The Rudolf Steiner Archive

In the book Rudolf Steiner und die Zivilisationsaufgaben der Anthroposophie (Rudolf Steiner and the Tasks of Anthroposophy for Civilization),² published at Christmas, an attempt was made to depict through Rudolf Steiner's words and through his work in Spiritual Science how immense was the energy and how selfless the sacrifice of his endeavour to give to mankind the new spiritual impetus for which there is such dire need at this turning point of time. His influence on the public at large had reached its climax in 1922 when Wolff's concert agency³ had applied for the organization of his lectures within Germany and when even the largest auditorium in many towns was too small to contain the crowds wanting to attend. Köthener Strasse in Berlin, which leads to the philharmonic concert hall, had even had to be cordoned off by the police because the congestion was so great. People from all around stood there with their luggage, unable to enter. This externally visible success fanned the flames of the opposition's will for destruction. Circles connected with the Pan-German movement⁴ at that time had no scruples about instigating riots or indeed resorting to ambush or murder, as is shown in the cases of Erzberger,⁵ Rathenau⁶ and a good many others. Groups otherwise at loggerheads with each other joined forces in order to do away with a growing spiritual movement which appeared to threaten their own goals. So it was not difficult to stir up rowdy scenes. These were particularly violent on the occasion of Dr Steiner's lectures in Munich and Elberfeld.⁷ The Wolff Agency was confident that it possessed sufficient personnel to organize and implement, all the more energetically, the arrangements for the lectures, in which it had a financial interest. It considered itself capable of reconnoitring the situation beforehand and felt it could then take preventative measures sufficient to cope with any disturbances. However, after further investigation, it had to admit that the enemy organizations were so powerful that it would unfortunately not be possible to guarantee the safety of the lecturer or even to ensure the smooth running of the event. It advised cancellation. Thus Dr Steiner's public lecturing was cut short by force at the very moment when it was at its most effective. Feeble and insignificant, but all the more unscrupulous, General G von G⁸ now took the stage as a disseminator of propaganda. His hatred was inflamed by private family quarrels and personal intrigues. The hate campaign set in motion by the opposition from far and wide was at its height in 1922, the year which culminated in the burning of the Goetheanum, and in 1923.

Rudolf Steiner strove all the more strongly to imbue the Anthroposophical Society with its task for mankind and for the culture of mankind, doing everything he could to make it morally sound. It was to become the instrument through which, despite immense efforts on the part of the opposing powers, the spiritual renewal of mankind would have to be attempted. The book Rudolf Steiner und die Zivilisationsaufgabe der Anthroposophie describes this through his words and deeds. It is also revealed in lectures given in 1923 and published in booklet form.⁹ The events described in the book lead to the point when it became possible to re-constitute the Anthroposophical Society as the General Anthroposophical Society, with its centre in Dornach, resting on the foundation of the newly-founded national groups. Before this could take place, the old connections linking us with Berlin as the earlier centre of activity had to be dissolved. It was my destiny to carry this out.

As the year 1923 drew to a close, inflation in Germany reached its nadir. A billion Reichsmark were now worth one pre-war mark. Ever since 1920, the strain of keeping up with the increasing speed of this avalanche had been making devastating demands on the nervous energy of anyone who had a business to run, especially when not only material values but above all spiritual treasures were involved. Official regulations which could not be ignored were changed every few days to take account of the shifting situation, and merely keeping abreast of the requirements devoured time and strength. If in addition you had taken upon yourself the burden of other people's affairs and had to make sure their rent and taxes were paid, you found yourself drowning in noughts when trying to work out what they owed—for taxes included not only the usual things but in addition items for the war, for the army, for the Ruhr, and all kinds of special funds. And next day everything would have changed once more. To send out a bill required a postage stamp which within quite a short time came to be worth much more than the payment requested. There was no lack of comical incidents, and the gallows humour evolved in their recounting did a little to lighten the burden of the depressing situation. Thus when the multiplication factor was a ‘mere’ few hundred thousand, a dear old member was heard to exclaim: ‘Good gracious me, when you are seventy thousand years old you can't be expected to understand these sums any longer!’ And the urchins in the streets of Berlin adopted boastful attitudes: ‘Did you say that star was four hundred billion miles away from that one? What's in a few billion? That's nothing!’ Such concepts of dwindling values must have had a decidedly negative influence on the strength of morals of the rising generation.

All over Germany things were being dismantled! We, too, could no longer maintain our dwelling in Berlin. And the Philosophisch-Anthroposophischer Verlag had to be transferred to Dornach to ensure its continuing existence. Even Fräulein Johanna Mücke,¹⁰ stubborn and resilient Berliner though she was, could see no other solution. She was driven almost to despair in her isolation. We were forever either on tour or working feverishly in Dornach, while she waited in vain for replies to urgent letters, often facing decisions for which she felt unable to shoulder the responsibility alone. Dr Steiner was overburdened to the limit of his strength and now had to make preparations for the Christmas Foundation Conference and settle all the arrangements for international understanding and the reconstitution of the Society. Yet Fräulein Mücke could not be left without help any longer. Our worries on her account and about the continuing existence of the publishing company meant that we would have to divide the work between us. It was now my duty to hasten to Berlin in order to wind up our work and our home there.

So immediately after the Dutch conference¹¹ I traveled directly to Berlin. We had already given notice of our intention to relinquish our apartment. Now I had to rescue from Dr Steiner's library whatever we wanted to keep for the future. It was necessary to sift through all his papers in order to extract the important items from among the mountains of old letters and also manuscripts and newspapers which had become worthless. The last night before every lecture tour had been devoted to this job and each time several baskets full of torn-up papers had been the result. And yet an endless amount still awaited destruction on an even larger scale. It became our evening occupation for several weeks. Fräulein Vreede, who had come to Berlin to help, joined me and Fräulein Mücke. Whatever we wanted to keep was sent to Stuttgart. Permits for the transfer of the publishing company to Dornach had to be applied for, and everything had to be packed in accordance with border and customs regulations: Dr Steiner had given Dr Wachsmuth the task of helping us in this. He came from Stuttgart to Berlin to inspect the crates, now packed, and to arrange for their dispatch across the border. His visit was short. On their return, both our guests gave Dr Steiner quite dramatic descriptions of their impressions of Berlin.

We completed our work. Finally homes had to be found for the paintings and pictures; and the furniture from the Berlin group room, the Stuttgart Eurythmeum and our apartment in the Landhausstrasse had to be distributed. A last word to friends and we bade farewell to this place where we had worked and with which we had been connected for twenty-one years. Five hundred crates of books together with all the cupboards and shelves were transported to Switzerland. Fräulein Mücke herself had had to show the packers how to tackle the task with verve. Now she stayed on in Berlin for a while. But at least she had been relieved of the great burden and had the comfort of knowing that she had saved the publishing company. We owe it to her exemplary loyalty that in Dornach it has been able to flourish once more.

Thus I did not return to Dornach until shortly before the Christmas Foundation Conference, once the task of winding up everything in Berlin had been fully completed. It was as a matter of course that this part of the work should have fallen on me. The old form had to be dissolved before the Society, newly constituted in Dornach, could find its own form, taking into account the growth of the Movement and also the fields of work which corresponded to its new cultural tasks. Dissolution is always tinged with sadness, though joyful anticipation of coming educational and artistic tasks was undiminished. The past that had to be dismantled was infinitely significant, and anchored in it was the guarantee of fruitful new development.

Therefore I was astonished when during his introductory lecture, at the opening of the Christmas Foundation Conference, Dr Steiner conjured up before our souls a deeply moving image of the ruins of the Goetheanum, and then extended this image to include the publishing company. For the crates, packed to the brim, had resembled ruins merely externally, and this picture created an inaccurate impression among the listeners. When I later pointed this out to Dr Steiner and asked what he had meant, it turned out that he had received a report which had given him the impression that the devaluation of currency in Germany had brought about too great a dissipation of resources. When some months later Fräulein Mücke was able to show him the account books herself, he was delighted and said: ‘But this gives quite another picture and shows that everything is alright.’ He congratulated her on having rescued the publishing company out of that complicated situation.

To give a description of the Christmas Foundation Conference is perhaps one of the most difficult tasks one can set oneself. It is barely possible, with our limited insight, to gain an overall view of the impulse and power behind that event. It represents the most mighty endeavour of a teacher of mankind to lift his contemporaries out of their own small selves and awaken in them a conscious will to be allowed to become tools serving the wise guides of the universe. Yet at the same time this Christmas Foundation Conference is also bound up with something infinitely tragic. For we cannot but admit: We were called, but we were not chosen. We were incapable of responding to the call, as further developments showed.

At first every participant was as though lifted above him or herself, inwardly warmed through and through and at the same time deeply moved. But a destiny held sway over the whole situation, a destiny which has had to run its course in other spheres of existence. The outcome revealed what it meant for Dr. Steiner to take our karma upon himself.

Herein lies the deeply esoteric nature of that deed of sacrifice. This is not the usual interpretation of the designation ‘esoteric Vorstand’. What could have been deeply esoteric would have been to bring diverging earlier spiritual streams to a harmonious balance in the persons of some of their present representatives. This would have been an esoteric task that could have been achieved together with Dr Steiner through his superior insight, strength and capacity for love. But our human karma and that of the Society burst upon him the very minute the Christmas Foundation Conference had been brought to a close. On that last day, 1 January 1924, he suddenly fell seriously ill. At the social gathering with tea and refreshments, described as a ‘Rout’ on the programme, he was struck down as though by a sword aimed at his very life. Yet he continued without intermission and with boundless energy to be active until 28 September, the day on which he spoke to us for the last time.¹² His failing physical forces were nourished by spiritual fire, indeed they were borne by this fire and grew beyond themselves. But at the last, after superhuman achievements during the month of September, the power of this inner flame finally devoured him too.

For those who have the possibility of viewing events as a whole, the Christmas Foundation Conference is bathed in this tragic light. We have no right to turn our thoughts away from the gravity and suffering of these events. For insight is born of suffering and of pain. This pain must lead us to take hold of our tasks with a will that is all the greater.

