Anthroposophical Society

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The Anthroposophical Society (AG) came into being in 1912/1913 from a split of a larger group of members of the German Section of the Theosophical Society after Rudolf Steiner , its general secretary since 1902, refused to accept that of Annie Besant , the president of the Adyar-TG , prescribed course to follow the Indian Jiddu Krishnamurti as the new Christ . The founding of the Anthroposophical Society took place in several steps, the last of which was the founding ceremony on February 4, 1913. It took place during the 1st General Assembly of the Society (February 3 to 8, 1913) in Berlin, its future seat. This Anthroposophical Society from 1912/13 existed until February 1923 when it was transformed into the “Anthroposophical Society in Germany” has been. During the so-called Christmas Conference (December 24, 1923 to January 1, 1924) the Anthroposophical Society (“Christmas Conference Society)” was re-established. In a legal dispute between members of the General Anthroposophical Society and the board of directors, the higher court of the Canton of Solothurn ruled on January 12, 2005 that the Anthroposophical Society entered into an implied merger with the Goetheanum Building Association, renamed the General Anthroposophical Society, on February 8, 1925. The question of whether the Christmas Conference Society still exists is, despite the court ruling, still part of the so-called constitutional debate.

Breakup story

The road to the separation of the Anthroposophical Society (AG) from the Theosophical Society was a dispute in which a. about institutional and power-political conflicts and the development of content-based, ideological profiles.

Johannesbauverein versus Star Order

Topping-out ceremony of the first Goetheanum on April 1, 1914, view from the south

For annual congresses and artistic performances, such as the performances of Steiner's mystery poems, the theosophical followers of Steiner's attempted to acquire their own rooms. For this purpose, a “Theosophical Artistic Fund” was founded in autumn 1910, which was entered in the register of associations on May 9, 1911 as the Johannesbauverein . The theosophical Johannesbauverein was formally separated from the Theosophical Association, analogous to the structurally identical Star Order . Steiner was not a member of the association. On September 20, 1913, the foundation stone was laid for the Johannesbau in Dornach. From 1918 the Johannesbau was called the Goetheanum . The first Goetheanum burned to the ground on New Year's Eve 1922/23.

The final crisis (1911-1913)

In 1911, the contentious disputes between Steiner and Annie Besant had stalled and organizational and power-political decisions became increasingly apparent. Besant and Leadbeater began to implement their “World Teacher Project”. For this purpose, the Order of the Star in the East was founded on November 11, 1911 in Adyar and Krishnamurti was subjected to a further initiation. Besant's appointment of Hugo Vollrath as secretary of the Star Order in Germany caused resentment in the German Adyar section , since Vollrath had previously been excluded from the German section by Steiner. Besant tried to defuse the conflict in July 1911 by appointing Wilhelm Hübbe-Schleiden as the German representative of the Star Order, but the conflict simmered on. In August 1911, 800 Steiner supporters met to discuss their own “alliance” and on December 10, 1911, at the general assembly of the German Adyar section, the disagreements regarding Vollrath and the Star Order were discussed and the separation from Adyar was openly considered. Steiner still refused to split off, but criticized President Besant. On October 20, 1911, Steiner made Besant's “Esoteric Christianity” publicly known as the source of their disputes by referring to the results of his clairvoyant “research” that differed from their version . On December 16, 1911, Steiner and his followers founded the separatist federation for the care of Rosicrucian spiritual science . On June 12, 1912, the fronts hardened; Steiner assigned the Buddha a peacemaking role on the planet Mars and, in such a polemic way, degraded its earthly effectiveness. The representative of the German Besant faction, Hübbe-Schleiden, accused Steiner's section on June 19, 1912 of being “organized like a church or sect”. Steiner countered a month later and “railed”, alluding to the Krishnamurti hype, against “associations and orders for the approach of future world saviors”.

The dispute over the Star Order was at the same time a proxy war that concerned the future leadership of the Theosophical Society. Finally, Besant broke the barrel by untruthfully and defamantly claiming that Steiner was brought up by Jesuits. On March 7, 1913 Besant Steiner withdrew the deed of foundation and expelled his followers from the Theosophical Society. The separation was not only factual, but also de jure. The German Theosophical Society (DTG) renamed itself the Anthroposophical Society (AG) and 92% of the members of the DTG (2257 members in 85 working groups), Steiner followed into the AG. While Steiner acted as general secretary in the DTG, he only took over its "honorary presidency" in the newly founded AG.

Besant, the president of the Adyar-TG, transferred the charter to her German confidante, Hübbe Schleiden, on March 7, 1913 and entrusted him with the management of the German Adyar section, which after the reorganization only had 218 members in 19 lodges and one Center included.

