The Rudolf Steiner Archive

On Natural Science in General. Mineralogy and Geology I

[Introduction to the readings, Volume 9, pp. 309-314:]

This ninth volume of scientific writings contains all of Goethe's works that are suitable for providing an outline of his geological ideas as a whole. Discussions of individual questions and investigations that deviate from the main path and lose themselves in side paths have been omitted here. They have been referred to in Volume 10. Volumes 9 and 10 relate to Goethe's geological works in the same way as volumes 6 and 7 relate to morphology. The material in this volume has been arranged in a way that best corresponds to Goethe's thinking. This thinking arose from the observation of empirical material, progressed to theoretical considerations about the formation of individual geological structures, and ultimately rose to a comprehensive view of the formation of the Earth and the world. These stages do not, of course, follow each other chronologically in Goethe's development, but his thoughts are arranged in the order and interdependence indicated above. Accordingly, the content of the volume is divided into three sections: the first, “On the Bohemian Mountains and those in other regions,” pp. 1-168; the second, “On the origin and significance of granite and other rocks,” pp. 169-225; and the third, “Geological theories,” pp. 229-306. The works on the geological conditions in Karlsbad, pp. 7-39, which were written during Goethe's stay in Karlsbad in 1807, are not those on which he based his views. He had been exploring Thuringia since the end of the 1870s. But Goethe's later views, as they appear to us today as a whole, were ultimately influenced by his experiences in Karlsbad. They form the empirical basis of Goethe's system of geology. That is why they are given priority here. Goethe's relationship with the Karlovy Vary stone cutter Müller, which was important for this work, is discussed in the essay written in 1832 (cf. readings on pp. 35-40): Further information about Joseph Müller and his collection. This man's collection forms the basis of the essay on pp. 7-34. Further information on this relationship can be found in Paralipomena I. The letter: To Mr. von Leonhard, pp. 41-51, is Goethe's letter to the editor of the geological pocketbook in which the former's essay was first published in Karlsbad. The letter belongs here because it is a continuation of the essay and also appeared in the pocketbook (1808). “Freimüthiges Bekenntniss” (Frank Confession) on p. 52 is a general marginal note on the content of pp. 1-51 and is best placed here. “Marienbad in general and with particular regard to geology” treats Marienbad in a similar way to pp. 7-34 Karlsbad. Goethe collected some of the material for this himself on his trip to Marienbad in 1821, and worked partly on the basis of information that had been given to him (cf. the relevant section in the Paralipomenis on this preliminary work). The “instructive catalog” on pp. 56-62 is apparently only a revision of a draft communicated to him by a friend, the deviations from which we indicate in the ‘readings’ on pp. 5662,16 (cf. below: “Manuscripts” p. 314). Both the essay on Karlsbad and the one on Marienbad are based on mineralogical and geological collections to which Goethe constantly refers (the appropriate numbering also applies to these collections) and which are available in the Goethe National Museum. pp. 73-75 follow on from the essay on Marienbad as a work on a special natural phenomenon occurring there. pp. 76-97 deal with a geological object that gave Goethe much to think about, the Kammerberg near Eger. The first essay (pp. 76-94) was written in 1808 during a longer stay in Franzensbrunn, when Goethe frequently visited the “problematic mountain” (cf. Tag- und Jahreshefte 1808). The second is an addition from 1822, written during the trip to Karlsbad, which passed through Eger (cf. Day and Year Books 1822). This is followed by the other works relating to Bohemia: pp. 98-99 on the “Horn,” which Goethe observed in 1820 (cf. Day and Year Books); pp. 100-103 on “Bohemian earth fires,” which are also based on investigations from 1820; p. 104 is a note written in 1823 on the previous page; pp. 105-111 “Journey to Pograd” are notes based on observations from the 1822 trip; pp. 112-116 “Der Wolfsberg” (The Wolfsberg) from 1823; pp. 117-123 follows on from the description of the trip to Pograd and was written in March 1824, based on a repeat of the same trip that took place in 1823, as can be seen from the date added in the manuscript; pp. 124-128 are remarks of a more general nature, the main ideas of which probably originated during the journey of 1813. A fascicle of sketches and letters has been preserved which contain the seeds of these ideas and are mostly dated from that year. The essay was written later, as the handwritten correspondence with Mawe in the archive, mentioned on p. 128, dates from 1817; pp. 129-135 are an addition to the report on Müller's collection and, as can be seen from the daily and annual notebooks, were written in 1820. pp. 139-168 contain descriptions of geological conditions outside Bohemia, namely 139-154 those of Goethe's 1813 trip to Zinnwalde and Altenberge, on which he gathered the empirical elements for his ideas about tin formation; pages 155-168 contain the diary of the Harz journey of 1784, which is one of Goethe's first significant geological records. However, these experiences had far less influence on the formation of his views than those in Bohemia, which is why they appear here after those. pp. 169-180 contain the works on granite that form the basis of Goethe's geological views and represent the transition from the collections of empirical material to ideas that provide an overview and explanation of the whole. pp. 171-177 is the treatise on granite that Goethe dictated on January 18, 1784. This is followed on pages 178-180 by a handwritten essay containing a further elaboration of the idea already expressed in the first treatise that granite is the basis of all geological formation and that all geological considerations must start from this rock. Other rocks are then discussed on pp. 183-195, following on from Karl Wilhelm Nose's work on “historical symbols relating to the genesis of basalt,” which Goethe worked on in 1820 (cf. Tag- und Jahreshefte); pp. 196-208, following on from Nöggerath's work on the basalt quarries on the Rhine from 1824. Both essays are significant for Goethe's position on the question of the origin of basalt, which, next to granite, is the most important rock for the development of his geological ideas; 209-213: Letter to Leonhard, who is also already concerned with basalt. Views on rock formations and formation conditions are then offered in the essays on pp. 214-225, prompted by the reading of contemporary geological writings. The third section on “geological theories” opens with a discussion of the Luisenburg (originating from the journey via Wunsiedel to Alexandersbad), which is of fundamental importance as a geological phenomenon. The consistent development of these simpler ideas then gave rise to the essay on pp. 232 to 240, which was written in 1824, but whose ideas go back much further (cf. letter to Leonhard dated March 9, 1814); these ideas are dealt with in even greater detail on pp. 241-252: “Mountain Formation as a Whole and in Detail” and 253-258: “Geological Problems and Attempts at Their Resolution”; finally, 259-267: “Various Confessions,” which were written in Goethe's last years and were only published in his posthumous writings. The latter essays already deal with questions of higher geology and concern themselves with the forces that were at work in the formation of the Earth. The sketch on pp. 268-279 is the outline for a treatise on the formation process of the Earth and the agents involved in it. It is included here in accordance with the principle expressed in the sixth volume of the scientific writings, namely to include unfinished works if they form a necessary link in Goethe's system of thought and the corresponding execution is not available. The sketch was first printed in Hempel's edition of Goethe (Volume 33, pp. CLXX ff.) based on the manuscript then in Loeper's possession, which is now in the Goethe Archive and also forms the basis of our reprint. In Hempel's edition, the sequence of the individual paragraphs of this sketch is different. The sequence we have given is not only justified by internal reasons—the factual sequence of thoughts—but also appears to be the correct one when considering the nature of the manuscript. The text was probably written around 1807, when Goethe was busy working on combining the individual ideas into a whole. The essay on pp. 280-287 follows on from this; it contains Goethe's comments on Hoff's work: “Geschichte der durch Überlieferung nachgewiesenen Veränderungen der Erdoberfläche” (History of the Changes to the Earth's Surface Proven by Tradition), which was published in 1822. It belongs here because Goethe's additions to Hoff's educational history of the Earth can also be considered as such in Goethe's own remarks in the preceding essay. The works on pp. 288, 289 f., 291-298, which are available in manuscript form in the archive, belong to the same series – preparatory sketches for a treatise in grand style on the “general history of nature.” (For the time of composition, cf. 290,14-295,18.) The essays on pp. 299-306, of which only those on pp. 302-306 are available in manuscript form, are to be regarded as a special section of these essays, which stand at the boundary between geology and cosmology. They are polemical writings against the extreme Vulcanists and are a necessary consequence of the grand picture of the process of the Earth's formation contained on pp. 268-279 and 296-298, with which they express the sum of the primordial phenomena that make up Goethe's geological system.