There is much to be learnt from the discussions and events of the Conference, which were recorded in shorthand. If we follow them day by day just as they took place, we arrive at a picture that at first remained unclear to us because the excessive burden of work, and the bombardment of wishes from the members arriving from every direction, made it impossible to realize straight away the totality of the prospect that had been given. With time, what Dr Steiner had sketched along general lines by way of intentions for the future would have gained clearer contours. And a gradual putting into practice of his intentions would have enabled us to gain a complete picture. For this, a period of time was needed. First the spiritual foundation had to be deepened and strengthened. This was done through the cycle of lectures on the Mystery centres of the Middle Ages¹³ and also the cycle Anthroposophy¹⁴ which led up to the moment when the first lesson of the First Class was given. At the same time, the lecture tours could not be allowed to cease. These took Dr Steiner to France, Holland and England, as well as German-speaking and eastern regions. Wherever he went, the demands made on his strength were immense. In September he would have been ready to begin the Second Class. But the throng of members coming to Dornach was such that account had to be taken of it, as well as of the spiritual needs and receptivity of the new arrivals. In addition to the four separate lecture courses running every day,¹⁵ so many personal wishes had to be met that the total physical exhaustion of the teacher and bestower became inevitable. From 28 September onwards, Dr Steiner had to give up any further work amongst the members. He was confined to his atelier, which had been transformed into a sick-room, and as far as the lecture tours were concerned, he had to ask us to go in his place. On his sick-bed he continued to write further letters to the members¹⁶ and also the essays on the course of his life.¹⁷

Now it is our task to let the Christmas Foundation Conference speak for itself through the talks and lectures given by Rudolf Steiner and preserved for us in shorthand reports. What was said by the different officials or individual members, if extant, would overburden the book. Their questions are revealed by the answers given. The meetings and discussions in their totality represent for us a path of training in how to conduct meetings and deal with problems within the Society. All this is bathed in the atmosphere of most lofty spirituality, an offering, to the higher powers, of supplication and gratitude. The dominant endeavour is to conduct matters of this world in a practical and sensible manner while yet ensuring that they remain subordinate to the will of a wise universal guidance. The details of daily life are thus raised up to the sphere of spiritual goals and higher necessity.

Members from all the national Societies had gathered in large numbers. The lecture room in the old carpentry workshop¹⁸ had to be extended by opening up the adjoining rooms, and the walls leading to the foyer, which still served as a workshop or, during performances, as a cloakroom, had to be taken down. Outside, the scant remains of the burnt Goetheanum building stuck up out of the snow-covered landscape.

For those arriving and settling in on 23 December a eurythmy performance was offered at 4.30 in the afternoon. The words with which Dr Steiner greeted the guests and introduced the performance contained the first indication of some of the fundamental motifs which were to run through all the lectures of the Conference. That evening brought the final lecture in the pre-Christmas cycle on Mystery Knowledge and Mystery Centres.¹⁹ The opening of the Conference itself took place on the morning of 24 December. There now follows the address with which Rudolf Steiner greeted the guests on the occasion of the eurythmy performance on 23 December.

• 2. Marie Steiner von Sivers: Rudolf Steiner und die Zivilisationsaufgaben der Anthroposophie. Ein Rückblick auf das Jahr 1923 (Rudolf Steiner and the Tasks of Anthroposophy for Civilization. A Review of the Year 1923), Dornach 1943. Planned as GA 259 within the Complete Works.
• 3. In 1921 and 1922, the largest German concert agency of the day, Hermann Wolff and Jules Sachs in Berlin, had organized a number of lecture tours for Rudolf Steiner.
• 4. In 1894 the ‘Allgemeiner Deutscher Verband’ (General German League), founded in 1891, was renamed ‘Alldeutscher Verband’ (Pan-German League). During World War I this organization advocated exaggeratedly nationalistic aims, and after the war it campaigned for the restitution of the monarchy.
• 5. Matthias Erzberger, 1875–1921. German parliamentarian and statesman, leader of the left wing of the Centre party and signatory of the Armistice of World War I. From 1919 to 1920 he was Vice-Chancellor and Finance Minister. Assassinated in 1921 by members of a nationalist organization.
• 6. Walther Rathenau, 1867–1922. German industrialist and politician. In 1921 appointed Minister of Reconstruction. In 1922 Minister of Foreign Affairs. Assassinated by nationalist fanatics in 1922.
• 7. Rudolf Steiner spoke in Munich on 15 May and in Elberfeld on 17 May 1922 on the theme of ‘Anthroposophy and Spiritual Knowledge’. The Munich lecture has been published in Blätter für Anthroposophie, 1966, Nos 11 and 12. The Elberfeld lecture has not been published. On both occasions he had to leave the building by the back stairs and down side streets because of threats to his personal safety.
• 8. Major General Gerold von Gleich. In 1921 he published a denunciation of Rudolf Steiner Rudolf Steiner als Prophet, Ein Mahnwort an das deutsche Volk (Rudolf Steiner the Prophet. A Warning to the German Nation). Thereupon his son, Sigismund von Gleich, published a refutation Wahrheit gegen Unwahrheit über Rudolf Steiner. Widerlegung der Hetzschrift des Generalmajors Gerold von Gleich (Truth against Untruth. A Refutation of the Denunciation of Rudolf Steiner by Major General Gerold von Gleich). Published by Der Kommende Tag, Stuttgart, no date.
• 9. See Rudolf Steiner Awakening to Community, Anthroposophic Press, New York 1974. GA 257.
• 10. Johanna Mücke. See List of Names
• 11. See Correspondence and Documents 1901–1925. Rudolf Steiner and Marie Steiner von Sivers, Rudolf Steiner Press, London 1988. GA 262.
• 12. See Rudolf Steiner The Last Address, Rudolf Steiner Press, London 1967. GA 238.
• 13. See Rudolf Steiner Rosicrucianism and Modern Initiation, Rudolf Steiner Press, London 1965. GA 233a.
• 14. See Rudolf Steiner Anthroposophy—An Introduction, Rudolf Steiner Press, London 1961. GA 234.
• 15. See Rudolf Steiner Speech and Drama, Anthroposophical Publishing Company, London 1960, GA 282; Pastoral Medicine, Anthroposophic Press, New York 1987, GA 318; Kursus für die Priester der Christengemeinschaft über die Apokalypse des Johannes (Lectures for the Priests of the Christian Community on the Apocalypse of John), Dornach GA 346 (not available); Karmic Relationships, Volume 4, Rudolf Steiner Press, London 1957, GA 238.
• 16. See Rudolf Steiner Anthroposophical Leading Thoughts. Anthroposophy as a Path of Knowledge. The Michael Mystery, Rudolf Steiner Press, London 1973. GA 26.
• 17. See Rudolf Steiner The Course of my Life, Anthroposophic Press, New York 1970. GA 28.
• 18. Since the destruction of the Goetheanum by fire, it had been necessary to fall back on the old carpentry workshop which had served as a hall for lectures and artistic performances from 1914 onwards.
• 19. See Rudolf Steiner Mystery Knowledge and Mystery Centres. Rudolf Steiner Press, London 1973. GA 232.

My dear friends!

HERR WERBECK: Dear and greatly respected Dr Steiner! Dear friends! There is no other way for this Conference, so immensely meaningful for our Society and our Movement, to end except in an outpouring of deeply moved gratitude to the one whose work of love on the earth has brought us all together here. But my dear friends, what can words express! Was not perhaps all that a word can do shown at the beginning of this Conference by our respected friend Albert Steffen when, indicating that gratitude cannot be expressed in words, he said: Our gratitude is inexpressible. And yet on the wings of these words he did express everything our human hearts can give. Dear friends! Words, addresses, resolutions and all the rest are, measured against our Conference, nothing but outdated, cheap requisites of the cultural life that is collapsing all around us. And no one knows the background to these cheap requisites better than the one who has spoken to us this evening, moving us in the depths of our being. What is or rather can become honest gratitude, this virtue of great profundity, we shall still have to practise with the help of the one who spoke to us today. He alone has shown us through his spiritual work what gratitude really is. If we understand him aright, then we know that for us anthroposophists the hour has come when we must set the deed of gratitude in the place of the word of gratitude. We must requite his great, his immeasurably great deed of love with whatever deed of gratitude our puny strength can muster. For to him who spoke to us this evening we owe nothing less than our own spiritual felicity. And we know that the worth it bears will be eternal. It pertains not only to the few years we may still have to breathe on this physical earth; the felicity he has bestowed on us will stretch ahead to our future incarnations too. We know that this has been a turning point for our further destiny. What we are permitted to experience through his deed of love is incalculably significant. But we know that the felicity brought by this love cannot be measured with the yard-stick known to us from times preceding Anthroposophy, for it will be paired with severe pain, with fateful destinies. But we also know that it is nevertheless a felicity that will lead us to salvation. And when our knowledge is truly tempered with feeling, then we know that words of gratitude are meaningless in face of this fact and that our only answer to what we have received from here can be in deeds of gratitude. And we know, however weak our forces, that our deeds of gratitude can flow into his great deeds. And therefore we also know that they can flow into the plan for salvation that is given to mankind today. For just as the great deeds are devoted to human beings, so may also the small deeds be devoted to human beings. Over this mighty life's work stands the heading: Let everything be for the good of human beings. O my dear friends, we know that something superhuman, something divine is working in him! But when we answer with deeds directed towards human beings we know that our deeds of gratitude will be felt at a human level. Yesterday he expressed it with the mighty fire of his great heart: Faithfulness and yet more faithfulness. This is something human directed towards something human. And so my dear friends, please stand once more and let us say in our heart as we depart from this holy place: You great and pure brother of mankind, out of our forces that are so very weak we want to thank you; we want to thank you through our deeds, through overcoming what has to be overcome in the service of your holy mission for mankind. We beg you: Be with us with the heavenly strength of your fatherly blessing!

DR STEINER: My dear friends! I could not have said many of the things I have had to say during this Conference in the form in which I said them, and similarly I could not accept the kind words of our dear friend Werbeck, if I were to relate all this to a single weak individual. For actually in our circles these things should not be related to a mere individual. Yet, my dear friends, I know that I have been permitted to say what has here been said, for it was said in full responsibility looking up to the Spirit who is there and who should be and will be the Spirit of the Goetheanum. In that Spirit's name I have permitted myself over the last few days to say a great many things which ought not to have been put so forcefully had they not been expressed while looking up to the Spirit of the Goetheanum, to the good Spirit of the Goetheanum. So allow me, please, to accept these thanks in the name of the Spirit of the Goetheanum for whom we want to work and strive and labour in the world.

All that remains is to ask that the practising doctors come to the Glass House tomorrow morning not at half past eight but at ten o'clock.