In order to distinguish himself from Besant's eastern path and to delegitimize it as a heresy with reference to his “supernatural” revelation, Steiner gave a lecture on “the Fifth Gospel” from October 1, 1913, as a result of his research in the Akasha Chronicle . He stylized himself as the proclaimer of his own "gospel of knowledge" and claimed to have uncovered the unknown life of Jesus between the ages of 12 and 30. Steiner reported on an alleged "spiritual conversation" between Buddha and Jesus, in which Buddha admitted his error and dismantled himself.

The "Dornach Crisis" of 1915

Two years after the separation from Besants Adyar-TG, the Anthroposophical Society was shaken by turmoil after Steiner married Marie von Sievers on December 24, 1914 , while in Helmut Zander's opinion there were “many women who expressed their ideology Had connected interests with erotic or sexual hopes for the bachelor Steiner. ”The focus of the disputes was the anthroposophist Alice Sprengel (1871–1947), who considered herself to be one of Steiner's inspirations and referred to her significant incarnations. Steiner tried to pathologize Sprengel, but other anthroposophists seem to have defended her during a discussion on August 21, 1915, which caused Rudolf Steiner and Marie Steiner to leave the room indignantly. The conflict ended with the exclusion of Sprengel, who then joined the Ordo Templi Orientis (OTO), in which she played a leading role until the 1930s.

Relocation to Stuttgart in 1921

The increasing petrification, the generation conflict, the power struggles and the tensions with the practice-oriented movements were attempted by reconstituting the board and moving the headquarters of the Anthroposophical Society (AG) from Berlin to Stuttgart in September 1921. But the circle around Steiner complained about the self-sufficient Stuttgart system, its persistence and the club dairy of the AG, against which one increasingly sought to rebel as "internal opposition".

Generation conflict: Founding of the Free Anthroposophical Society in 1923

Younger anthroposophists did not feel at home in the Anthroposophical Society . With their clothes, their manners and interests, they represented a new era that was incompatible with Steiner's established company. Steiner advocated the establishment of a further Anthroposophical Society in order to be able to offer the dissatisfied old anthroposophists and the younger generation a new home, since he denied the previous Anthroposophical Society the ability to respond adequately to new trends. Some of the younger members founded the Free Anthroposophical Society in February 1923 . Steiner was so frustrated with the old Anthroposophical Society that he said he wanted "nothing more to do with it" ... and that he was disgusted with "everything that their boards do". At the beginning of 1924 the newly founded society had 300 members in 22 local groups; at the end of 1925 there were 1150, including 200 members from the old Anthroposophical Society (AG). 50 people remained in the AG or had double membership. The established AG with its 12,000 members remained the dominant exponent of anthroposophy and faced the confrontation, which is why Marie Steiner dubbed the fight as a " counter-revolution " as early as 1923 . With Steiner's death the conflicts escalated further. In 1929 anthroposophists from a Waldorf school in Hanover tried to dissolve the small AAG competition. In 1926/1927 the founding of an Austrian branch of the Free Anthroposophical Society was prevented. The Free Anthroposophical Society was dissolved in December 1931.

Internal conflicts and public disputes

Anthroposophists who, like Steiner, claimed to be able to call up “higher knowledge”, caused conflict again and again. In addition to the internal problems, there were partly polemical public disputes about socially present branches of anthroposophy, namely threefolding and Waldorf schools. An anthroposophist from Steiner's circle, Roman Boos , was even sentenced in court for his failures. Critics striving for understanding and asking factual inquiries, as well as polemic former anthroposophists and outsiders are referred to as opponents in anthroposophical literature to this day . Because of these disputes, Steiner failed to obtain naturalization in Switzerland.

Establishment of the Anthroposophical Society (Christmas Conference 1923)

Steiner assessed the arson on New Year's Eve 1922 as a symptom of the inability of the AG management board to properly look after his work. One year after the catastrophic fire, at the Christmas conference (December 24, 1923 - January 1, 1924), Steiner founded the Anthroposophical Society on December 28, 1923. He took over their chairmanship and set up the board, which he called esoteric, without "democratic procedures authoritatively". In addition to his wife Marie Steiner (eurythmist and actress) and the doctor Dr. Ita Wegman , his personal assistant, the lawyer Dr. Guenther Wachsmuth , the writer Albert Steffen and the mathematician and astronomer Dr. Elisabeth Vreede . Steiner had reserved the right to determine his successor, but did not make any succession arrangements. The newly founded Anthroposophical Society ( "Christmas Conference Company") on 8 February 1925, the in General Anthroposophical Society renamed Association of the Goetheanum School of Spiritual Science ( "Building Association" called) an implied merger one.

