, the presenter of
the motion, withdrew it and presented a
new motion suggesting that an independent work group be formed to continue
to discuss the question of location. This
new motion was accepted by a majority
against a considerable number of negative votes.
Motion 3: House Haldeck (by secret
ballot). Eva Lohmann-Heck said in support
of the motion that the strong community
in Haus Haldeck would be maintained
while this would be dissolved if the plans
of the Executive Council were to be carried
out. Justus Wittich confirmed that the
conversations proposed at the previous
AGM had not taken place. The Executive
Council, he said, had longer-term plans to
avoid enormous repair costs in ten years
or so, while the house community took
on repairs step by step. Wittich confirmed
that “we do not want to dissolve this community.” Of the 351 ballot papers handed
in 234 were in favour of Motion 3, while
97 favoured the proposal of the Executive Council. Twenty votes were not valid.
Again, there was a sense of ambivalence
around this vote. The Executive Council
opened itself to the concern of those who
had submitted the motion, asking them
to coordinate their self-governance with
the Goetheanum’s property administration. The tenants who wished to speak
were given a lot of time. Nevertheless, the
manner in which the topic had been dealt
with recently and the presentation of the
proposal of the Executive Council failed to
convince the meeting in the end.
Approval: the Executive Council was
confirmed by the majority of members
present, with a few votes against and two
or three dozen abstentions. Paul Mackay’s
words of thanks for the “full day” were
almost drowned as members began to
advance towards the exit. The interest
shown in the various parts of the meeting
was also reflected in the numbers: an estimated 400 members attended the part
of the AGM when the voting took place,
while there were around 300 members on
the previous day and 200 on the last, and
calmer, day of the Annual Conference.
Communication problems
Another communication problem became apparent during the presentation of
the annual statements of the members of
the Executive Council. When Virginia Sease
and Seija Zimmermann had spoken also of
their administrative and organizational
tasks (which take place invisibly in the background), the presentations of Paul Mackay
and Bodo von Plato evoked the question
‘what are you actually doing’? That Paul
Mackay, in describing the building work
at the Goetheanum, the Weleda and the
Goetheanum Leadership, was referring to
his work, people could have known. That
Bodo von Plato, when speaking about his
responsibility for communications, elaborated on a thought is characteristic of his
way of working. This meeting therefore illustrated what Gottfried Caspar expressed
when he said that “we are all very different. It is an achievement that we can discuss issues together. We come from totally
different streams and still manage to come
together here for meetings.”
The statements of the members of the
Executive Council and the address given
by the new leader of the Art Section, Marianne Schubert, will be published in the
next issue of Anthroposophy Worldwide.
| Sebastian Jüngel
Helping people
I
met five-year old Jasmin in the Middle
East. She was one of only a few family
members to survive a military attack.
When I spoke with her I asked, “How
did you survive?” - “I have a task.” –
“What are you planning to do?” – “I will
go to school and learn something. And
then I will take my revenge.” How can
Waldorf education provide a future for
such children and youngsters? When
the Friends of Rudolf Steiner’s Education started with the emergency education in 2006 in Lebanon, it was my first
direct experience of war. I was able to
detect the degree of people’s traumatization in their eyes and facial expressions. Trauma is firstly a wound, not an
illness. It is possible to prevent later effects by using relatively simple means,
as long as one takes action within the
first weeks. A physical wound usually
heals within a few days. A wound to
the soul needs a bit longer. There can
be complications and these can also be
fatal. Being traumatized means being
thrown out of the stream of life. First
one must dissolve the state of frozenness before the traumatized person
can begin to work through their experiences. A trauma is always a near-death
experience. Most of the time children
are able to return from this threshold,
but not always. We differentiate four
stages of trauma – each has its own
pedagogical measures. Emergency
education can activate a person’s own
forces of self-healing. Traumatization
will become more wide-spread as a result of the human constitution becoming looser. We also have to expect more
disasters in the future. I reckon that in
ten years’ time emergency education
will be part of teacher training and
that schools will offer emergency education. Difficult experiences are part of
life. People who have overcome a crisis
will have different priorities and will be
able to distinguish the essential from
the inessential; they will value human
relationships more highly and be more
open for spiritual questions. Crises cannot be prevented. But with the means
that Waldorf education has in store we
can help people and try to transform
crises into biographical opportunities.
| Bernd Ruf, Karlsruhe (DE)
6 | Anthroposophy Worldwide No. 5/14
■ Annual Conference and Annual General Meeting 2014
Statement of the Rudolf Steiner Nachlassverwaltung and of the Rudolf Steiner Verlag
Critical Edition of Rudolf Steiner’s written works
(SKA)
I
n April 2012 the Rudolf Steiner Nachlassverwaltung [administration of Rudolf
Steiner’s estate] was made aware of Christian Clement’s plan for a new edition of
Rudolf Steiner’s writing that would collate the various editions published during Steiner’s lifetime. Such editions are
known among scholars as critical editions
because they carefully and comprehensively document for the reader the steps
that led to the creation of the text and
any further work on it. The works that appear in the Rudolf Steiner Gesamtausgabe
[Rudolf Steiner’s collected works] are the
texts of the final version, i.e., in each case,
the form of the text as last worked upon
by the author.
Background and intention
As an edition for reading and study,
however, the collected works hold no claim
to being a comparative-critical edition,
and the development of such volumes is
seen as less a priority than our primary
task of publishing previously unavailable
texts, lectures, and artistic works; such a
task is an essential research concern. We
have denied Clement the use of unpublished materials because we wanted to
reserve our own right to undertake a historical-critical edition that would include
Rudolf Steiner’s manuscripts.
With our 1994 volume of documents
relating to the Philosophy of Freedom (GA
4a) we produced an edition that took into
account all the existing textual evidence;
and in 2004 the Rudolf Steiner Verlag published an edition that documented the
textual development of Theosophy in the
years between 1904 and 1922.
As the first volume of Clement’s critical
edition (Steiner Kritische Ausgabe – SKA)
was being published, the director of the
Rudolf Steiner Archives and the director of
the Rudolf Steiner Verlag had a chance to
look at the page proofs and assure themselves of the quality of the editorial work.
As a result, they proposed a business
agreement between the lead publisher in
the project, frommann-holzboog, and the
Rudolf Steiner Verlag, as publishers tend
to do occasionally with such large-scale
projects. The governing board of the Rudolf Steiner Verlag in cooperation with the
board of the Rudolf Steiner Archives then
came to an agreement for this cooperation. As a charitable cultural institution for
the preservation and publication of Rudolf
Steiner’s work, the Nachlassverwaltung
along with the Rudolf Steiner Archives has
a majority vote in neither the annual general meeting nor the governing board of
the Verlag, which is an independent commercial enterprise. The organizations and
fields of endeavour are separate but serve
a common task. The Nachlassverwaltung
and the Archives are responsible for the
content of the editorial work while the
Verlag is responsible for producing and
distributing Rudolf Steiner’s works.
The two programmatically and financially autonomous publishers then
entered into this cooperative business
agreement because they were convinced
that the culture of our time and the anthroposophical movement had an interest in a specialized and systematically prepared edition of Rudolf Steiner’s works.
The Rudolf Steiner Verlag has a number of
copies for distribution. Responsibility for
the organization of the texts, the introduction, the commentary, and the foreword remain entirely in the hands of the
sole editor, Christian Clement, and in the
hands of the frommann-holzboog press.