I also have a message to read to you: ‘Out of our strong sharing in the experience of the Christmas Foundation Conference in Dornach we greet the President of the Anthroposophical Society. We thank him and his colleagues in the Vorstand for taking on the leadership and we also thank him for the Statutes. From the members of the Anthroposophical Society in Cologne who are meeting together at the close of the year.’

This is all I have to say. Tomorrow evening at 7 o'clock there will be a eurythmy performance for those friends who are still here.

WITH BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES

ABELS, JOAN (b. India – d.1962 Heidenheim a. d. Brenz)
Eurythmist. Took part in the very first performance of eurythmy in 1913 in Munich, subsequently continuing the work in Dornach. After retiring from eurythmy, he took on the office work at the Canteen.

AEPPLI, WILLI (Accra 1894–1972 Basel)
Swiss teacher. Member of the Society from 1921. At the Christmas Foundation Conference he was the representative of the Swiss Anthroposophical Society. From 1927 to 1954 he taught at the Rudolf Steiner School in Basel, and in 1954 became an adviser to the Association of Waldorf Schools in Germany. Wrote books on education.

ALEXANDER THE GREAT
See Note 77.

BEMMELEN, DANIEL J. VAN (Indonesia 1899–1983)
Dutch member from 1921. In 1923 co-founder and teacher at the first Dutch Waldorf school, ‘De Vrije School’ at The Hague.

BESANT, ANNIE
See Note 39.

BRANDTNER, W.
Secretary to the Anthroposophical. Society in Porto Alegre, Brazil, founded in 1920.

BÜCHENBACHER, DR HANS (Fürth 1887–1977 Arlesheim)
Lectured on the threefold social order. At the Christmas Foundation Conference he was the representative of the Free Anthroposophical Society in Germany. 1931-1935 President of the Anthroposophical Society in Germany. Later leader of the Working Group for Philosophy and Psychology at the Goetheanum in Dornach.

BÜRGI-BANDI, LUCIE (Bern 1875–1949 Bern)
Member from 1907. On the Council of the Johannes branch in Bern. 1913-1925 on the Council of the Bauverein. In March 1925 appointed by Rudolf Steiner to join the administration group for the building of the Goetheanum. Founder member of the Rudolf Steiner Nachlassverwaltung.

CARNEGIE, ANDREW
See Note 61.

CESARO, DUKE GIOVANNI ANTONIO OF (Rome 1878–1940 Rome)
Son of Baroness de Renzis (see below). Member of various town councils in Sicily (Radical Party, later Social Democratic Party). Member of Parliament. 1922-24 Minister for Post and Telegraphy. Co-publisher of Lo Spettatore. Political writings. In 1926 he joined the anti-fascist National Alliance. At the Christmas Foundation Conference he was the representative of the Novalis group in Rome.

COLLISON, HARRY (London 1868–1945 London)
Lawyer, painter and writer. Member from 1910. Leader of the Myrdhin group in London. Authorized by Rudolf Steiner to translate his works into English. Founder of the Anthroposophical Publishing Company. From 1923 General Secretary of the English Anthroposophical Society.

CROSS, MARGARET FRANCES (Preston 1866–1962 Hemel Hempstead)
Owner and head of a private school, interested in Rudolf Steiner's work. The school subsequently became The New School, Kings Langley, Hertfordshire.

DONNER, UNO (Helsingfors 1872–1958 Arlesheim)
Engineer. Founded and ran textile factories, among others. Met Anthroposophy in London in 1913. 1923-1932, at Rudolf Steiner's suggestion, General Secretary of the Finnish Anthroposophical Society. Participated in the agricultural course given by Rudolf Steiner at Koberwitz, Breslau in 1924. From 1928 he endeavoured to run a large farm on bio-dynamic lines. A bequest in his will led to the founding of the Donner Institute for Religious History and Cultural Research at the University of Abo in Finland.

DRECHSLER, LUNA (b. Lemberg/Lvov – d.1933 Poland, in her fifties)
Painter and sculptress. Active in political life (town council). Worked on the first Goetheanum. Initiated the founding of the Polish Anthroposophical Society and became its General Secretary.

DUNLOP, DANIEL NICOL (Kilmarnock 1868–1935 London)
Initially a member of the Theosophical Society. From 1918 a member of the Anthroposophical Society in England and leader of the Human Freedom group. Organiser of the summer schools in Penmaenmawr (1923) and Torquay (1924). Founder of the British Weleda Company. 1930-1935 General Secretary of the Anthroposophical Society in England.

DÜRLER, EDGAR (St Gallen 1895–1970 Arlesheim)
Businessman. Member of the Society from 1921. Worked for Futurum AG, Dornach, part of the time on the board of directors. Later member of the board of directors of Ilag AG, then Weleda AG, Arlesheim. Then for many years chairman of the board of directors.

EISELT, DR HANS (b. Prague – d.1936 Prague)
Having met Anthroposophy early in life, he worked for it until his death. He was leader of the branch in Prague and also lectured and ran the administration of the national Anthroposophical Society. He took the shorthand notes when Rudolf Steiner lectured in Prague. At the Christmas Foundation Conference he was the representative of the council of the Society in Czechoslovakia.

ERZBERGER, MATTHIAS
See Note 5.

FERRERI, CHARLOTTE (d.1924 in Milan)
Born in Honolulu as the daughter of an American missionary. Leader of the Leonardo da Vinci group in Milan. This group had resigned as a body from the Theosophical Society in 1913 and then joined the Anthroposophical Society. Later she was co-founder of a group in Honolulu. At the Christmas Foundation Conference she represented Honolulu.

FREUND, IDA (d.1931 in Prague)
An active member from 1909/10 in Prague. Her public charitable work was honoured after her death by the establishment of an Ida Freund Foundation.

GEERING-CHRIST, RUDOLF (Basel 1871–1958)
Bookseller and publisher. Founder member of the German Section in 1902 and of the Paracelsus branch in Basel in 1906, of which he became the chairman in 1921. 1922/23 he was a member of the inner working group at the Goetheanum. From 1913-1925 he was a member of the council of the Bauverein and in March 1925 he was appointed by Rudolf Steiner to join the administration group for the building of the Goetheanum.

GEUTER, FRIEDRICH (Darmstadt 1894–1960 Ravenswood)
Met Anthroposophy through Herbert Hahn when both were working as interpreters at a prisoner of war camp for British and French prisoners. After a spell at Der Kommende Tag, he began his lifetime's curative work at the Sonnenhof under Ita Wegman. From 1929 onwards he lived and worked in England, founding two homes for mentally handicapped children.

GEYER, REVEREND JOHANNES (Hamburg 1882– 1964 Stuttgart)
Heard Rudolf Steiner lecture for the first time when he was a student. Member from 1910. From 1912 pastor of the Protestant church. From 1919, at Rudolf Steiner's suggestion, a teacher at the Waldorf School in Stuttgart.

GLEICH, GENERAL GEROLD VON
See Note 8.

GNÄDIGER, FRANZ (d.1971)
Priest of the Christian Community. For a time secretary to Friedrich Rittelmeyer. At the time of the Christmas Foundation Meeting he lived in Zurich, from 1934 in Bern.

GOYERT, WILHELM RUDOLF (Witten a. d. Ruhr 1887–1954 Arlesheim)
Art dealer. Co-founder of the first Waldorf school in Cologne, named ‘Neuwacht School’ by Rudolf Steiner.

GROSHEINTZ, DR. MED. DENT. EMIL (Paris 1867–1946 Dornach)
Member from 1906 and co-founder of the Paracelsus branch in Basel. From 1908 to 1913 he was a member of the council of the German Section. In 1912 he placed a parcel of land he owned in Dornach at the disposal of Rudolf Steiner for the Goetheanum. From 1913 to 1915 he was deputy chairman of the Bauverein, from 1915 to 1924 chairman, and 1924/25 deputy chairman when Rudolf Steiner was chairman. In March 1925 Rudolf Steiner appointed him chairman of the administration group for the building of the Goetheanum. In 1920 he was founder-member and president of the branch at the Goetheanum, which he remained until 1946. 1922/23 he was a member of the inner working group at the Goetheanum.

GROSHEINTZ, DR OSKAR (d. 1944 in Basel)
Member from 1907 and chairman of the Johannes branch founded in Bern on his initiative. Took part in the performance of the Mystery Dramas in Munich.

GYSI, PROFESSOR DR MED H. C. ALFRED (Aarau 1864–1957 Zurich)
Eminent researcher in the field of dentistry who did pioneering work on dental prosthetics. Lecturer and professor at the dental institute of the University of Zurich, of which he was a co-founder. In 1902 he was one of the three Swiss founder members of the German Section and chairman of the Zschokke branch in Zurich which he founded in 1908 and to which he gave house room until 1920. ‘To his manner of working we owe the fact that Dr Steiner's most important Zurich lectures were scientific in character.’ (Marie Steiner, Erinnerungen I (Memoires, I). In 1913, together with Dr Emil Grosheintz, Frau Marie Schief and Frau Marie Hirter-Weber, he was one of the four Swiss members to make the land on the Dornach hill available for the building of the Goetheanum. He was a member of the council of the Bauverein till 1920. At the beginning of the twenties Professor Gysi withdrew from the Anthroposophical Society.

HAAN, PIETER DE (Utrecht 1891–1968 Holland)
Member from 1912. Having been the intended General Secretary for Holland, he withdrew in favour of Zeylmans van Emmichoven when the latter was suggested by Rudolf Steiner. From 1964-66 manager of the Philosophisch-Anthroposophischer Verlag in Dornach.

HAHL, ERWIN (d.1958)
A native of Württemberg. Heard Rudolf Steiner lecture for the first time in 1919 in Stuttgart. From 1922 he worked in Yugoslavia, where he endeavoured to found a branch in Zagreb. At the Christmas Foundation Conference he was the representative of the work in Yugoslavia.

HARDT, DR MED HEINRICH (Stargard 1896– 1981)
Met Anthroposophy in Rostock, where he was a student. Co-initiator of the lectures Rudolf Steiner gave for young doctors in January and at Easter 1924 in Dornach. Later he was for many years the doctor at the Lauenstein home for the handicapped.

HART-NIBBRIG, FRAU J (b. Holland–1957 Dornach in her late eighties)
Was a member of the Theosophical Society before 1913. From about 1924 she lived in Dornach. She was close to Marie Steiner.

