The Rudolf Steiner Archive

9. The Relationship of the Germanic Peoples to Christianity

[ 1 ] The courses [traced] a long path of historical development. [I] have attempted to depict the course of human development from a historical phenomenon that we have been tracing up to the point known as the Middle Ages; a succession of peoples with their own state institutions has come and gone, and we will pick up where circumstances are entirely different.

[ 2 ] [The] transition from the Roman Empire to the Middle Ages is one of the most significant transitions in the world. Therefore, [let us] once again review the pinnacles of this development. We have discussed the magnificent Indian culture, whose historical significance is well attested by writings and documents that leave Europeans in awe. — Once we have realized that this is a people of contemplation and deep inner life, other interesting aspects of other peoples are revealed to us. In Egypt [we see] an empire of a different character, whose culture also inspires admiration—one that achieved the unbelievable in mathematics and technology—engineering of magnificent sophistication and based on different principles [we see in the structures of] Lake Moeris, which held back Egypt’s waters to irrigate the land at certain points and make it fertile. Today, everything must be calculated down to the last detail; back then, it was based on intuition, on immediate insight—let us recall the beaver’s dam, which is built at [the] angle that the engineer would have to acknowledge as the best. This instinct [had] developed into what we call intuition. Human development, therefore, does not mean that [we] have evolved from a primitive state; rather, when we achieve something new, we lose something that was once superior.

[ 3 ] Let us turn to Babylonia and Assyria. Much of what this people also knew has been lost to us, despite our geometry. We must no longer cling to the notion of a straight, upward progression. — Then we came to the Persian people with their remarkable culture; if we recall how a young Persian was raised, we will be able to assess the different picture the world might have had. Speaking the truth. This was symptomatic of the innermost essence of this people. For the Persians, a person was considered inwardly steadfast if they were at one with the words that flowed from them. What later became law—“Yes, yes—No, no” (Mt 5:37)—[that] was their upbringing.

[ 4 ] A belt begins in Persia and, spreading across all of Europe, encompasses the peoples from whom Roman-Greek culture emerged. — While art and profound ideas were developing in Greece and on the Italian peninsula—where what we call the Roman citizen lived—various peoples were living in northern Europe. For Rome, this meant the Nordic specter, the Cimbri terror; in Italy, something was emerging in the development of humanity that had never existed before: the distinction between [Romans and Greeks] — to call it, quite simply, “citizenship,” which elevates personal competence to its highest peak. This is a new formation that we did not have before. We never had reason to look into the family in Greece—only the polis interested us—and thus what we today call “law,” which is essentially built upon family ties, developed only sparingly. — We have seen how, in ancient Rome, the state looked into the most intimate affairs of the people; the boy often could not read or write, but he knew the Twelve Tables. The Roman sense of dogmatization emerged from this; the immediate vitality that connected the Roman to his legal principles was lost and became abstract. This Roman legal system had spread throughout the entire world, but it had lost its vitality. — Officials, who were the heads of individual districts and dioceses, were the shadows, the shell of the former way of life, and Caesar was the abstract, rational synthesis of what had once lived in Roman hearts. We saw how Christian life poured into this shell, this bag, and how the vast Roman Empire ultimately had nothing left of what had originally constituted its greatness. — All cults—Greek, Phoenician, Egyptian—could be found there, and this entire chaos of peoples was held together by Roman laws grafted onto it from the outside. Only one thing united them, was evenly distributed … [gap] a proletariat suffering terribly under the pressure, and the fact that at the bottom lay those who were bound only by the bond of shared oppression and suffering meant that this Christianity spread with tremendous speed. For it is not concerned with differences, but with the unity of suffering … [gap] and so this living life, which came from the East, poured itself into this vessel.

[ 5 ] And that is why the Roman emperors used this to save ... [gap] but could not save them, because this people was standing at the gates.

[ 6 ] Let’s take a look at these peoples who possessed the strength—the vibrant life—of the Christians of that time.

[ 7 ] In ancient times, there lived ... [gap] peoples whose culture is almost impossible to imagine today. Only a few remnants have survived, as they shed their blood into later groups, in part into those such as [those in] the Balkans. — These ancient peoples—their culture is evident from various finds, such as trumpet-like instruments that produce a remarkable harmony. The art of metalworking and an understanding of the sound of instruments. Something of this was present in the peoples upon whom the external culture of the Roman Empire was built; there was something of it in ancient Etruscan culture—and then in northern regions, particularly in the areas along the Danube. The Celtic people—from this center, the entire cultural landscape of Europe was dominated; they possessed a high level of intellectual maturity, an Illyrian and musical disposition, energy, and a spirit of enterprise—in fact, a dynamic element in European culture. —A cultural catalyst that clings to its components but never became part of history. It had to be present; if it was not there, it did not remain, spreading across Spain and France. In northern Italy, there were always people with Celtic blood. What made the Romans great was their sense of individuality and their legal system based on agriculture—which others lacked—and poets like Man... came from the north, just as Horace came from the south, where the Greeks [were]—everything that is great, if not derived from law, comes from outside...