Varied reception for the edition
While interested and positive reviews
have appeared in large anthroposophical journals, in blogs, and in well-known
newspapers, there have also been concerned, generally negative, and polemic
reactions elsewhere. Unfortunately, it
is the latter that have produced an echo
in the anthroposophical movement. The
negative reactions were solely concerned
with Clement’s foreword, introduction,
and commentary, not with the editing of
Steiner’s texts themselves. This discussion unfortunately included misunder-
standings and errors—even some painful
misrepresentations. Much that was unrelated entered the discussion; it had nothing to do with the quality of the edition. In
March, 2014, an open letter asked that the
Rudolf Steiner Nachlassverwaltung and
the Rudolf Steiner Verlag remove Clement’s edition from the Verlag. Since then,
a group of concerned anthroposophists
has written in support of this letter and
its demand; many of them, however, had
not looked at the edition.
We are surprised, and we regret this reaction. However, we are also disconcerted
by a certain ideological overreaction. Of
course, the edition is open to objective
discussion and usage. Those interested in
understanding or acquiring the basic content in Rudolf Steiner’s writings will often
have little interest in philological details,
or even be disturbed by them. Those who
immerse themselves in such details will
be able to discover interesting insights.
No one’s freedom is limited here. Thus it
is irritating when discussions about the
edition are bound up with a witch-hunt
against institutions (Nachlassverwaltung,
Verlag, etc.). We have taken this longrange edition into the Verlag’s catalogue
with the earnest and honest intention of
supporting the availability of a systematic
comparative edition in addition to the
standard edition, the Gesamtausgabe. In
his autobiography, Rudolf Steiner himself
recommends comparing different versions of his writings in order to reach an
understanding of his systematic research
efforts (Rudolf Steiner, Mein Lebensgang,
GA 28, p. 434).
We have noted with interest (or questions) some provocative points of view
(e.g., in the editor’s introduction). Clement
himself describes these as “necessarily always one-sided and fragmen- tary…and
(I hope) soon made obsolete by more extensive and deeper research” (p. LXI in the
introduction). With no intention of somehow diminishing the ideas presented in
the edition’s intro- duction or foreword:
they were secondary considerations in accepting the edition into the Verlag’s programme; the main consideration was the
quality of the editorial work with Rudolf
Steiner’s texts.
The Rudolf Steiner Nachlassverwaltung and the Rudolf Steiner Verlag see it as
their task to publish the most reliable and
correct editions of his work, not in order
Anthroposophy Worldwide No. 5/14| 7
■ Goetheanum
to make themselves somehow arbiters
of interpretation, but so that interested
readers have the editions at their disposal
for an outer and inner study of Rudolf
Steiner’s works.
Statement from the stage management
Test placement of the Group on the stage
Misunderstood Cooperative
Arrangement
Some of the current misunderstandings are traceable to our communication
and statement about the cooperation
between the two publishers. In the book’s
front matter, frommann-holzboog and
the Rudolf Steiner Verlag stand as equal
partners, and in the edition prospectus on
the last page of the book there is the statement: “Published in cooperation with the
Rudolf Steiner Archives and the Rudolf
Steiner Verlag.” The latter formulation will
be omitted in this form in future editions
because there is only a distribution agreement between the two businesses. In this
type of cooperation, one press is normally
the party responsible for communicating
with the author, proofreading, and production, while the other party includes
some the press run in its distribution
without further involvement in the tasks
of proofreading and production. This is
also the case with the SKA.
Neither the Rudolf Steiner Verlag nor
the Rudolf Steiner Nachlassverwaltung
have a role in financing the edition. Thus
no donated funds are used for it. The
frommann-holzboog press carries the
publication risk for the SKA. The note
about the publication subvention from
Brigham Young University in the front
matter represents a contribution typical
of the support offered by public universities for publications by their instructors.
An indication of cooperating publishers without further differentiation of
tasks is a widespread practice in the field
of publication, and this is also true in the
case of the SKA. But the naming of the
Rudolf Steiner Verlag on the title page
can, in fact, be misunderstood because it
looks like an equal partnership between
the presses. In the future we will make
a more precise statement about the cooperation between the two presses in
the front matter. | For the Rudolf Steiner
Nachlassverwaltung Cornelius Bohlen,
Chair of the Board. For the Rudolf Steiner
Verlag Richard Bhend, Chair of the Administrative Board.
English translation by Douglas Miller
The productions of the Mystery Dramas and Faust I & II
hile the group is temporarily on the
stage neither the Mystery dramas
nor Faust can be performed. The Mystery
drama productions with their scenery
and lighting are always designed to take
the entire stage area into account. These
could also not be per- formed because of
space considerations. The new production
of Faust beginning in 2015 is designed
based on the sets (preliminary discussions
have been going on for about 2 years) and
it would be impossible to build these sets
with the group on the stage. New discussions would be required to take the temporary placement of the group into consideration. The premieres of Faust I & II
would be considerably delayed.
W
The stage area
The stage requires the space behind the
anterior scenery or curtain. Many scenes
in the Mystery dramas, eurythmy, and
Faust are planned so that they are backlit (or use rear projection). It is impossible
to do this without several meters at the
back of the stage; many times the space
is already too narrow. The eurythmy stage
we are familiar with would have about 6
meters less in depth.
Tours—Everyday Life behind the Scenes
The stage is in use every day for rehearsals, conferences, construction/technical work, and more. We often have rehearsals at quarter-hour intervals. Briefly
opening the background on the stage
could not be allowed because of those realities. All of these factors mean that the
group would be hidden from public view
most of the time.
A viewing would be especially impossible during large conferences since the
schedule for the stage is closely planned
to take technical construction, rehearsals,
or lighting placement into account. The
sculpture could only be viewed from a distance of about 21 meters since the stage
is not accessible to visitors. There are both
liability and technical reasons for that. In
addition, the eurythmy cloth cannot be
walked on with street shoes.
Protection for the Group on the stage
The group would have to be protected.
A placement that is vulnerable to damage
is not possible. The following would have
to be taken into consideration:
1. Protection from fire: There is always
an increased danger of fire on the stage
(because of the lighting). A fire-safe location would be required; e.g, pushing the
group on rails into an enclosed niche with
a fire door.
2. Protection from dust: There is always
a lot of dust and dirt created on the stage.
The area would have to be cleaned more
frequently. In addition, the dust would
penetrate the pores in the wood, and the
surface would be dulled.
3. Protection from physical damage: When the stage settings are being
changed the stage resembles a construction site. That means that the work of art
would have to be reasonably protected
from physical damage, e.g., through a
walled-in niche (see 1).
4. Climate control: The climate is not
constant on the stage. We have extreme
variations in temperature, and the relative
humidity changes quite a bit. Prior to performances litres of water are sprayed into
the air to raise the relative humidity. The
many spotlights cause the temperature to
rise sharply during performances.
Further questions:
The group would have to be disassembled for transport, and the individual
pieces would have to be raised above the
roof with a crane.
To do this the roof of the group room
would have to opened. The lemniscate
window would have to be removed as
well as the sky- light above the South Studio that is sloped above it. This would require considerable construction. | For the
Goetheanum stage, Nils Frischknecht.