HARTMANN, EDUARD VON
See Note 53.

HENSTRÖM, SIGRID
Member from 1911. From 1924 chairman of the branch in Stockholm. At the Christmas Foundation Meeting she was the representative of the Swedish Society.

HEROSTRATOS
See Note 76.

HOHLENBERG, JOHANNES (1881–1960 Kopenhagen)
Painter and writer. From 1923 General Secretary of the Danish Anthroposophical Society. From 1926 he was the joint publisher and from 1929 the publisher of the Scandinavian anthroposophical journal Vidar till it was closed down in 1940. From 1947 to 1954 he published the cultural and political journal Øjeblikket in Denmark.

HUGENTOBLER, DR JAKOB (d.1961)
Teacher. A member of the council of the Zschokke (later Paracelsus) group in Zurich and then of the Johannes branch in Bern.

HUSEMANN, GOTTFRIED (b.1900–1972 Arlesheim)
Co-founder and priest of the Christian Community.

IM OBERSTEG, DR ARMIN (b.1881–1969 Basel)
Eminent lawyer. Member from 1919. A helpful supporter of the Goetheanum. For many years president of the cafe and restaurant co-operative at the Goetheanum and legal adviser to Weleda AG.

INGERÖ, KARL (d.1972 in Oslo)
At the Christmas Foundation Conference he was the representative of the Norwegian Anthroposophical Society. Rudolf Steiner and Marie Steiner were guests in his house on several occasions.

JONG, PROFESSOR DE
See Note 64.

KAISER, DR WILHELM (Pery 1895–1983 Dornach)
Astronomer. Met Rudolf Steiner in 1918. Worked with Dr Elisabeth Vreede in the Goetheanum archives for a while. Lectured extensively in Germany and Switzerland. Wrote many books.

KAUFMANN (LATER ADAMS), DR GEORGE (Maryampol 1894–1963 Birmingham)
Mathematician and physicist. Member from 1916. Acted as consecutive interpreter for English-speaking audiences for 110 lectures, conferences and conversations by and with Rudolf Steiner in England and Dornach. Translated several of Rudolf Steiner's works and wrote numerous books.

KELLER, KARL (Basel 1896–1979 Arlesheim)
Journalist and editor in Basel. Heard Rudolf Steiner lecturing for the first time in 1917. As a member of the staff of the Swiss news agency he was able to publicise an essay written by Rudolf Steiner in the autumn of 1924 on the rebuilding of the Goetheanum.

KELLERMÜLLER, JAKOB (Räterschen 1872–1947 Dornach)
Engaged by Rudolf Steiner as doorkeeper for the first Goetheanum, he performed this task until 1946.

KOLISKO, DR MED EUGEN (Vienna 1893–1939 London)
Member from 1914. From 1920 teacher and school doctor at the Waldorf School in Stuttgart. From 1923 to 1935 on the council of the German Anthroposophical Society. Then lived in England.

KOLISKO, LILLY (Vienna 1889–1976 Gloucester)
Collaborated with Rudolf Steiner at the biological research institute in Stuttgart, publishing works on the spleen and on microorganisms in 1922 and 1923.

KOSCHÜTZKY, RUDOLF VON (Upper Silesia 1866–1954 Stuttgart)
Member from about 1917. He was originally a farmer but worked as a war correspondent in the First World War. From 1922 priest of the Christian Community. He participated in bringing about the agricultural course and then became a member of the management of the resulting research group of anthroposophical farmers.

KREBS, CHRISTIAN (d.1945)
A member in Sweden. Participated in the agricultural course given by Rudolf Steiner at Koberwitz, Breslau, in 1924.

KRKAVEC, DR OTOKAR
Member in Prague. At the Christmas Foundation Conference he was the representative of the council of the Society in Czechoslovakia.

KRÜGER, DR BRUNO (b.1887–1979 Stuttgart)
Public prosecutor in Berlin. From 1921 he worked with the federation for the threefold social order in Stuttgart, lecturing on this subject. After the failure of the threefold project he worked as a lawyer in Stuttgart.

LEADBEATER, CHARLES WEBSTER
See Note 40.

LEER, EMANUEL JOSEF VON (b. in Amersfoort – 1934 Baku)
Dutch wholesale merchant. Member from 1909. Giver of strong financial backing to the various institutions. 1922/23 president of the management committee of the International Laboratories and the Clinical and Therapeutic Institute AG in Arlesheim. In 1924 the first president of the first management committee of the Weleda AG, Arlesheim.

LEHRS, DR ERNST (Berlin 1894–1979 Eckwälden)
Scientist. Member of the Society from 1921. Teacher at the Waldorf School in Stuttgart. From 1923 a member of the committee of the Free Anthroposophical Society confirmed by Rudolf Steiner after the Christmas Foundation Conference, and thus an officer of the General Anthroposophical Society. Published scientific writings. From 1952 he taught at the seminar for curative education at Eckwälden.

LEINHAS, EMIL (Mannheim 1878–1967 Ascona)
Merchant. Member from 1909. In March 1920 co-founder, later managing director and finally liquidator of Der Kommende Tag AG in Stuttgart. From 1921 to 1923 in the central Vorstand of the Anthroposophical Society, from February 1923 a member of the council of the German Society in Stuttgart. Member of the Rudolf Steiner Nachlassverwaltung from 1949. Aus der Arbeit mit Rudolf Steiner. Sachliches und Persönliches (Working with Rudolf Steiner), Basel 1950.

LEISEGANG, HANS
See Note 36.

LJUNGQUIST, ANNA (d.1935 in Dornach)
One of the early pioneers of anthroposophical work in Sweden. At the Christmas Foundation Conference she was the representative of the Swedish Anthroposophical Society.

MACKENZIE, PROFESSOR MILLICENT
Professor of education at University College, Cardiff, Wales from 1910. At her instigation, Rudolf Steiner gave a course of lectures for English teachers at the Goetheanum at Christmas 1920 and he was also invited to lecture at educational conferences in Stratford-on-Avon (Spring 1922) and in Oxford (August 1922). These public lectures in England led to the founding of the Educational Union under the chairmanship of Professor Mackenzie, the purpose of which was to gain an entry for Rudolf Steiner's educational ideas particularly in English and American organizations.

MAIER, DR RUDOLF (Schorndorf 1886–1943 Hüningen)
Member from about 1908/09. From 1920 to 1924 leader of the scientific research institute of Der Kommende Tag AG in Stuttgart.

MARYON, LOUISE EDITH (London 1872–1924 Dornach)
Sculptress working in Dornach from 1914. Collaborated with Rudolf Steiner in the field of the sculptural arts, especially on the wooden sculpture ‘The Representative of Man between Lucifer and Ahriman’. On her initiative the coloured eurythmy figures came into being and also the three ‘eurythmy houses’ to provide living accommodation for those working at the Goetheanum. At the Christmas Foundation Conference she was chosen to be the Leader of the Section for the Sculptural Arts.

MAURER, PROFESSOR DR THEODOR (Dorlisheim 1873–1959 Strasbourg)
Writer and anthroposophical lecturer. At the Christmas Foundation Conference he was the representative for the Alsace.

MAYEN, DR MED WALTHER
He came from Breslau. Worked in connection with Anthroposophy in South America, including Porto Alegre in Brazil.

MERRY, ELEANOR (Durham 1873–1956 Frinton-on-Sea)
English writer and painter. Member from 1921. Together with D. N. Dunlop she organized the summer schools at Penmaenmawr (1923) and Torquay (1924).

MONGES, HENRY B. (1870–1954 New York)
Professor of architecture. Member from 1916. Participated actively in founding, shaping and maintaining the Anthroposophical Society in America. He was its first chairman, and from 1923 its General Secretary. He secured the publication rights for Rudolf Steiner in the USA, translated his works and founded a publishing company.

MORGENSTIERNE, ETHEL

MÜCKE, JOHANNA (Berlin 1864–1949 Dornach)
Belonged to the socialist trade union movement and was a member of the management of the workers' educational establishment where she met Rudolf Steiner during his time as a teacher there (1899-1904). Member from 1903. From 1908 until her retirement (1935) she was the business manager, first in Berlin and from 1924 in Dornach, of the Philosophisch-Anthroposophischer Verlag founded in 1908 by Marie Steiner for the publication of Rudolf Steiner's work. From the end of 1911 until 1913 she was on the council of the German Section and from 1921 to 1923 on the council of the German Anthroposophical Society. Her book Erinnerungen an Rudolf Steiner und seine Wirksamkeit an der Arbeiter-Bildungsschule in Berlin 1899-1904 (Memories of Rudolf Steiner and his work at the Workers' Educational Establishment in Berlin 1899-1904) was published in Basel in 1955.

MUNTZ-TAXEIRA DEL MATTOS, FRAU (b. Holland – d. 1931 in Brussels)
At the Christmas Foundation Conference she was the representative of the Belgian Anthroposophical Society as its General Secretary. Translated works by Rudolf Steiner into French.

NEUSCHELLER-VAN DER PALS, LUCY (St Petersburg 1886–1962 Dornach)
Together with her husband she first heard Rudolf Steiner speak in 1908 in Berlin. Both thereupon became members. Later she took up eurythmy. With her husband she went to America in 1913 and there built up the eurythmy work and participated in the founding of the Rudolf Steiner School in New York. She moved to Dornach in 1959.

PALMER, DR MED OTTO (Feinsheim 1867–1945 Wiesneck)
Member from 1908 at which time he was a practising doctor in Hamburg. In 1921 at the request of Rudolf Steiner he took on the management of the Klinisch-Therapeutisches Institut in Stuttgart. From 1923 onwards a member of the council of the German Anthroposophical Society.

PEIPERS, DR MED FELIX (Bonn 1873–1944 Arlesheim)
Member from 1904. In 1906/7 established a private clinic in Munich. Played the role of Benedictus when the Mystery Dramas were performed in Munich (1910-1913). Co-founder of the Bauverein and member of its council from 1911 until 1925. From 1911 to 1913 a member of the council of the German Section. From 1915/16 leader of the anthroposophical work in Munich. From 1921 to 1924 worked as a doctor at the Klinisch-Therapeutisches Institut in Stuttgart.

POLLAK, RICHARD (Karlin, Prague 1867–1940 Dachau)
He and his wife were both artists and took part in the painting of the large dome of the first Goetheanum (1914-1919). In the concentration camp at Dachau he gave over a hundred anthroposophical lectures to those doomed to accompany him through death.