Leadership disputes after Steiner's death

After Steiner's death, conflicts arose over his successor, which led to the exclusion of entire national companies from the now internationally widespread society.

Outlawing Valentin Tomberg

In 1932 Valentin Tomberg , the general secretary of the Estonian Anthroposophical Society, had developed into a spiritual authority with his works, which challenged Steiner's quasi monocratic claim to validity as a clairvoyant . Thereupon Tomberg was denied the competence to be an authentic Steiner interpreter at the Goetheanum in December 1933 . Marie Steiner called on the members to the “inevitable fight” against the supposedly “delusional” and “occult teacher” and set the course for his exclusion from the Anthroposophical Society . In 1995, Tomberg, who died in 1973, was accused of spiritual treason in anthroposophical circles: he had converted to "the camp [of] the inexorable arch-enemies " of anthroposophy (meaning the Catholic Church).

Ita Wegman's repudiation

With Steiner's death, the gynecologist and friend of Steiner's, Ita Wegman , lost her protection within the Anthroposophical Society. In 1923 Steiner entrusted her with the management of the "Medical Section" of the Goetheanum and appointed her secretary to the board at the 1923 Christmas Conference. She tried in vain to take on the "esoteric" leadership function, since her opponents, especially the widow Marie Steiner , tried to push her out of the power center of anthroposophy in Dornach. Prepared behind the scenes, she was finally expelled from the board of the Anthroposophical Society on April 14, 1935 at the turbulent General Assembly . One of the main areas of conflict was "the accounts and the power". It was only after Wegman's death that her exclusion at the General Assembly of the Anthroposophical Society was lifted again in 1948.

Founding of the United Free Anthroposophical Groups

After her expulsion from the General Anthroposophical Society , Ita Wegman and her followers founded the grouping of the United Free Anthroposophical Groups .

time of the nationalsocialism

At the beginning of the Nazi regime , the Anthroposophical Society (AG) hoped to work with the National Socialists, and Guenther Wachsmuth , a member of the executive committee of the AG , expressed sympathy and admiration for "the brave and courageous way" of problem management "by the leaders of the new Germany ". The relationship of the National Socialists to anthroposophy was ambivalent: on the one hand, it was assessed as an opposing organization, on the other hand, some elements that came from the life reform met with approval. On November 1, 1935, according to a decree of the Prussian Secret State Police, “the Anthroposophical Society existing in the territory of the German Reich” ... “because of its subversive and subversive character” was dissolved. The Christian community was not initially banned because of its character as a Christian association. There were eight Waldorf schools , five of which were closed either by prohibition or by self-dissolution by 1938. Initially, an attempt was made to convert the existing Waldorf schools into National Socialist “experimental schools”. The protection of Hitler's deputy, Rudolf Hess , who was interested in life reform, played an essential role. Only after Hess' so-called “England flight” were the remaining schools closed by the Gestapo and the Christian community banned. The eurythmy , however, was re-admitted in July 1936th Other anthroposophical institutions in which Hess and later the Reichsführer SS and chief of the German police , Heinrich Himmler , were interested, such as parts of curative education or biodynamic agriculture , survived the era of National Socialism untouched.

Legal dispute between the estate administration and the General Anthroposophical Society after 1945

After the interruption during the Nazi era , the old internal anthroposophical disputes from the pre-war period flared up again: During the Second World War , the widow Marie Steiner founded an estate association on June 3, 1943, and her fellow board members and former allies in the General Anthroposophical Society (AAG ), Albert Steffen and Guenther Wachsmuth excluded from collaboration. In the newly flaming estate dispute, the widow succeeded in invoking the Solothurn High Court in 1949 to force the General Anthroposophical Society to forego the publication of the Steiner books. For a while, Steiner's books were no longer sold in the Goetheanum . Only with the death of Steiner's widow (1948) and the death of Steffen (1963) was the General Anthroposophical Society released from the disputes of the founding generation. To this day there have been no institutional contacts between the estate administration, which is located opposite one another on the Dornach Hill, and the General Anthroposophical Society. The situation has only eased somewhat in recent years.