English translation by Douglas Miller
8 | Anthroposophy Worldwide No. 5/14
■Anthroposophical Society
Meeting of the General Secretaries and Country Representatives
“That we each be recognized as representatives
of our ‘I’”
From 7 to 12 April the general secretaries, country representatives, Section leaders and
members of the Executive Council at the Goetheanum met to talk about representation. As part of the experimental set-up of this gathering the circa 40 participants met
in groups of various sizes and even went on walks together.
a different angle and one can penetrate to
one’s own self.
Plato: The question of representation is
intimately connected with that of homelessness. The Anthroposophical Society is
seeking to find new forms, step by step.
Schiller: According to the statistics, membership numbers are clearly going down.
We are called upon to think about new
forms of working without negating the
old, existing forms. We need to include everyone, every member who is committed.
Plato: In this big circle of general secretaries, country representatives, section leaders and members of the Executive Council
we have worked persistently on this question; calmly but seriously. We allowed
ourselves to do this without immediately
discussing a new programme.
Schiller: We strongly restricted the diversity of topics this time and concentrated on
this theme. As a result the conversations
we had turned out to be greatly varied.
Being representatives of our ‘I’
Meeting between homelessness and cultural bonds: two who know each other from Brazil sharing
their experiences during an interval at the Annual Conference at the Goetheanum.
O
ne after the other they arrive, energetically, to report from the meeting
of general secretaries and country representatives: Paul Mackay, Joan Sleigh and
Bodo von Plato of the Executive Council
at the Goetheanum and the general secretaries Jan Baker-Finch (AU), Nodar Belkania (GE), Kristina Lucia Parmentier (BE),
Hartwig Schiller (DE) and Eva Vaśnievska
(PL). Unlike at former occasions of this
kind, they don’t think back so much to
what they have discussed but continue
their conversation on representation,
which has matured by now and been
raised to a higher level, culminating in
the free recognition of the ‘I’. The lively,
aphoristic nature of this spontaneous
twenty-minute conversation has been
captured in the following documentation.
Bodo von Plato: We have asked ourselves
what it means to be a representative:
when did I become homeless? When did
I become an anthroposophist? How did
anthroposophy become a new home?
And how did I become homeless through
becoming an anthroposophist?
Hartwig Schiller: I spoke with Yuji Agematsu (JP) on one of our “walks.” He told
me how he discovered his homelessness
in Switzerland. It happened to me when I
was in Norway – we were about the same
age then, around 21. We discovered our
homelessness outside our usual sphere of
life. Being far away from home meant that
a new light was cast on the question of
origin and home.
Feeling at home in the homelessness
Plato: Michael Kranawetvogl (ES) comes
from Bavaria and lives in Spain. He found
a new home in his homelessness. I discovered my ‘Germanness’ in France – and
began to feel uncomfortable in my homelessness.
Kristina Lucia Parmentier: I may be
homeless with regard to my country, but
I do not have to experience homelessness
in a place, in a spatial sense. One can also
lose one’s family.
Joan Sleigh: The sense of having a home
depends not so much on a country as on
whether one has a task, a context of activities.
Eva Vaśnievska: Homelessness must first
be acknowledged, then one can experience it and in the end, one opens up a
space within oneself with regard to one’s
own roots in a country, in one’s family or
task. The sense of homelessness provides
Baker-Finch: On two days we went for
walks in pairs, not in order to chat but to
listen carefully to what the other had to
say about a given topic. On the second
walk we described to each other what we
find is typical of our country and people.
I would have liked to sit on top of the
Goetheanum and watch all the different
paths: the whole world was present, walking deeply preoccupied, like ants, around
the Goetheanum Park! I would like to add
one aspect to the question of homelessness: it happens at an entirely personal
level and proceeds in particular stages.
But even if I experience myself as homeless, I belong to a culture that colours the
way I am and the way I work.
Sleigh: Apart from representation and
homelessness there was also the aspect
of being human in general that shone
through.
Schiller: And this brings about a certain
tension: the general secretaries and country representatives represent a particular
culture that they stand for. They cannot
and should not represent something that
is faceless and general. We all share the
sense of homelessness and something
generally human which lends us a certain
expression. We want to continue working
on this phenomenon.
Plato: Seija Zimmermann spoke in a very
touching way of the mystery of the indi-
Anthroposophy Worldwide No. 5/14 | 9
■ Antroposophy Worldwide
vidual. Each of us is a mystery. Each of us
is, above all, always a messenger of his or
her unique ‘I’.
Vaśnievska: And the Goetheanum aims
to work towards a situation where each
person is recognized as the representative
of his or her ‘I’. That is the peace message
at the Goetheanum. We have not quite
achieved this yet, but it is the image we
hold of the future.
Meeting each other the way we are
Baker-Finch: This time I felt as free as
never before in this group. The first time
I was here, three years ago, I worried a lot:
I have to say something in order to break
the ice for myself – and I have to say it in
German and English. Now I experience
– especially in the dialogues during the
walks and the group work – that I have
met another person. Something has happened. The Goetheanum is on the whole
very German-speaking and Swiss. But if
we have the opportunity to meet each
other as who we are we can feel this
deeply! This means that we go back home
filled with new life, feeling increasingly
how we are connected with other people
and countries.
Vaśnievska: When we met with the
Goetheanum staff members I also experienced the variety of soul qualities as in an
image of a future human society.
Schiller: I experienced this differentiation
not just as a state of perfect understanding and harmony. There was also a level
of not understanding each other. Take the
annual theme “The ‘I’ know itself in the
light of Michaelic world affirmation”, for
instance. Some found it too central-European, others thought it was too philosophical. The eastern countries wished
for something more Christological. Others said that Christology could not be discussed in their country. When it comes to
thinking, some feel that that is something
definitely ‘German’.
Sleigh: Having the possibility to identify
and discuss this has opened up possibilities, however.
Vaśnievska: We haven’t finished yet with
forming an opinion. We are in a process.
And we have experienced that there is a
possibility for us to meet each other and
to find a way for the future.
Documentation: Sebastian Jüngel.
Germany: Helmut von Kügelgen and the International Association of Waldorf
Kindergartens
Working together as closely as possible
45 years ago the International Association of Waldorf Kindergartens was founded, an
organization that is closely linked with the name of Helmut von Kügelgen (1916–1998).
One of the organization’s long-term co-workers is Peter Lang who was head of the
Waldorf kindergarten teacher training at the Freie Fachschule in Stuttgart (DE) for 21
years and who expresses his appreciation for Helmut von Kügelgen.
O
n 19 October 1969, Helmut von
Kügelgen and a number of experienced Waldorf Kindergarten teachers
founded the International Association
of Waldorf Kindergartens, supported by
eminent professionals from the Waldorf
School movement and in cooperation
with the German Association of Waldorf
Schools (Bund der Freien Waldorfschulen).
The reason for this foundation was a political one: at the time – as today – the
questions that dominated the sphere of
education were the ‘schoolification’ of
kindergartens, the bringing forward of the
age of school entry, a tendency towards
an intellectualized education, and the
change from mixed age-groups to peer
classes. Educational policies that took
their clues from mottos such as “the earlier, the better” and “the faster, the more
economical” needed to be confronted and
the unrestricted spread of electronic appliances also needed to be checked. In the
age of the rigorous and global economization of childhood the essential task was,
and still is, to practise an education and
to apply teaching methods that meet the
developmental needs of young children
and respect their individualities.
Waldorf teacher seminars and staterecognized colleges were founded that offered thorough training opportunities to
their students. Annual international conferences provided the possibility to meet
colleagues, take part in further training
and deepen one’s knowledge of spiritual
science. Helmut von Kügelgen was an inspiring and active contributor in this development.