POLZER-HODITZ, LUDWIG COUNT OF (Prague 1869–1945 Vienna)
Member from 1911. In 1917 he used his influence to interest the Austrian government in Rudolf Steiner's movement for the threefold social order. From 1919 to 1921 he worked in Austria for the threefold movement. He became chairman of the Austrian Anthroposophical Society at its foundation in October 1923. At the Christmas Foundation Conference, he was the representative of the council of the Austrian Society.

PUSCH, HANS LUDWIG (1902–1976)
Actor. Participated in Rudolf Steiner's dramatic course given in 1924 and subsequently worked as a member of the Goetheanum stage ensemble under Marie Steiner. Moved to the USA in 1939 where he lectured, gave courses in speech formation and staged the Mystery Dramas.

PYLE, WILLIAM SCOTT (b. America – d.1938 The Hague)
Painter. From 1921/22 in Dornach. In 1929/30, together with his wife Mieta Pyle-Waller, he designed the scenery for the third and fourth Mystery Dramas. At the suggestion of Rudolf Steiner he worked at the production of new plant-based paints (‘Anthea Paints’).

RATHENAU, WALTHER
See Note 6.

REICHEL, DR FRANZ (d.1960 in Prague)
One of the representatives of the council of the Anthroposophical Society in Czechoslovakia.

RENZIS, BARONESS EMMELINA DE (d.1945 in Rome)
Member from 1909. Was one of the pioneers of the Anthroposophical Society in Italy. After Rudolf Steiner lectured there in 1909 she became the leader of a branch in Rome and concerned herself with the translation of his works into Italian.

RIHOUET-COROZE, SIMONE (Paris 1892–1982 Paris)
Member from 1913. In 1921 she founded the Paris eurythmy school and the journal Science spirituelle. From 1931 to 1976 she was General Secretary of the Anthroposophical Society in France. Translated the works of Rudolf Steiner and published the journal Triades. Wrote Rudolf Steiner, une Epopee de l'Esprit au XXe Siècle, Paris 1951.

SAUERWEIN, ALICE (b. Marseille – d.1931 in Switzerland)
Sister of the prominent French journalist and anthroposophist Jules Sauerwein. Founded the Paris group ‘Saint-Michel’ for whom Rudolf Steiner gave lectures in 1913 and 1914. From its founding in 1923, she was the General Secretary of the French Anthroposophical Society till 1930.

SIMON, FRÄULEIN

SCHMIDT, HERR

SCHMIEDEL, DR OSKAR (Vienna 1887–1959 Schwäbisch Gmünd)
Chemist. Member from 1907. Participated in establishing the Weleda company and was a member of its management from the beginning and later in Schwäbisch Gmünd.

SCHUBERT, DR KARL (Vienna 1889–1949 Stuttgart)
Member from about 1910. In February 1920 Rudolf Steiner requested him to take on the remedial class at the Waldorf School in Switzerland. He was thus the first anthroposophical curative teacher. Later he assisted in the establishment of curative establishments in Germany and other countries.

SCHWARZ, LINA (d.1947)
Met Anthroposophy in 1912 and was one of the pioneers of anthroposophical work in Italy. Worked in the Milan branch, which she represented at the Christmas Foundation Conference. She took over the leadership after the death of the founder, Charlotte Ferreri. She made excellent translations of Rudolf Steiner's works.

SCHWEBSCH, DR ERICH (Frankfurt/Oder 1889–1953 Freiburg i.Br.)
Writer about music, teacher. Member from about 1919. At the request of Friedrich Rittelmeyer, he contributed the essay ‘Goethe und Rudolf Steiner’ to his anthology Vom Lebenswerk Rudolf Steiners (On the Life's Work of Rudolf Steiner). This drew him to the attention of Rudolf Steiner who requested him to join the Waldorf School in Stuttgart. He taught there from 1921. Its re-institution after the Second World War was largely due to his initiative. In 1946 he brought the Waldorf schools in Germany together in the Association of Waldorf Schools, of which he was the chairman.

SCHWEIGLER, KARL RICHARD
Brother of the painter Emil Schweigler. Member from 1918 (St Gallen). Founded a working group in Rorschach in 1921. Lived in Dornach from 1922.

STEFFEN, ALBERT (Murgenthal/Aargau 1884–1963 Dornach)
Swiss poet. Met Rudolf Steiner in 1907 in Munich. Lived in Dornach from the autumn of 1920 onwards. Became editor of the weekly Das Goetheanum when it was established in 1921. From Christmas 1923 till 1925 Vice-president of the General Anthroposophical Society and Leader of the Section for Belles-Lettres. From Christmas 1925 President of the Society. Writer of poetry and plays, eg In Memoriam Rudolf Steiner, 1925, and Begegnungen mit Rudolf Steiner (Meetings with Rudolf Steiner), 1955.

STEIN, DR WALTER JOHANNES (Vienna 1891–1957 London)
Member from 1913. From 1919 to 1932 teacher of history at the Waldorf School in Stuttgart. From 1923 to 1928 a member of the council of the German Anthroposophical Society. Later he worked in England.

STEINER, MARIE, NEE VON SIVERS (Wloclawek/Russia 1867–1948 Beatenberg/ Switzerland).
From 1902 Rudolf Steiner's closest colleague in building up the Movement and the Society. At Christmas 1914 they married. With him she developed the Goetheanistic stage arts of speech formation and eurythmy. At Christmas 1923 she became the Leader of the Section for the Spoken Arts and Music. With the Philosophisch-Anthroposophischer Verlag, which she founded in 1908, she ran the editing and publishing of Rudolf Steiner's written works and his lectures. In 1943 she founded the Rudolf Steiner Nachlassverwaltung to continue with this work. See Rudolf Steiner The Course of My Life; Marie Steiner von Sivers Correspondence and Documents 1901-1905; Hella Wiesberger Aus dem Leben von Marie Steiner-von Sivers (From the Life of Marie Steiner), Dornach 1956; Marie Steiner, ihr Weg zur Erneuerung der Bühnenkunst durch Anthroposophie. Eine Dokumentation (Marie Steiner. Her Path to a Renewal of Stagecraft through Anthroposophy. A Documentation), Dornach 1973.

STIBBE, MAX (b. Padang 1898 – d.1983)
Teacher. Member from 1920. In 1923 he became co-founder and teacher at the first Dutch Waldorf school ‘De Vrije School’ at The Hague.

STOKAR, WILLY (Schaffhausen 1893–1953 Zurich)
Member from about 1916. Writer. 1921-23 colleague of Willy Storrer in the smaller working committee at the Goetheanum, among other things for tours of the building and as a lecturer. From time to time he was also a member of the management committee of Futurum AG, Dornach.

STORRER, WILLY (Töss bei Winterthur 1896–1930 Dornach)
From 1919 onwards worked with Roman Boos in the threefold movement and in his secretarial and organizational work at the Goetheanum. In the early summer of 1921 he took on the responsibility for Dr Boos's work in this area. After the founding of the weekly journal Das Goetheanum, Rudolf Steiner entrusted him with the administrative side. He thus became manager of the Verlag am Goetheanum. In 1920 he was a founder-member and the secretary of the branch at the Goetheanum. In 1923 he co-founded the Neue Generation branch. Belonged to the smaller working committee at the Goetheanum till the Christmas Foundation Conference in 1923. From time to time he was also a member of the management committee of Futurum AG. On 3 May 1930 he met with a fatal accident in his private aeroplane on the Gempen in Dornach.

STUTEN, JAN (Nijmegen 1890–1948 Arlesheim)
Musician. Member from about 1910. From 1914 he was a permanent musician at the Goetheanum (composing and conducting). He portrayed a number of roles on the stage under the direction of Rudolf Steiner, among others that of Faust. Later he also created scenery (in 1928 for the first and second Mystery Dramas). Composer of various works, above all stage music for Faust, Parts One and Two and for Rudolf Steiner's funeral. Member of the Rudolf Steiner Nachlassverwaltung.

THUT, PAUL (b.1872–1955 Bern)
Engineer. Director of the power station at Bern. Member in Bern for many years.

TRIMLER, DR

TRINLER, KARL (d.1964)
Arlesheim and Basel.

TYMSTRA, FRANS (b.1891–1979 Arlesheim)
From Holland.

UNGER, DR CARL (Bad Cannstatt 1878–1929 Nuremberg)
Member from 1902/03. Till his death he was the leader of the main branch in Stuttgart, which he had founded in 1905 together with Adolf Arenson. From 1913 to 1923 he was a member of the central Vorstand of the Anthroposophical Society. From 1923 he was a member of the council of the German national Society. At the Christmas Foundation Conference he represented that council and also the Porto Alegre group in Brazil. From January 1914 to September 1915 he was the technical building manager of the first Goetheanum and from 1913 to 1925 in the council of the Bauverein. Before beginning a public lecture on Anthroposophy in Nuremberg on 4 January 1929 he was shot dead by a mentally ill man. His collected works have been published in three volumes.

USTERI, DR ALFRED (Säntis area of Switzerland 1869–1948 Reinach)
Papers on botany. Plant drawings; lectures at the Goetheanum.

VREEDE, DR ELISABETH (The Hague 1879–1943 Ascona)
Member of the Theosophical Society as early as about 1902. From April 1914 she worked at the Goetheanum where from 1919 onwards she set up the archive of Rudolf Steiner's lectures. In 1920 she became a founder-member and later the secretary of the branch at the Goetheanum. In 1922/23 she was a member of the smaller working committee at the Goetheanum and from Christmas 1923 till 1935 she was a member of the founding Vorstand of the General Anthroposophical Society and the Leader of the Section for Mathematics and Astronomy.

WACHSMUTH, DR GUENTHER (Dresden 1893–1963 Dornach)
Permanently in Dornach from 1921. In 1922/23 in the smaller working committee at the Goetheanum. From Christmas 1923 till 1963 he was a member of the Vorstand of the General Anthroposophical Society in the capacity of Secretary and Treasurer, and Leader of the Natural Science Section. He wrote, among other things: Rudolf Steiners Erdenleben und Wirken. Eine Biographie (Rudolf Steiner's Life and Work), Dornach 1941 and 1951; Die ätherischen Bildekräfte in Kosmos, Erde und Mensch (The Etheric Formative Forces in Cosmos, Earth and Man), Stuttgart 1924.