The necessity for a reorganisation dependent on the content of these works arose from the fact that, insofar as they are printed, they appeared in Goethe's journal “Zur Naturwissenschaft” in the order in which they happened to be written. This order, which for the most part does not correspond to the content, has been retained in the posthumous writings of the last works.

The editor of this volume is Rudolf Steiner; the division of the material was carried out in consultation with the editor Bernhard Suphan after thorough discussion.

[Selected texts in the readings:]

[p. 387) This essay also follows on from the previous one in the first issue of the second volume, “On Natural Science.” It is Goethe's response to reviews of his two volumes: “On Morphology” and “On Natural Science.” We do not separate the two essays in this volume either. They belong together in terms of content, because in both of them Goethe expresses his views on the peculiarity of the way of thinking that his position on the question of volcanism and Neptunism imposed on him.

[Preliminary remark on Goethe's text On Natural Science and Morphology: WA II 9, 300-301; LA 18, 355-356; GA 1b, 268-269. The previous essay On the Structure and Mode of Action of Volcanoes in Different Regions of the Earth is in WA II 9, 299-300; LA 18, 354; GA 1b, 268]

[p. 390] Paralipomena I. The following is a summary with critical comments by Goethe of the work by Carl Wilhelm Nose indicated below by title, which is also the subject of the treatise on p. 183 ff. [Karl Wilhelm Nose]. The passages he noted down are important for understanding Goethe's own views. They reveal what he considered to be consistent with the views of others.

[Preliminary remark on the following text by Goethe: WA II 9, 390-399; LA II 8B.1, 64-81 (M 39)]

[p. 405] C. The following is a preliminary sketch for 209-213 [To Mr. Leonhard]. It contains many more ideas than were later included in the finished essay.

[Preliminary remark on the following text by Goethe: WA IT 9, 406-408; LA 111, 128-130]