A master in bringing people together
From 1989, when the Wall came down,
a new intensive phase of international collaboration began for Helmut von Kügelgen, myself and many other teachers.
From these early beginnings a growing
network of international and human cooperation has developed that now spans
the whole world. Helmut von Kügelgen
Always actively involved: Helmut von Kügelgen
was a master in bringing people together.
He was profoundly interested in people
and all his thinking and doing was directed
towards the tasks of that time. He always
took up a clear position, whatever the task
at hand. When the question “Waldorf daycentres – yes or no?” came up, he said, “yes,
but in the work with very young children
the question of quality must have absolute priority.” Helmut von Kügelgen was
involved in founding the publisher Verlag
Freies Geistesleben in 1947, he was chief
editor of the education magazine Erziehungskunst, he initiated the youth organization Freies Jugendseminar in Stuttgart,
took part in rebuilding the Anthroposophical Society in Germany and was, until 1975,
class teacher at the Uhlandshöhe Waldorf
School in Stuttgart. Helmut von Kügelgen
always kept in close contact with the Waldorf School movement, remaining actively
involved in its administration until the end
of his life. He saw it as part of his life’s task
to ensure that both educational movements worked together as closely as possible. It is now up to us to foster, shape and
enliven this collaboration and coherence.|
Peter Lang, Stuttgart (DE)PS: In 2008, the
Helmut-von-Kügelgen-School
opened
in Fellbach near Stuttgart. It has now 10
classes and in the school year 2013/2014 it
has 214 pupils.
www.waldorfkindergartenseminar.de
10 | Anthroposophy Worldwide No. 5/14
■ Anthroposophy Worldwide
Germany: Conference on Rosicrucianism in Kassel
400 Years Fama Fraternitatis
Initiated by Gesine Fay, the conference “400 Years Fama Fraternitatis” took place from
7 to 9 March 2014 at Anthroposophisches Zentrum in Kassel. 170 people attended, talking to each other, asking for new ways and discussing possibilities of implementation
W
ith a touch of lightness and humour
Virginia Sease, member of the Executive Council at the Goetheanum, took us
on a journey through the new mysteries.
Since the Mystery of Golgotha initiation
has become possible for all people who
seek this path and embark on it independently. In order to find the new mysteries
we need the community of knowledge.
The strength of faith that used to prevail
can be transformed into powers of knowledge. Virginia Sease presented Christian
Rosenkreutz as a leader of humanity, as
a friend and helper who tells us that the
more I get to know him the better he will
be able to help me. He is a human being.
For me, this was the most profound statement I took with me from this conference.
Understanding the world order is also an
elementary goal and task of our time:
bringing order to all fields of life. By experiencing the being of Christian Rosenkreutz
again and again in our thoughts we can
find the Rosicrucian principle in the Michael stream.
Attempts at preventing war
Virginia Sease followed Christian
Rosenkreutz through various of his incarnations. She told us of one incarnation in
the fourteenth century (1378-1484) when,
on a journey through the world known at
that time, he learned about the wisdom
of the Arab world, including its language,
and he was recognized in Fez by the wise
men of Damcar. Having gained the insight
that a general reformation was necessary,
he returned to Europe where he founded
the fraternity of the rosy cross. The members of the fraternity made every effort
to gradually bring spiritual wisdom into
civilization. In the eighteenth century he
appeared as the Count of St Germain at
almost all European royal courts, actively
working towards a renewal of Europe.
With his lute, Andreas Düker introduced us to the music of the Landgrave
Maurice of Hesse-Kassel, known as Maurice the Learned. Threatened by the inquisition, the landgraves used to help and
heal people secretly and free of charge
I was also very interested in Lessing’s
“Education of the Human Race” which we
discussed in the study group with Peter
Guttenhöfer. We were asked to look primarily at the method. Like the Jews in Lessing’s work I looked at what happened and
could therefore accept the situation as it
is; without evaluating it but by observing
it in a way that allowed for an impulse to
arise from it for future actions; for a more
conscious life; conscious decisions. Can we
look at history in this way? As events that
are necessary for future development?
Putting knowledge into practice
Spiritual wisdom: Three flowers grow from the ouroboros (the tail-devourer, the snake that eats its
own tail): framed by the red gold and white silver,
the blue flower of wisdom, Novalis’ “Blue Flower”.
and supported learning and research.
Maurice the Learned, at whose court the
“Fama” was printed in 1614 and the “Confessio” in 1615, had a herb garden that
was used to prepare medicines which his
wife distributed among the poor.
History as a force that inspires impulses
We know from Rudolf Steiner that, in
the early seventeenth century, Christian
Rosenkreutz was with Buddha in the spiritual world. It was at his request that Buddha embarked on his peace-making mission on Mars in 1604. The publication of
the “Fama”, which aimed at the “general
reformation of the whole wide world”, i.e.
the restructuring of Europe, was meant to
prevent what did, however, come into the
world after all with the Thirty Years’ War.
Rudolf Steiner had a similar mission before World War I with his presentation on
Christ’s appearance in the etheric and the
life of Jesus up to the Baptism in the river
Jordan. The publication of the calendar
of 1912/1913 was also related with this
mission. The disastrous First World War
could not be prevented. The aim is clear
when it comes to our own independent
endeavours.
In the plenum I realized how necessary
it is for some individuals to take initiative
and to apply and live their knowledge.
Eminent personalities from education
and science spoke about their paths, as did
idealistic young individuals who wished to
pursue the Rosicrucian goal. Peter Guttenhöfer and Manfred Schulze spoke about
prototypes of educational landscapes,
of farms as places of living and learning. Questions were asked as to how this
could be achieved: how can the execution of a profession be healing and how
can it be practised for free (for instance
by introducing the unconditional basic income)? Where are new places of learning
founded? When can young people take
part in ritual acts (such as the making
and spreading of preparations)? How can
people be found who are willing to apply
in practice the ideas and suggestions we
heard about? We were asked where these
new impulses can be experienced today.
In Weimar for instance there is a CSA network and a group of people look for new
ways in Waldorf education (Independent
Kindergarten Weimar Ehringsdorf).
In her lecture on the meaning of esoteric Rosicrucianism for the 21st century
Virginia Sease spoke of overcoming maya
by looking after our thinking life and by cultivating eurythmy and artistic speech since
they further the reception of what radiates
out from the ether body of Christian Rosenkreutz. At the end of her concluding lecture
on the collaboration of Rudolf Steiner and
Christian Rosenkreutz, Virginia Sease spoke
the moving words from the Lecture of 27
September 1911 in Neuchatel, “By being an
instrument of Christian Rosenkreutz you
can be assured that the smallest work you
do in your soul will last for eternity.”| Juliane
Pohle, Weimar (DE)
Anthroposophy Worldwide No. 5/14 | 11
■ Anthroposophy Worldwide
Russia: The ISIS Foundation and its cultural activities
With modest means
The ISIS Foundation is dedicated to promoting and supporting anthroposophical
initiatives in Russia. It was started in 1988 by Monica Gold, a Vancouver anthroposophist and art therapist. Especially now that funds from European countries have been
reduced, the work that ISIS does for schools, kindergartens and centres for disabled
people is particularly important, even if it is done with the most modest means.