WACHSMUTH, DR WOLFGANG (Dresden 1891–1953 Arlesheim)
Worked for various publishing companies. He met Anthroposophy towards the end of the First World War. In Stuttgart from 1920 he took over the management of the publishing company Der Kommende Tag AG until it was dissolved in 1924/25. From time to time he was a member of the council of the Anthroposophical Society in Germany.

WEGMAN, DR MED ITA (Java 1876–1943 Arlesheim)
Member from approximately 1903. Studied medicine in Zurich. In 1921 she founded the Klinisch-Therapeutisches Institut in Arlesheim which resulted in close collaboration with Rudolf Steiner in the field of medicine. From 1922 to 1924 she was on the council of management of the International Laboratories in Arlesheim. From 1922-23 in the smaller working committee at the Goetheanum. From Christmas 1923 to 1935 she was the Recorder of the Vorstand of the General Anthroposophical Society and Leader of the Medical Section. From 1924-25 she was Rudolf Steiner's physician. Together they wrote Fundamentals of Therapy.

WEISS, FRAU

WERBECK, LOUIS MICHAEL JULIUS (Hamburg 1879–1928 Hamburg)
Member from 1910. From 1917 leader of the Pythagoras branch in Hamburg. From 1923 he was a member of the council of the German Anthroposophical Society. He wrote Die wissenschaftlichen Gegner Rudolf Steiners und der Anthroposophie durch sie selbst widerlegt (The Scientific Opponents of Rudolf Steiner and Anthroposophy Disproved by Themselves) and Die christlichen Gegner Rudolf Steiners und der Anthroposophie (The Christian Opponents of Rudolf Steiner and Anthroposophy), Stuttgart 1924.

WINDELBAND, WILHELM
See Note 41.

WULLSCHLEGER, FRITZ (Zofingen 1896–1969 Zofingen)
Teacher. Member from 1920. Member of the School Association for Independent Education in Switzerland. (See Note 56.

ZAGWIJN, HENRI (d.1954)
Composer and writer from Rotterdam. Set to music Rudolf Steiner's verses ‘Im Seelenaug ...’ and ‘Die Sonne schaue ...’ Wrote Die Musik im Lichte der Anthroposophie (Music in the Light of Anthroposophy). Teacher at the Waldorf school in The Hague.

ZEYLMANS VAN EMMICHOVEN, DR MED F W WILLEM (Helmond 1893–1961 Johannesburg)
Member from 1920. Founder of the Rudolf Steiner Clinic in The Hague, co-founder of the Anthroposophical Society in Holland and from November 1923 its General Secretary. Wrote, among other works, Rudolf Steiner, Eine Biographie (Rudolf Steiner, A Biography), Stuttgart 1961.
[Note: a reader who was at the funeral of Dr Zeylmans van Emmichoven has reported he died in Cape Town, not Johannesburg. His ashes were scattered on Table Mountain. e.Ed]

The lectures, addresses and contributions to discussions given by Rudolf Steiner at the Christmas Conference for the Founding of the General Anthroposophical Society in 1923/24 were first published by Marie Steiner twenty-one years later. She undertook the revision of the text and wrote the introductory and concluding words. The original form of Marie Steiner's presentation has been maintained in the present new edition within the framework of the Complete Works. Any changes made in the text after comparison with the existing records have been documented in the Notes. A Supplement has been added containing facsimile reproductions of documents in Rudolf Steiner's handwriting as well as of texts and diagrams made on the blackboard during the Conference.

The Conference was for members of the Anthroposophical Society only. This fact determined the tone of Rudolf Steiner's contributions, especially the lectures. ‘I was permitted to speak in internal circles in a manner which would have had to be different had I spoken publicly from the start.’ (The Course of my Life)

The records taken down in shorthand were originally not intended for publication, and Rudolf Steiner was unable to check them himself. Though for the greatest part they may be assumed to be verbatim, nevertheless, as with all his published lectures, account must be taken of his own proviso in this matter: ‘There will be nothing for it but to accept that there may be mistakes in the records I have been unable to check myself. A judgment on the content of these private publications will in any event only be acceptable when it is based on that knowledge which is a prerequisite for such judgment. In the case of most of these publications this is at least the knowledge of man and the universe as given by Anthroposophy, and also what may be found under the heading “anthroposophical history” in the wisdom that has been received from the spiritual world.’ (The Course of my Life)

In this [German] Edition the verses are given as Rudolf Steiner spoke them during the Christmas Conference of 1923, as shown by the complete and reliable record in shorthand made by Helene Finckh. Previous editions [in German] contained variations in some of the verses, especially in the rendering of 25 December. This is explained as follows:

Rudolf Steiner gave the verses in two versions, both of which are recorded in his own handwriting (see Facsimiles 1 and 4 in the Supplement). The first version was used during the Conference. The second version was made for the printed record in the report ‘Die Bildung der Allgemeinen Anthroposophischen Gesellschaft durch die Weihnachts-tagung 1923’ (The Formation of the General Anthroposophical Society through the Christmas Conference of 1923) in the first number of Was in der Anthroposophischen Gesellschaft vorgeht. Nachrichten für deren Mitglieder (What is Happening in the Anthroposophical Society. News for Members) of 13 January 1924. In this second version there are certain divergences from the text as spoken during the Conference. The most important of these are that the hierarchies are not named but approached under a general designation, and that the Rosicrucian motto is given in German and not in Latin.

The reason which moved Rudolf Steiner to make this alteration was given on a number of occasions by Marie Steiner, and recorded by one of her colleagues, Günther Schubert, as follows: ‘She spoke repeatedly about her memory of the great difficulty Rudolf Steiner experienced in reaching the decision to publish the verses of the 1923 laying of the Foundation Stone. In the end he toned down the direct approach to the hierarchies by making the salutation more abstract. He wanted this toned-down version to be the one used exclusively within members' circles too, for he said that there was a law attached to esoteric mantrams of such a cultic nature: The force with which they return equal to that with which they are sent forth, and it is therefore necessary to ask oneself whether one will be strong enough to endure this.’

Marie Steiner originally wanted to take this into account when she published this record of the Christmas Foundation Meeting. However, it was only possible in respect of the words spoken on 25 December, for on 29 December the call to the hierarchies by name was included in Rudolf Steiner's subsequent discussion of the ‘rhythms’. The relevant lines were not spoken on the other days.

In the present [German] edition the verses, including that of 25 December, are given as they were spoken and recorded in the shorthand report.

The Anthroposophical Society was founded on December 28th 1912 in Cologne, German, with about 3000 members. By 1923, the international growth of of the Anthroposophical Society made restructuring necessary. This restructuring took place during the Christmas Conference in 1923.

The General Anthroposophical Society is, “an association of people whose will it is to nurture the life of the soul, both in the individual and in human society, on the basis of a true knowledge of the spiritual world.” The Society is public, without political agenda or religious affiliation. Its activity is seen today in independent national societies and initiatives throughout the world, with members from all cultures and continents.

The aim of the Society, the School of Spiritual Science and the Goetheanum is to make a spiritually based contribution to the life of humanity in the world of today and tomorrow.

This text is from a pamphlet printed by the Anthroposophical Society of Great Britain.

1. The Anthroposophical Society is a union of human beings who desire to further the life of the soul—both in the individual and in human society—on the basis of a true knowledge of the Spiritual World.
2. The persons gathered at the Goetheanum, Dornach, at Christmas, 1923—both the individuals who were present and the groups which were represented—form the foundation of the Society. They are convinced that there is in existence at the present time a real Science of the Spiritual World—discovered and elaborated for years past, and, in important particulars, already published. They hold, moreover, that the civilisation of to-day needs the cultivation of such a science. This is to be the task of the Anthroposophical Society. It will endeavour to fulfil the task by centering its activities on the spiritual science of Anthroposophy cultivated in the Goetheanum at Dornach, with all that results from it for human brotherhood, for moral and religious life, and for the artistic and cultural life in humanity.¹
3. The persons gathered together at Dornach in founding the Anthroposophical Society recognise and support the view of those responsible at the Goetheanum (represented by the Executive formed at the Foundation Meeting) in the following particulars:—“The Anthroposophy pursued in the Goetheanum leads to results which can be of assistance to every human being—without distinction of nation, social standing or religion—acting as an incentive in spiritual life. These results can in a real sense give rise to a social life based on brotherly love. The possibility of making them one's own and founding life upon them depends on no special degree of learning or education, but alone on a free, unbiased human nature. The researches, however, which lead to them, and the power of competent judgment on the results of research, are subject to a spiritual-scientific training which must be acquired step by step. The results are in their way no less exact than those of Natural Science; and when like these they attain general recognition, they will bring about a like progress in all spheres of life—not only in the spiritual but in the practical domain.”
4. The Anthroposophical Society is an entirely public organisation, and in no sense a secret society. Without distinction of nationality, social standing, religion, scientific or artistic conviction, any person feeling the existence of such an institution as the School of Spiritual Science—the Goetheanum in Dornach—to be justified, can become a member of the Society. The Anthroposophical Society is averse to any kind of sectarian tendency. Politics it does not consider to be among its tasks.