[ 8 ] The land the Romans conquered in Spain, Gaul, and elsewhere was shaped by a culture influenced by the Celts ... [gap] A culture that faded away because he had to be there in person; it was ingrained in their blood—this Celtic people, who had such a powerful impact ... [gap] has not died out, but its influence is felt not through tradition, but even today through its blood. For it can be proven that wherever significant cultural influences arose, they originated from those who had Celtic blood in their veins—Shakespeare, and, as can be proven, Robespierre... [gap]

[ 9 ] A force that always stirs people up and liberates them, and which played an important role at that time.

[ 10 ] A people that must have endured great hardships made its way into this land—we do not find them ... [gap] possessing such a high level of intellectual culture, but one that shows this people had developed character traits that distinguish them significantly from others. Europe has undergone many ice ages. Once there were hot, tropical periods there, then the great ice ages. Undoubtedly, the precursors of the Germanic peoples endured the last great ice ages, and under this influence, something emerged that is distinct in terms of skull structure ... [gap]

[ 11 ] They were a people of nature more so than the other European peoples. The Celts were active and energetic when they were personally involved, agitators in the finest sense, and therefore somewhat detached from nature—the Romans loved what nourished them and were deeply rooted in their agriculture. — The ancient Germanic people loved nature wherever they found it; they were wanderers who, as such, could take joy in nature. They loved nature, not a specific ancestral territory—[they were] intertwined with nature and [therefore] [had] a way of life that corresponded to it: living in village communities under communism, which could just as easily be broken up again. Livestock raising and hunting were the main occupations of the ancient Germanic peoples. This people pushed into the regions formerly inhabited by the Celts, settled in areas extending as far as Russia, and eventually fragmented into a myriad of tribes. Freedom was, in a certain sense, innate, but it depended on being defended with weapons. — Somewhere in the north, it is said, there was an island where a festival was celebrated every year, and a goddess would appear and be paraded before everyone. — This is how the connection with nature manifests itself. And we see how nature cults are established everywhere. Much is said about the sacred oak. But this was a misinterpretation of a word. The Celts, however, imparted their religion to the Germanic peoples, who were in harmony with nature. The druids were called “oaks.” The priest was revered. This shows what a driving force the Celtic people were. — When the Romans expanded their rule into Spain, they encountered a mixed population that was related to the Celts... [gap]. The Germanic peoples had settled in the heart of Europe. The Romans first encountered them in the regions of present-day Carinthia; Marius fought the Cimbri. — Then in France, and subsequently they invaded Italy—the Cimbri terror. They were joined by the Teutons, and clashes have been constant ever since. We see how they were repelled by the Cherusci prince Arminus.

[ 12 ] The Roman form of government had been fulfilled through Christianity, but the Roman Empire was incapable of spreading Christianity throughout the world as a people. Something else had to take root in what had become absorbed into the shell of Roman culture: the power of the people, which had an organizing effect.

[ 13 ] The task of truly establishing in Europe what the Romans had absorbed fell to the northern peoples, and initially it was once again the Celts. Thus we see the ancient cultures now stripped of their own sovereignty. The Roman form of government survives only in the rule of the Church, in the papacy. Into this political body flows the moral and ethical life of Christianity, the strength of the Nordic peoples—Rome provided the form. Celtic agitation carried life forward. Messengers came from England and Ireland. Thus, new peoples merge into the old. The legacy of what has emerged from the most diverse currents is still present, and when we understand how we have come to be, we understand how we must look toward the future. Only when we understand the context in which we live can we continue to build. In this way, we will understand how we have come to hold the views and acquire the material goods among which we live today—those that give rise to our joys and sorrows. Goethe said that the power ... [gap]

[ 14 ] Laws and rights are passed down through generations in a state of perpetual turmoil.

[ 15 ] When we consider what might be called the shadow ... [gap]

[ 16 ] Whatever you have inherited from your fathers, acquire it so that you may possess it.

[ 17 ] Let us change, and let history be our teacher.

[ 18 ] We must infuse our reflections on the present with what we have learned from the past. In this way, we become masters of our own history and learn from history how we should work toward the betterment of our people. Human beings are the only creatures who must shape their own destinies; therefore, they must understand them.

[ 19 ] Once we have acquired our ideals, we will ...

[ 20 ] [gap]

[ 21 ] Only those who must earn their freedom and their lives through daily learning deserve them.