D
uring an anthroposophical gathering
in Ann Arbor in 2008, I met with Mary
Lee Plumb-Mentjes, then a resident of
Alaska, and with Galina Fin of Toronto. The
three of us agreed that we would work together to ensure the continuing existence
of this Foundation. Since 2009 we have
travelled three times to Russia, visiting
multiple locations: Siberia (Vladivostok),
Irkutsk, and Talovka, in the Buriatia region
east of Lake Baikal. In each of these places
we offered mini conferences on anthroposophy and Waldorf education.
Fighting for independence
During our stay in Kirov, in August of
2013, Slava, our host, took us to Slobodskoï, a small town on the edge of the Vyatka. The city is known for its expertise in
leatherworks and furs. During our visit,
Slava showed us photographs dating from
the beginning of the twentieth century,
depicting the family of the owners of a
large boot-making factory. With the outbreak of the 1917 revolution the owners
were forced to flee. One day, Slava’s grandparents took in a nun who had no place
to live following the destruction of her
convent. During those years of hardship,
Slava’s grandmother was accused of having traded bread coupons and was sent to
the gulag, from which she was never to
return. The nun took on the task of raising
little Victor (Slava’s father). She continued
to say her prayers in secret since religion
was forbidden and under communist rule
it was quite dangerous for anyone to be
known as a practising Christian.
Victor’s father, Slava’s grandfather,
was killed in the war. His maternal grandfather was severely injured in the battle
of Stalingrad (1942-1943) and had to be
hospitalized for several years. He wrote to
the members of his family, but the letters
never reached them. He remarried, believing that his wife had died. But then, due to
a set of quite remarkable circumstances,
they discovered they were both still alive.
However, the grandfather made the de-
cision to continue living with his second
wife. Today, Slava is a prosperous business
owner, and his wife runs a new Waldorf
kindergarten. Near Lake Baikal there are
three anthroposophically-inspired centres for the disabled. These initiatives are
often founded and carried by parents who
have disabled children themselves. And
their work is beginning to be acknowledged in this country where the intellectually disabled are not considered to be
fully human. Indeed, the government is
starting to recognize that these institutions obtain tangible results and there
is still much work to be done to increase
public awareness of the benefits of this
educational work.
Waldorf Schools
In Irkutsk, in Siberia, a well-established,
government-supported Waldorf school
offers classes through grade 12, but government support does not come without
restrictions. For example, during our 2009
visit several inspectors had come by the
school, requiring, among other things,
that the walls be repainted since they considered the colours too bold. The school’s
permit renewal depended on this change
being made. It is worth mentioning here
that this school had received assistance
from several Swiss teachers.
In Kirov, the school called Our School
(Nasha Skolje) was founded in the early
1980s and is struggling to remain independent. It is a private school that requires heavy sacrifices on the part of both
teachers and parents to be able to survive.
In Yekaterinburg, in the Urals, in spite
of the presence of an active anthroposophical group and an institution for the
disabled, none of the attempts to found
a school have met with success. It is in
this city that the Bolsheviks assassinated
the Czar and his family in 1918At a distance of several kilometres from the city
itself, at the site of the quarry where the
victims’ remains were buried, an religious complex consisting of chapels and
a training seminary for orthodox priests
has been erected with funds donated by
Russian billionaires. Portraits of the imperial family adorn the chapel façades, since
the members of the Czar’s family have
been declared saints and are the object of
great devotion. That being said, anthroposophy and Russian orthodoxy do not always live harmoniously side by side. One
kindergarten teacher admitted to having
been threatened with exclusion from the
church if she did not give up anthroposophy. And so, she does as do many other
Russian anthroposophists: she remains
orthodox but in her own individual way!
In each location we visited we met individuals who shared a keen interest in
Waldorf education and anthroposophy.
Their openness to what we were offering was evident; parents, educators and
friends of anthroposophy participated in
our workshops with great enthusiasm,
and everywhere we were deeply touched
by the warmth and unlimited generosity
of the people we met.
The growing divide between rich and
poor
The Russian people’s remarkable
strength lies in their sense of community
and their fundamental ability to work
together towards a common goal. This is
something we were able to observe in all
the groups we met. Although living standards have improved since the end of the
communist regime, the gap between rich
and poor has considerably widened. Business tycoons, political leaders and heads
of church continue to work hand in hand
to retain control over the country’s wealth
and power.
Yet we must recognize the fact that
President Vladimir Putin recently acknowledged the relevance of the Waldorf
approach in education during a visit to a
Moscow school. Although after the fall of
the Berlin wall several European countries
gave financial support to anthroposophical initiatives in Russia, this financial aid
has since been curtailed. ISIS is committed
to continue to support local initiatives in
that country, though its means are modest. | Arie van Ameringen, Renée Cossette,
Dunham (CA)
Contact: [email protected],
[email protected]
12 | Anthroposophy Worldwide No. 5/14
■ Anthroposophy Worldwide
India: Review of the year 2013/2014
Continual growth
The anthroposophical movement in India is growing every year and it is mostly active
in the fields of Waldorf education, curative education and social therapy, biodynamic
farming and Anthroposophic Medicine. The training centres are mostly run by lecturers from India, but also from other countries.
a good foundation for anthroposophy,
Waldorf education and eurythmy. Then
at Christmas time, we have the one-week
‘Humanising Education’ course, this year
in Mumbai. These Waldorf teacher training courses have faculty members from
India and abroad.
Curative Education and Social Therapy
Kulturaustausch: Lichteurythmieensemble Arlesehim an der Heritage School Kolkata (Januar 2014)
T
he number of members of the Anthroposophical Society in India (ASI)
is steadily increasing. It has now 73
members. In addition to the three existing branches in Hyderabad, Secunderabad and Mumbai, there are regular
study groups in Chennai, Bangalore, Coimbatore, Pune, Kolkata and New Delhi.
Hans van Florenstein Mulder continues to
hold Class Lessons twice a year in Hyderabad and in Mumbai. Beginning with this
year, there will be three local Class Readers
too: Nirmala Diaz and Swapna Narendra
in Hyderabad, and Aban Bana in Mumbai.
The total number of Class members in India is now thirty eight.
In October 2013, there was an All India Festival of Anthroposophy, with the
theme “The Healing Impulse of Anthroposophy”, organised by the ASI and hosted by Sloka Waldorf School in Hyderabad.
(Anthroposophy Worldwide 12/2013)
Waldorf Education
From all the different fields of Anthroposophical activity in India, the Waldorf
School movement is the best-known. On
account of the very intellectual and stressridden conventional school education
system that prevails in our country, an increasing number of parents and teachers
are opting for Waldorf Education. A total
of nine Waldorf or Steiner schools have
been established in some of the major
cities in India. This is in addition to many
Waldorf-inspired or oriented schools,
some of which are in rural settings.
Waldorf pupils generally get good results in their board exams and are well
prepared to face the challenges of a competitive world once they leave school. The
Indian representative in the International
Forum of Waldorf Schools (Hague Circle)
is Jyotsna Patnaik from Sloka Waldorf
School.
Waldorf kindergartens have gained in
popularity. There are now twenty in all,
and the number is growing. Sucheta Garud, the representative and coordinator
of the Waldorf Kindergartens in India has
established the Sadhana Indian Waldorf
Kindergarten Association (SIWKA), with
the support of the executive members of
the International Waldorf Kindergarten
Association, IASWECE.