5. The Anthroposophical Society looks upon the School of Spiritual Science at Dornach as the centre of its work. This School will be composed of three classes. Members of the Society will—at their request—be admitted to the School after a period of membership to be determined in each case by those responsible at the Goetheanum. They thus gain entrance to the first class of the School of Spiritual Science. Applicants will be received into the second or third class respectively when those responsible at the Goetheanum deem them ripe for admission.
6. Every member of the Anthroposophical Society has the right to participate—under conditions to be announced in each case by the Executive—in all lectures, demonstrations and meetings of any kind arranged by the Society.
7. The establishment of the School of Spiritual Science is, to begin with, in the hands of Rudolf Steiner, who will appoint his collaborators and his eventful successor.
8. All publications of the Society will be open to the public as are those of other public societies.² The same will apply to the publications of the School of Spiritual Science; but in regard to these works, those responsible for the School reserve the right from the outset to deny the validity of opinions unsupported by the proper qualifications, namely by the training of which the works themselves are the outcome. In this sense, and as is customary in the recognised scientific world, they will admit the validity of no judgment which is not based on the requisite preliminary studies. The publications of the School of Spiritual Science will therefore contain the following notice:—“Printed in Manuscript for the members of the School of Spiritual Science, Goetheanum, Class ... No person is held qualified to form a judgment on the contents of these works, who has not acquired—through the School itself or in an equivalent manner recognised by the School—the requisite preliminary knowledge. Other opinions will be disregarded; the authors decline to take them as a basis for discussion.”
9. The object of the Anthroposophical Society will be the furtherance of spiritual research; that of the School of Spiritual Science the actual pursuit of such research. A dogmatic position in any sphere whatsoever shall be excluded from the Anthroposophical Society.
10. At the beginning of each year the Anthroposophical Society shall hold an annual General Meeting, when the Executive shall submit a full report and balance-sheet. The Agenda shall be issued by the Executive together with the invitation to all members six weeks before the meeting. The Executive may summon emergency General Meetings and fix the Agenda for such Meetings. Invitations to such Meetings shall be sent to members three weeks in advance. Motions by individual members or groups of members shall be sent in a week before the date of a General Meeting.
11. The members of the Society may join together in smaller or larger groups, on any geographical or other basis of activity. The seat of the Anthroposophical Society is at the Goetheanum, whence the Executive shall communicate to the members or groups of members what it considers to be the task of the Society. The Executive enters into communication with the officials elected or appointed by the several Groups. The admission of members is in the hands of the Groups; the forms of admission shall, however, be submitted to the Executive at Dornach for signature, the Executive signing them in confidence to the officials of the Groups. As a general rule every member shall join a Group. Only those who find it quite impossible to enter a Group should apply for admission at Dornach as individual members.
12. The subscription shall be fixed by the several Groups; each Group shall, however, send 12s. (twelve shillings) annually per member to the headquarters of the Society at the Goetheanum.
13. Each working Group formulates its own Statutes, but these must not be incompatible with the Statutes of the Anthroposophical Society.
14. The organ of the Society is the “Goetheanum” Weekly, which shall for this purpose issue a Supplement containing the official communications of the Society. This enlarged edition of the “Goetheanum” will be supplied to members of the Anthroposophical Society only.
15. The Foundation Executive of the Society will be as follows:—

    First President: Dr. Rudolf Steiner.
    Second President: Albert Steffen.
    Recorder: Dr. Ita Wegman.
    Members of Executive: Frau Marie Steiner,
    Members of Executive: Dr. Elisabeth Vreede.
    Hon. Secretary and Treas: Dr. Guenther Wachsmuth.

• 1. The Society is continuous with the Anthroposophical Society founded in 1912. With the same objects in view which were then defined, the intention is, however, to create a fresh point of departure, in keeping with the true spirit of the time.
• 2. The conditions, too, whereby one enters into the training of this School, have been described in published works, and their publication will be continued.

The next thing we have to do today is to remember the departure from the physical plane of one of our very dear members. Countess von Brockdorff, who, as the old members of the Theosophical Society in Germany in particular know, devoted so much strength and dedication to this Theosophical Society in Germany, passed away on June 8 after a physically painful suffering. The older of our members, and I myself in particular, know of the beautiful and devoted work of Countess von Brockdorff. In times when the Theosophical cause in Germany was often on the verge of dying out, it was the couple, Count and Countess Brockdorff, who, in their loving and at the same time extremely likeable manner, knew how to keep the Theosophical movement in Germany afloat again and again. Those who still remember the quiet and extremely effective way in which the countess knew how to gather the most diverse minds in her house to send out individual rays of light will fully appreciate her work.

If I may first say a few words about how I myself came to be part of the circle in which Countess Brockdorff worked, inspiring in the broadest sense in a theosophical and otherwise intellectual way, I would just like to say that one day a lady said to me whether I would like to give a lecture on Nietzsche in Brockdorff's circle. I accepted and gave a lecture on Nietzsche. The countess then took the opportunity to ask if I would give a second lecture in the same winter cycle. This second lecture - I think it was the winter series of 1900 - was about the fairy tale of the “Green Snake and the Beautiful Lily”. Even then, the Countess felt the desire to resume her actual theosophical work, which had been somewhat dormant. The Countess's work was gradually becoming extremely difficult because she was becoming more and more rooted in the theosophical life, which had led to various theosophical experiences. It was difficult to continue her spiritual life under the name of Theosophy. Therefore, she had initially limited herself to her Thursday afternoons, but then felt the need to return to actual Theosophical activity and asked me – I was not even a member of the Society at the time – to give lectures at the Association, which during the first winter were on German mysticism up to Angelus Silesius. An outline of this is given in the book 'Mysticism in Modern Spiritual Life'. The next winter I gave the lectures on 'Christianity as a Mystical Fact'. Through this a kind of center for the gathering of the Theosophical forces in Germany arose, from which the actual founding of the Section spread out and a foundation was created.

Now, when one thinks of the dear Countess Brockdorff, it must be emphasized that the Theosophical cause was repeatedly kept afloat by her extraordinarily sympathetic manner and work. The Countess had little sense for certain organizational issues and currents in the Theosophical movement. It was less her thing, she had less sympathy for it. But a certain basic tendency of her heart formed to work in the direction of the theosophical movement. She did this, as rarely as a human being, in a way that was supported by the fullest devotion and extraordinary love.

It was probably necessary for her health that at the moment when we were forced by circumstances to develop a tighter and more concentrated organization in Germany, she had to retire to her retirement home in Algund near Meran. And how often this rest was not a real rest for the good countess either. She soon began to suffer from ill health, and in the last few years she went through difficult times in terms of her health. Speaking objectively, I can say that the history of the Theosophical movement in Germany in the 1890s and early 1900s will be linked with the name of Brockdorff, as the services rendered by the countess and the count cannot be praised enough. The older members will still remember our dear count when he was still at the side of his partner, whom he has now lost in the physical plane. But the members also know how deeply rooted the theosophical sentiment was, with which peace will be won from the theosophical world view. But even those who may have been younger members and did not know Countess Brockdorff will, in view of what she achieved for the Theosophical movement in Germany and particularly in Berlin, remember her with gratitude and look back with a certain — essentially Theosophical — sentiment on the last days that brought physical death to this much-admired and beloved member. I ask you to honor the honored member by rising from our seats.

It now falls to me to fulfill the special duty of remembering at this moment those dear members of our Society who have left the physical plane during this year.

We have Mrs. Agnes Schuchardt, a lady who has lived in theosophical pursuit for many years. She has been a member of the Theosophical Society for a long time, and although she was already confined to her bed when the German Section was founded, she was still very much connected in her soul to what was happening internally and externally; and many a letter she wrote to me showed how she followed what was going on with heartfelt concern.

Secondly, Franz Vrba, who joined the Theosophical Society as a member of the Prague branch and who left the physical plane after a relatively short period of membership.

Furthermore, we have two particularly poignant cases from our Munich branch. One is Otto Fluschke. The name Huschke is inextricably linked with the development of Theosophical work in Germany, and Huschke was among those who offered their help when the German Section was being founded. He was already deeply involved in the Theosophical movement and in occultism. It was always a pleasant duty for me when I came to Munich to visit the always sickly and immobile gentleman and to see what kind of occult needs and aspirations prevailed within the four walls of this gentleman. It may well be said to be particularly painful that Mr. Huschke's death occurred in the days when his daughter, Miss Huschke, also left the physical plane. They both shared everything they had in life, theosophically, as much as possible. Miss Huschke was also a dear member of the Munich Lodge, and above all, one of the most ambitious members. Otto and Flilda Fuschke lived together and left the physical plane together a few hours apart, and will continue to live together theosophically in other worlds.

The passing of our dear Mrs. Doser from the physical plane is a fifth case. Mrs. Doser was also one of the oldest members of the German Section. In a very special way, she allowed into herself all that came from the resources of the occult world movement. Everyone who knew her or came into close contact with her will have felt in their hearts the nature of this wonderful woman, who was so devoted and tender on the one hand and, on the other, filled with a deep yearning. The last period of her life was marked by a serious illness, which she bore with a wonderful dignity. But she was a person who, despite everything, had something of the blissful anticipation of living towards a new world in the depths of her consciousness. She lived her life in such a way that she faded away on the outside, as it were, but this allowed her inner spiritual life to become ever richer and richer. I am certain that those personalities who were closest to her during her life will also fully recognize these feelings as their own. A number of members made it possible for Mrs. Doser to visit the sunny south, for which she longed so much; and it was really touching to see how she could perceive the spiritual power in the physical sun. And it will remain unforgettable for me that in Capri, a few hours before her death, this soul of Frau Doser addressed a few lines to me, from which emerges the longing to overcome the yearning, the mood, the confinement of the physical plane: “I want to get out, board a ship tomorrow, - out into the wide sea!” It was a feeling that the soul was freeing itself from the physical body.

I have to mention a painful event in the death of Fritz Eyselein. Many of you who were at the Theosophical lectures know that in Fritz Eyselein a personality came among you who, so to speak, early in the development of the German Section, fell into an unfortunate state of mind that made it impossible to help her. It is neither necessary nor perhaps even tactful to go into this here, which needs only to be hinted at and which can therefore no less enable us to give our dear Fritz Eyselein the most beautiful feelings of love and friendship on the other side.

Now we have to mention a personality who bid farewell to the physical plane last year and who had been at the head of the Munich Lodge for years: Fräulein von Hofstetten. Based on her extensive life experience, she was able to take over the leadership of this lodge in an appropriate manner. This lady, who had also been in poor health for a long time, whose body had only been held together by a lively mind for a long time, also had an active striving in every direction, and she was always there when something needed to be done, even if she had just undergone an operation; And anyone who has become acquainted with the beautiful inner and outer life of Miss von Hoffstetten will give her the most beautiful love on the other side. Another member who was more interested in the Theosophical Society and passed away from the physical plane is Mrs. Fähndrich. We will also remember her with love and respect beyond the physical plane.

Now I have to mention our dear Mrs. Rozbenstein, who belonged to the Heidelberg Lodge for a short time and was taken from us after a short time by a treacherous illness. She was a beautiful, self-contained nature, deeply and earnestly devoted to our cause. We will also send her the feelings of love.

In saying this, I have remembered those who are no longer with us in the flesh, but who are always with us in spirit.

The assembly honors the memory of the persons mentioned by standing up.

In a very solemn manner, the General Secretary then named those of our dear members who had left the physical plane during the year, and linked this with a brief description of the relationship of the deceased to Theosophy, especially the three ladies from Stuttgart who had passed away: Mrs. Lina Schwarz, Mrs. Cohen and Mrs. Aldinger.