Mos Waldorf schools in India run their
own teacher training courses throughout
the year, as there is a real need for welltrained Waldorf teachers. The residential
Waldorf Education Seminar, which I have
been conducting each year in the month
of May in Khandala since 1999, provides
The need for well-trained teachers
who can work with children and adults
with special needs is increasing. For that
reason, Francis and Anantha Aradhya of
Friends of Camphill India have provided
regular training in this field at the Camphill Village in Bangalore. Dr Vasudha
Prakash of V-Excel in Chennai, who works
mainly with children in their day schools,
together with her excellent team of teachers, also has on-going courses.
India has about fifteen centres for
anthroposophical curative education for
children and adults with special needs.
Earlier, the joint family system managed
to take care of people with special needs
within the household, but now with the
ever growing nuclear families this facility
is decreasing. A plan is underway to establish an association for anthroposophical curative education and social therapy
in India.
Biodynamic agriculture
Biodynamic agriculture has spread to
many parts of India. Thousands of farmers are making use of this unique form of
agriculture with amazing results, both for
the crops and for the wellbeing of mother earth, whom we all revere so deeply.
Many of the farmers are also involved in
seed production, which will lead up to a
seed company in India. Peter Proctor from
New Zealand, who was instrumental in
bringing Biodynamics to India in 1994,
was recently back at the BD conference at
Sarvdaman Patel’s farm in Anand, Gujarat.
The Biodynamic Association of India
provides a twice yearly, two-week basic BD
training at a farm near Kodaikanal in Tamil
Nadu. Since July 2012 there is a School of
Bio Dynamic Farming, also called the Community College, which was founded by
Jakes Jayakaran and his team. Here young
people from rural backgrounds are provided free BD training for two years. The
present batch has seven students; the
next one is expected to have fourteen.
Jakes is also invited to other Asian coun-
Anthroposophy Worldwide No. 5/14 | 13
■ Anthroposophy Worldwide
tries to teach BD farming to farmers there.
China: University establishes Waldorf Teacher College
Anthroposophic Medicine
Three affirmative hammer blows
Each year Dr Michaela Glöckler comes
to India to conduct the one week IPMT,
which began in February 2004. This year it
was in Coimbatore. The training is mainly
for doctors, therapists, psychologists and
art therapists who are working within the
anthroposophical movement. The faculty
members at the IPMT are from India and
abroad. Eurythmy is an integral part of
this course. In the meantime the IPMT has
extended its task by providing training in
anthroposophical psychology, curative
education and social therapy and community building.
Dilnawaz and I were invited to Thailand
for the IPMT by Dr Michaela Glöckler.
In June 2013 Dr Veera Panch opened
her clinic Malli Mandala in Chennai (Anthroposophy Worldwide 7-8/2013). The
Anthroposophic Medical Association
(AMS) India Chapter has been formed,
with Dr Swapna Narendra as its convener.
Eurythmy
Dilnawaz Bana and I continue teaching
Eurythmy as a regular course for teachers
and committed people at Tridha Rudolf
Steiner School in Mumbai. This course is
conducted twice a year, with two weeks
in each module, where the fundamentals
of Speech and Music Eurythmy are taught.
The eleven-member Light Eurythmy
Ensemble from Dornach, Switzerland,
was in India for over two weeks and performed in four major cities (Anthroposophy Worldwide 3/2014.
Passed away
Two dear friends of India, Peter Glasby
from Australia and Ulrich Roesch from Germany, recently passed over the threshold.
They both were deeply connected to India.
Anthroposophy in India
Herewith I would like to end my report by thanking our revered teacher and
bringer of light, Dr Rudolf Steiner, who
has given us all a new meaning in life, and
without whom all these initiatives would
never have been possible. | Aban Bana,
Mumbai (IN)
Hinweis: Anthroposophie-Festival in Indien
‹Mysterium des Ätherischen›, 31. Oktober
bis 2. November 2014, Bangalore.
With a festive celebration on 18 March 2014, the University of Modern Administration
in Beijing, one of the first independent universities in post-revolutionary China, has introduced its Waldorf Teacher College in Beijing, Chenzhigu (Springvale), to the public.
As head of department, Yu Ningyuan received an official certificate of employment.
A
ban Bana is the country representative for India. The opening address
was given by Professor Dr Yang Dongping
of the Beijing Institute of Technology, director of the national organization ‘Education in the 21st Century’, a body that
is actively involved in educational legislation in China. Yang is the most important
advocate of an independent educational
system in China and co-editor of the Chinese year-book on the development of the
education system. He is well known from
his appearance in Erwin Wagenhofer’s
film ‘Alphabet’.
In his congratulatory address Marcus
Bleinroth, as the representative of the
Press and Information Office of the German Embassy in Beijing, underlined the
special role Waldorf Education has to play
on China’s path towards a knowledge
society and he took the opportunity to
mention that the children of two German
Federal Chancellors, Helmut Kohl and
Gerhard Schröder, had attended Waldorf
schools.
The entrepreneur Li Jian from Guangzhou (Lithium Force, electric cars) spoke
about the importance of this foundation for the development of the Chinese
economy. He described the close affinity
between successful Japanese management methods and Waldorf education,
using the example of the high value both
of them place on sensory experiences.
The beginning of a civilization of love
Yu Ningyuan gave an account of how
Rudolf Steiner founded Waldorf Education for the children of workers. He particularly stressed the devotion to the earth
as the beginning of a future civilization
of love. Martin Barkhoff spoke of Waldorf
Education in connection with other global
movements that go back to Rudolf Steiner,
referring to their strong emphasis on individualism. The examples he used were
Ibrahim Abouleish, Reijo Wilenius and Tho
Ha Vinh. After the unveiling of the college plaque, the founding verse from the
Foundation Stone Meditation was spoken
The founder of the Springvale Centre for Waldorf Education and head of the newly founded
College: Yu Ningyuan
in Chinese, followed by three affirmative
hammer blows.
The University of Modern Administration is located to the southwest of Beijing.
At present it has 4000 students with plans
to expand it to accommodate 7000 students in the future. Most courses at the,
by now, 24 colleges are business and management studies, but there are also courses in art, applied sciences, education and
nursing. The Waldorf teacher training will
initially remain at the Springvale campus
near Phoenix Mountain to the northwest
of Beijing, but from the autumn of 2016
school leavers will be able to take up their
studies also on the University campus.
The Springvale Centre is one of twelve
Waldorf-oriented training initiatives in
China that work together within the China
Waldorf Forum (CWF). Academic courses
in Waldorf education have been offered
since the year 2000 at the Sichuan Normal University in Chengdu, the city with
the first Waldorf School in China. | Martin
Barkhoff, Berlin (DE)
14 | Anthroposophy Worldwide No. 1/14
■ Forum
The exhibition “Rudolf Steiner. Alchemy of the Everyday”
T
he major exhibition “Rudolf Steiner. Alchemy of
the Everyday” in Espoo (FI)
includes an information panel
with the title “Colour Theory”.
At the end of the description
it says, “While Steiner himself
often used strong nuances
and contrasting colours, the
soft transitions in today’s
‘typical’ anthroposophical
paintings – most of them are
water colours – have become
something of a cliché.” As a
journalist, art teacher and
artist I ask myself how such a
sentence comes to be there.
[…] The exhibition refers to
the Colour Theory of the theosophists Annie Besant and
Charles Leadbeater in the book
“Thought Forms”. The focus,
also in a visual sense, should
have been on Goethe’s Theory
of Colour, which forms the basis for art teaching at Waldorf
Schools.
How can the people visiting the exhibition understand
that the thoughts Steiner
developed with regard to the
importance of colours were
totally different from those of
the theosophists? And why is
the question of light and dark
not mentioned seeing that
it is central to Steiner’s approach to art? […] The exhibition ignores Steiner’s painting
sketches, his numerous lectures on colour and his whole
painting impulse that deals
with the essence of colour.
Thousands of people all over
the world have deepened and
developed this painting impulse – as artists, teachers and
therapists. It is annoying and
disconcerting that the Goetheanum does invite certain
painters to Dornach so that
they can exhibit their work for
their own circle. What is the
meaning of this, seeing that
they are hidden away when it
■ Membership
comes to such an international
exhibition? Why is this so? The
arrogant comment that their
work has become something
of a cliché is not only insulting,
but it is born either from malicious intentions or blindness,
especially if one bears in mind
that an increasing number of
‘general’ artists ‘steal’ these
‘soft’ colour moods for their
own oil paintings. […] | Marita
Karlsson, Ekenäs (FI)
To the article “Liberating
Roots” in Anthroposophy Worldwide 4/2014
A
few interesting, accurate
questions are being raised,
except for the one […]: what
is this activity with which one
gets to know the ‘I’? We find
the answer to this question
in the work of Rudolf Steiner,
not least in his epistemological works “Truth and Knowledge” and “The Philosophy
of Freedom”. But it is often
overlooked or not understood
in the right way. This is also
apparent in the work of Mieke
Mosmüller who quoted Rudolf Steiner in this context.
In wholly practical terms she
described […] the way […] in
which the answer to the main
question can be found. In one
of her last books, Die Kategorien des Aristoteles. Die Buchstaben des Weltenwortes,
she described the thirteenth
category as the living experience of “The ‘I’ knows itself”,
an experience that each of us
ultimately has to have for himor herself. To achieve this we
need to be prepared to firmly
stride on the path of thinking
about thinking and beyond.
Only then can the (world)
questions be truly answered
out of the moral intuition that
has been comprehended. Von
Plato is right in saying that
“The ‘I’ knows itself” provides
the identity of anthroposophy.
“The ‘I’ knows itself” is the
central statement in Rudolf
Steiner’s work. It is anthroposophy and the word of Christ.
| Mariette van Rees Vellinga,
Zeist (NL)
Celebrating her 100th birthday
Eva Lunde
On 12 April 2014 the Norwegian eurythmist Eva Lunde
celebrated her one hundredth
birthday.
Eva Lunde was born into
a large family in Lillehammer
as the seventh of ten children. She was only 15 years
old when she was sent to the
Friedwart Schule in Dornach.
Four years later she entered
the eurythmy school. Once
she had finished her training
she stayed in Dornach for a
while, where she became actively involved in stage work.
This included performances
of Faust, where she was fortunate enough to work under
the direction of Marie Steiner.
For Eva Lunde eurythmy was
intimately connected with
poetry and she found that the
poems of the Norwegian poets, such as Henrik Ibsen, were
a good foundation for the
art of eurythmy, as were the
Norwegian folktales. Working
eurythmy into the Norwegian
language grew to be an important task for Eva Lunde.
During World War II Eva
Lunde lived in Sweden and
worked at a curative home
in Järna. Before the war she
had participated – with Elena
Zuccoli – in the first eurythmy
performance at the Mikael-
Anthroposophy Worldwide No. 1/14 | 15
■ Menbership News
We have been informed that the following 63 members have crossed the threshold of death. In their remembrance we are
providing this information for their friends. | The Membership Office at the Goetheanum
Dorothea Pucher
Boll-Eckwälden (DE)
27 January 2013
Ingeborg Grimm
Ammerbuch (DE)
22 April 2013
Rolf Hamann
Aichwald (DE)
12 July 2013
Monica Grudin
Rosendale/NY (US)
29 September 2013
Lászlóné Illyés
Budapest (HU)
3 October 2013
Louise Ameling
Amsterdam (NL)
21 October 2013
Siegfried Freund
Stuttgart (DE)
18 November 2013
Elisabeth Röschenthaler Bad Liebenzell (DE)
23 November 2013
Annelies Gentsch
Murrhardt (DE)
26 November 2013
Paul Stanjer
Enfield (GB) 29 November 2013
Harry Kretz
Ghent/NY (US)
5 December 2013
Joan Nielsen
Kopenhagen (DK)
11 December 2013
Anneliese Krämer
Ludwigshafen (DE)
1 January 2014
Maria Linnemann
Winnipeg (CA)
4 January 2014
Wolfgang Dopp
Heidelberg (DE)
12 January 2014
Gertrud Heintz
Bad Dürkheim (DE)
12 January 2014
Friedrich Claren
Kandern-Riedlingen (DE) 15 January 2014
Eva Maria Gorecki
Aachen (DE)
19 January 2014
Wolfgang Pritzkat
Hamburg (DE)
20 January 2014
Ingeborg Göldner
Erlangen (DE)
26 January 2014
Helga Rothenbücher
Hamburg (DE)
26 January 2014
Pieter van der Meulen Zeist (NL)
28 January 2014
Maria van Beuningen Hattem (NL)
29 January 2014
Renate Kretschmer
Frankfurt a. M. (DE)
31 January 2014
Wolfgang König
Gernsbach (DE)
2 February 2014
Friederieke Woudenberg Nieuwerkerk (NL)
3 February 2014
Marianne van der Heide Amsterdam (NL)
5 February 2014
Manfred Bauer
Heidenheim (DE)
6 February 2014
Alfred Hercigonja
Winkel bei Bülach (CH)
8 February 2014
Geertruida Cleveringa Zutphen (NL)
9 February 2014
Martine van Bezeij
Den Haag (NL)
10 February 2014
Armin Scholter
Stuttgart (DE)
10 February 2014
Achim Noschka
Ober-Olm (DE)
12 February 2014
Zeline Smith
East Grinstead (GB)
13 February 2014
Peter Denzler
Kollbrunn (CH)
14 February 2014
Julie Betz
Stuttgart (DE)
16 February 2014
Brigitta Huth
Wiesbaden (DE)
20 February 2014
Gertrud Kaufmann
Frankfurt a. M. (DE)
20 February 2014
Jenny Stockwell
Hellingly (GB)
20 February 2014
Alison Rose
Dipford (GB)
28 February 2014
John Antwis
Poole (GB)
in February 2014
Lydia Schäfer
Walkringen (CH)
1 March 2014
Eva List
Dornach (CH)
4 March 2014
Jürgen Pfestorf
Ahrensburg (DE)
5 March 2014
Hedwig Piringer
Gmunden (AT)
7 March 2014
Max Niederer
Engelburg (CH)
11 March 2014
Baruch Urieli
Callan (IE)
11 March 2014
Sigrid Perol
Stuttgart (DE)
14 March 2014
Siegfried Woitinas
Stuttgart (DE)
14 March 2014
Annelies Ritter
Aarwangen (CH)
16 March 2014
Else Scheuthle
Niefern-Öschelbronn (DE) 17 March 2014
Wilm Brandes
Freiburg (DE)
18 March 2014
Barbara Friedrich
Stuttgart (DE)
19 March 2014
Eric Arlin
Bois-le-Roi (FR)
21 March 2014
Karla Kiniger
Edinburgh (GB)
21 March 2014
Johannes Kehrer
Engelsbrand (DE)
22 March 2014
Gisela Stockmar
Ahrensburg (DE)
22 March 2014
Brigitte Petersen
München (DE)
24 March 2014
Elisabeth Schneider-von Maltzahn Dornach (CH) 28 March 2014
Michael Engel
Newham-on-Severn (GB) 30 March 2014
Heidrun Trommler
Uttenreuth (DE)
31 March 2014
Martina Mann
East Troy/WI (US)
1 April 2014
Martha Reichen
Oberwil (CH)
1 April 2014
From 11 March to 7 April 2014 the General Anthroposophical Society welcomed 83 new members and noted 34 resignations.
gården in Järna. In the autumn
of 1946 she started work as
a eurythmy teacher at the
Rudolf Steiner School in Oslo,
giving courses for adults after
school. With the eurythmist
Meta Aukrust and some amateurs she organized a number
of eurythmy performances.