In such a case, too, we can place ourselves in the soul of the deceased, in particular, in terms of the importance of what Theosophy can offer us. We do not want to try to console the bereaved of our dear friends who have passed away with banal phrases, but we want to point out that although we are only at the beginning of our movement, the overall karma of it must gradually be balanced in the individual karma. The Theosophists must feel it their duty to support each other in certain cases. Thus the popular phrase of universal love for humanity is replaced by a true understanding of individual real love for one's neighbor. If human love does not take hold of individual cases and become active there, it remains a mere phrase. Such thoughts must arise in us when we see from time to time this or that of our dear members leave the physical plane.

After the expiration of our seven-year period, we have other things to report, which we Theosophists always characterize differently than the outside world. Just in this past year, we have had to report the passing of some of our oldest members, some of whom were particularly committed to the Theosophical cause, to the physical plane. And when we remember these dear Theosophical members of ours, we think of them in the same way and with the same love that we regarded them as belonging to us while they were among us in the physical world. We want to say that for us Theosophists there is something that is considered a duty in the outer, non-Theosophical world, but which must be a special consecration and a special permeation with the content of the nuances of feelings and thoughts acquired in the Theosophical life for us Theosophists. This is the forwarding of love, the forwarding of our best feelings beyond the physical plane to those who have left this physical plane. We should strive to develop such feelings, strengthened by the theosophical sentiment, towards the departed. We should make ourselves capable of sending such feelings to the other worlds through our theosophical progress, so that we feel the love, truth, and good that we have encountered in such members as an ever-present presence, and so that these members themselves feel constantly present, so that we speak of them as those who continue to walk among us, and whose walk becomes more and more sacred to us for the reason that what they can send us from that world must be more valuable to them than what they could give us on the physical plane. In this active way we remember those of our dear members who left the physical plane in the past year.

In particular, we remember an elderly member who has been with us since the Section was founded. We feel a special closeness to her because the brother of this member, who is here as our dear friend Mr. Wagner, is close to us in turn.

Miss Amalie Wagner in Hamburg, who is well known to many of us, left the physical plane during the course of this year, and we will always look to what she tried to do for Theosophical life. Many of those Theosophists who were close to our dear Amalie Wagner have, in their inmost hearts, come to appreciate the work of Amalie Wagner in an extraordinary way and have shown an unlimited love for this friend. And that was only the beautiful reflection of the beautiful Theosophical striving in the soul of Amalie Wagner. And it is with reverence and sacred consecration that we commemorate an important moment in the life of Amalie Wagner. That was the moment when her sister, who had been a member of our movement with her in Hamburg, preceded her in death. At that time I was able to experience the beautiful, loving understanding with which Amalie Wagner's soul approached the event that took place with the death of her sister. There I was able to receive, so to speak, Amalie Wagner's genuine theosophical feeling of looking up to her sister. How Amalie Wagner looked up to the higher worlds to form ideas about how a person lives on in these higher worlds was the subject of much discussion in Amalie Wagner's dear, lonely living room. And now we look after her in thought, as she in turn receives from above what is offered to her and from below, from the physical plane, the feelings of love and admiration that we have for her from here. We can already see two sides of this soul today, how she lives up and down, how a person in the spiritual world lives when there is an impulse in their heart to join what passes through our movement as a soul. And so we look with devotion and love for the soul of this dear Miss Wagner, as if she were always present to us.

Another old member has left the physical plane, who is indeed known to few, but these few are those who loved this dear member very much, who, whenever they met with him, felt anew the reverence-inspiring soul of our dear friend Jargues Tschudy in Glarus, who has belonged to our German Section from the very beginning. He was met by a number of our dear members at the Swiss Theosophical Society meetings. And if I may use a word in this case that is meant very seriously, I would like to say that the soul of this personality worked in such a way that one could not help but love it. And those who often saw how this man was loved know that those who knew him will continue to send this feeling to him in the spiritual world.

Then there is another exceptionally ambitious member who, in vigorous energy, tried to penetrate into the exoteric and esoteric of Theosophy, and who only in recent years joined our German Section, has left the physical plan. Our dear friend Minuth from Riga was present at the last Stuttgart cycle; then he reappeared in Hamburg, and by then his outer physical body was already afflicted with the germ that did not allow him to live further. He was no longer able to attend the complete cycle and left the physical plane soon afterwards. We will also send up to the higher worlds those feelings that we not only had when we decided to become Theosophists, but that we have acquired during our Theosophical life.

We have seen another personality depart from the physical plane: the wife of our dear friend Sellin. You all know our dear friend Sellin from previous theosophical meetings. While he was working in Zurich, his dear wife passed over into the spiritual world. Our dear friend understands his wife's passing in the most wonderful way, and anyone who has been privileged to feel what Sellin himself feels towards the dead knows how the theosophist should feel towards the dead in the true, beautiful sense. I would have to speak words that would describe in the most vivid colors feelings that stream up vividly into the spiritual world if I wanted to convey to you some of the beautiful words that were sent from the soul of our dear friend Sellin here on the physical plane to his beloved wife. But it is better if we evoke in ourselves, so to speak, only a hint of what can be said through something so beautiful if we have not heard it ourselves. And anyone who, like me, has heard such beautiful words as those of our dear friend Sellin, which bear witness to his truly beautiful, real feelings, anyone who has experienced this himself has no desire to profane such beautiful words by speaking them. But at this moment I have the need in my soul to awaken in your own hearts an inkling of what beautiful feeling, beautiful inner experience is, towards those who have physically disappeared in the direction of the spiritual world.

Another personality in Stuttgart has disappeared from those close to her in the physical world: our dear friend Frenze/ recently lost his wife to the higher planes. When we see how we Theosophists begin to develop a real soul life, we need only think of our dear Mrs. Frenzel, who worked so beautifully on her soul to enter into the Theosophical life. Perhaps only those who were close to her soul, like myself, can appreciate this. And so we may send up our love to our dear friend Mrs. Frenzel.

And so we also remember another friend who left the physical plane through a tragic fate, Mrs. /Jedwig von Knebel, whose loving devotion to the Theosophical cause was noticed both when we others were in Wiesbaden and by the Wiesbadeners themselves.

But then the image of a Theosophical personality who recently left the physical plane descends upon us with a special power, with a very special vibrancy from the higher worlds, who for years devoted herself to the Theosophical cause with an intensity, an understanding and a devotion that truly cannot be described in words, and she was able to do a lot. I myself will always remember the moment after a Theosophical meeting when our dear FZilde Stockmeyer approached me for the first time to learn more about some of the things she had learned in Theosophy, which she had absorbed with all the strength she had. On the other hand, she tried – and she was allowed and able to try a great deal – to combine what she had learned in Theosophy with what external science offers in terms of truth and good. And it can be said that her extensive knowledge was also able to bear fruit externally, in that she passed the final exam shortly before her passing, to the satisfaction of the external world. Hilde Stockmeyer's knowledge can be seen as the first thing she gave us as a beautiful gift of her personal values. What Hilde Stockmeyer, the chairwoman of the Malsch lodge, was to us in the physical realm was due to her abilities and the way she processed these abilities. She was therefore called to work fruitfully, and to what Hilde Stockmeyer acquired through the development of her abilities in this way, she added something else, which, through its emanation, worked on those close to her, which could only reveal itself to us through its effect, how fruitful genuine, true, theosophical feeling can become here in human life. This is shown by the way in which father, mother, brothers and sisters and friends took their departure to the higher worlds. This is again proof of the effectiveness of theosophy in human souls in this case. It is proof of this in yet another way than was the case with the others mentioned. Personalities were everywhere around the others who had sought theosophy. Hilde Stockmeyer's parents even confessed: 'She brought us Theosophy, she was sent to us.' The people who had preceded her on the physical plane, who had given her physical life, confessed what they could feel in response to what came to them from the higher worlds in their own daughter, which they had to say: We could not help this being to existence on the physical plane, we were the tool for this. And it is one of the most beautiful feelings that has been expressed within our theosophical movement, that the parents of Hilde Stockmeyer expressed the magnitude of the gratitude and appreciation they felt for the knowledge of their daughter, the knowledge of the daughter who brought Theosophy into the home of the parents. And this glorious echo is what Hilde Stockmeyer's parents express to their daughter, who has passed into the spiritual world. But we should learn to send up to the higher worlds especially for Hilde Stockmeyer what can only be sensed in such matters. And it is clear to me that I cannot send a better feeling up into the spiritual worlds than if I were to send up the feelings of Hilde Stockmeyer's soul myself now, making myself the tool of her soul for the beautiful thing that our dear friend knew how to say out of a beautiful feeling while she was still here with us. In two little poems that were entrusted to me and that came from the pen of our dear friend, which sprang from her beautifully developed mind, she still speaks to us from the physical plane. How Hilde Stockmeyer felt about the eternal teachings of Theosophy may resonate with us from her own little poems at this moment. This is how Hilde Stockmeyer spoke when she was still alive, and this is how she may resonate for us:

Are we really all alone?
Can one never understand the other?
Can he never look into his heart?
Ease his pain?
I think that when love speaks to love,
From the heart with a loyal face,
For the sake of love, to ease the torment,
To alleviate the pain with loving words,
then I think it can't be in vain!
Are we really all alone?
Are there no bridges to every heart?
Is there no balm for all pain?
When we sink eye to eye,
not thinking of ourselves at all,
we don't even need words,
True understanding speaks without sound!
Even to the most hardened hearts
There is a way.
If you walk courageously on a shaky path
With the one thought: to be a helper,
You will soon no longer be alone!

Let us try, after their departure from our hearts, to develop feelings that are worthy of theirs, feelings that will let them follow her. And let us learn to feel as she herself felt and as she expressed it in the other little poem:

I want to be a pure source of blessing
That always flows and never must dry up,
A heart full of courage I would call my own,
That never desponds and never trembles in pain.
And love I would stream through the worlds;
That all living things shall rejoice with delight.
And thus giving I would quietly sink into the All,
Like a melody that fades away softly.

She spoke like this in life, and she died for the physical plane. It goes without saying that we should endeavor to send her something as valuable as she did, sensing her own death, speaking in her last words, the last little poem. Those who knew Hilde Stockmeyer as I did know that the death of this dear soul was:

And so I would like to quietly sink into the universe,
Like a melody that fades away.

The meeting honored the memory of the above-named individuals by rising from their seats.