She also taught at several
mainstream schools where
she was even offered a job as
eurythmist. This she had to
decline, however, due to her
other duties. Speech eurythmy
became Eva Lunde’s main
mission. She had a particular
love of alliteration and she
wrote a book on the subject
which was translated into
German. Actors from Dornach
would come to Oslo from time
to time and work on Rudolf
Steiner’s Mystery Dramas
with a group of amateur actors. Eva Lunde used to play
the role of Maria. Ruth Unger
continued this work for many
years. In her later years, Eva
Lunde worked as a eurythmy
therapist. Another example of
her versatility is her involve-
ment through many years in
the puppet shows that were
performed at the school’s annual Christmas Fair.
After her retirement, Eva
Lunde founded the Norwegian
College for Eurythmy with Jürgen Kraft. A few years later,
Margrethe and Trond Solstad arrived and took on the
direction of the training and
much of the teaching, but Eva
Lunde continued to give lessons, especially in alliteration.
Her interest and insight into
alliteration and in the Edda
meant that she was a soughtafter teacher of European
stage groups and eurythmy
schools. We congratulate Eva
Lunde on her birthday and
express our deep gratitude
for the great and important
work that she has done for
pedagogical as well as artistic
eurythmy. She spent the day
surrounded by friends and
family.| Nora Aanonsen, Oslo
(NO) and Sølvi Sørum (NO)
16 | Anthroposophy Worldwide No. 5/14
■ Feature
Ninety years Eurythmeum in Stuttgart
Strength and inspiration for the art of eurythmy
Ninety years ago Rudolf and Marie Steiner’s impulse to create a place for eurythmy in
a major city fell on fertile ground. In 1924 the Eurythmeum was established in Stuttgart, close to the first Waldorf School, in a generous wooden building where the first
eurythmists were trained by Alice Fels.
E
lse Klink – no other name is so intimately linked with the Eurythmeum! Under
her leadership the Eurythmeum grew to
be quite a special place: countless students came here from all over the world.
Its stage ensemble not only came to be an
important part of this city’s cultural life, it
also went on to gain international fame.
In the 1970s and 1980s the ensemble
performed to full houses when they took
programmes such as “Peer Gynt” on tour.
But it was not always like this. From
1930 to 1935 the school had to close until
Else Klink and Otto Wiemer awakened it to
new life despite the Great Depression and
the rise of the Nazi Regime. First, Else Klink
managed to bravely stand up to the dictatorship but in 1941 the Eurythmeum was
closed down by the Gestapo. After the war
a new beginning was attempted in Köngen with the support of Martha and Emil
Kühn. There, the training first took place in
wooden compounds because the building
in Stuttgart had been destroyed in the war.
But the students were not discouraged by
that and ever greater numbers of them
continued to flock to Stuttgart. In 1959, the
Eurythmeum Association was founded, an
undertaking that Theodor and Erika Beltle
and many faithful friends supported with
great devotion. In 1964 the Eurythmeum
moved into its new building next to Rudolf
Steiner House in Stuttgart.
A difficult legacy
In 1986, Else Klink received the German Order of Merit (Bundesverdienstkreuz) in recognition of her achievements.
Thanks to a connection with the Theatre
of Friendship of Nations the ensemble
was able to tour Russia and Siberia with
Alfred Schnittke’s “Concerto for piano
and strings” in the early 1990s. This was
Else Klink’s last major choreography and
her foray into modern music. In 1991 she
handed over the direction to the close
circle of her students. When she died in
1994, she left behind a great but difficult
legacy. An era had come to an end and a
new beginning needed to be made.
Aus einem Programm des Eurythmeum
The late 1990s were a time when new
ways were sought in the world of eurythmy. The concept of an avant-garde
emerged, with hot arguments flaring up
when it came to the question of what still
deserved to be called eurythmy. There
were a great number of independent eurythmy groups and soon the oversaturation and tiring of the audiences began to
manifest in declining numbers.
Student numbers also dropped in all
training centres. However, thanks to the
help of faithful supporters the Eurythmeum was able to continue its tours.
But the awakening, when it finally came,
was bitter. During the crisis that followed
it looked as if the entire stage ensemble
would have to be dissolved due to lack of
funding. Again, the support from friends
meant that this could be avoided at the
very last minute.
Re-orientation without dogmas
The time had come to look back to the
sources as well as towards the future, to
go on with research and to keep the art of
eurythmy alive but free from any dogmas
and ready-made recipes. It was necessary to find eurythmy out of the middle,
to consciously take hold of it in an artistic
as well as social process. Benedikt Zweifel took on this task when he became the
leader of Else Klink Ensemble which was
founded in 1994. This new inner attitude
and search meant that it was possible for
Carina Schmidt and Benedikt Zweifel to
bring about a happy and meaningful cooperation between the Eurythmeum and
the Goetheanum. The impulse to bring
eurythmy to big stages and to perform
to large audiences found its realization
in the three productions of “Symphony
Eurythmy” with the Gnessin Virtuosi Orchestra from Moscow. In recent years the
ensemble has focused on modern poets
and contemporary composers. Their cooperation resulted in productions that
were choreographed by the younger generation. A new era dawned with a new
style of working.
But the Eurythmeum also re-invented
itself inwardly. In the mid-1990s Michael
Leber had introduced the ‘Märchenbühne’
which began to play a major part in the
three-year stage training of young eurythmists. The stage students who work under
their own direction shape the profile of
the Eurythmeum in important ways. They
achieve over a hundred performances per
year, in Germany and abroad, taking their
tours as far as China.
Interest from all over the world
Innovative steps have also been taken
in training in recent years. Through cooperation with the Waldorf Teacher training
in Stuttgart (Freie Hochschule) it was possible to bring the eurythmy training up to
modern standards without losing any of
its substance. Students leave after four
years of training with a Bachelor degree
that includes a basic teaching qualification and they have the possibility to continue to study towards an MA in eurythmy
teaching. This development as a whole
has certainly played a part in making sure
that the popularity of the Eurythmeum as
a place of study and as a stage ensemble
continues to grow. Many young people
from all over the world arrive with the
impulse of choosing eurythmy as an inner
and outer path in life, maybe driven by the
many existential questions that observers
who are alert to the situation of our time
cannot ignore. These young people are our
greatest gift and our greatest challenge.
They give us strength and inspiration for
the tasks and questions that arise daily in
our struggle to keep the art of eurythmy
alive.| Antonia Neveu, Stuttgart (DE)
www.eurythmeumstuttgart.de

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