Todays situation

Despite the activities of free anthroposophical associations and individual anthroposophical appropriations, the anthroposophical societies (The General Anthroposophical Society and the regional societies) are currently a central factor in dealing with Steiner's work. The approximately 50,000 worldwide active members or members now form the largest association with theosophical roots (Adyar theosophy has around 30,000 members). In addition to the practice areas that were still developed during Steiner's lifetime, other areas were added, such as anthroposophical banks ( community bank for lending and gift giving , Bochum / Triodos Bank , Zeist) or the University of Witten-Herdecke, founded in 1982 . The anthroposophical societies refer to Steiner's writings and do not see themselves as religious.

literature

  • Robert Jütte : History of Alternative Medicine. From folk medicine to today's unconventional therapies. Beck, Munich 1996, ISBN 3-406-40495-2 , pp. 240, 249, 251 and 253-256.
  • Bodo von Plato: On the history of the Anthroposophical Society. A historical overview. (= Suggestions for anthroposophical work , 14). Free Spiritual Life Publishing House, Stuttgart 1986, ISBN 3-7725-0854-5 .
  • Magdalena Zoeppritz: Documents and voices on the constitutional question of the Anthroposophical Society. An annotated bibliography. Dossenheim 2002.
  • Rahel Uhlenhoff (ed.): Anthroposophy in past and present . Berliner Wissenschafts-Verlag, Berlin 2011, ISBN 978-3-8305-1930-0 .
  • Alexander Lüscher: Materials for the foundation of the Anthroposophical Society 1912/13 . In: On the founding of the Anthroposophical Society 1912/13 (= archive magazine, contributions to the Rudolf Steiner Complete Edition . Ed .: Rudolf Steiner Estate Management, No. 1, June 2012). Rudolf Steiner Verlag, Dornach 2012, ISBN 978-3-7274-8200-7 , pp. 26-121.
  • Helmut Zander : Anthroposophy in Germany. Theosophical worldview and social practice 1884–1945. Two volumes. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2007, ISBN 978-3-525-55452-4 .
  • Emanuel Zeylmans van Emmichoven: Who was Ita Wegman. A documentation . 3 volumes. Edition Georgenberg, Heidelberg 1990-92. ISBN 3-929104-02-4 . Volume 4: Arlesheim 2009.
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  • Helmut Zander: Rudolf Steiner. The biography . Piper Verlag, Munich and Zurich 2011, ISBN 978-3-492-05448-5 .? = ??

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Alexander Lüscher: Materials for the foundation of the Anthroposophical Society 1912/13 . In: Cornelius Bohlen and Alexander Lüscher (editors): On the founding of the Anthroposophical Society 1912/13 (= archive magazine, contributions to the Rudolf Steiner Complete Edition . Ed .: Rudolf Steiner Estate Administration, No. 1, June 2012). Rudolf Steiner Verlag, Dornach 2012, ISBN 978-3-7274-8200-7 . Pp. 70-72.
  2. ↑ Cornelius Bohlen and Alexander Lüscher (editors): On the founding of the Anthroposophical Society 1912/13 (= archive magazine, contributions to the Rudolf Steiner Complete Edition . Ed .: Rudolf Steiner Estate Administration, No. 1, June 2012). Rudolf Steiner Verlag, Dornach 2012, ISBN 978-3-7274-8200-7 , p. 148.
  3. ↑ Helmut Zander: Rudolf Steiner. The biography . Piper Verlag, Munich and Zurich 2011, ISBN 978-3-492-05448-5 . P. 429.
  4. ↑ Helmut Zander: The Anthroposophy. Rudolf Steiner's ideas between esotericism, Weleda, Demeter and Waldorf education . Ferdinand Schöningh Verlag, Paderborn 2019, ISBN 978-3-657-79225-2 . P. 132.
  5. ↑ Helmut Zander: The Anthroposophy. Rudolf Steiner's ideas between esotericism, Weleda, Demeter and Waldorf education . Ferdinand Schöningh Verlag, Paderborn 2019, ISBN 978-3-657-79225-2 . Pp. 131–133 (keyword: constitution debate ).
  6. ^ From: The work of Rudolf Steiner / Novalis Verlag / ISBN 3-7214-0107-7 ; the establishment of the building association and the building project in Munich, p. 38.
  7. ^ Helmut Zander: Anthroposophy in Germany. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2007. p. 819.
  8. ^ Helmut Zander: Anthroposophy in Germany. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2007. p. 927.
  9. ^ Helmut Zander: Anthroposophy in Germany. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2007. S. 818ff, S. 1587.
  10. ^ Helmut Zander: Anthroposophy in Germany. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2007. S. 164 and S. 168.
  11. ^ Helmut Zander: Anthroposophy in Germany. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2007. p. 174.
  12. ^ Helmut Zander: Anthroposophy in Germany. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2007. pp. 822f.
  13. ^ Helmut Zander : Anthroposophy in Germany. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2007. pp. 240–242.
  14. ^ Helmut Zander: Anthroposophy in Germany. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2007. p. 245.
  15. ^ Helmut Zander: Anthroposophy in Germany. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2007. pp. 243–244.
  16. ^ Helmut Zander: Anthroposophy in Germany. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2007. pp. 244–248.
  17. ^ Helmut Zander: Anthroposophy in Germany. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2007. pp. 243–244.
  18. ^ Helmut Zander: Anthroposophy in Germany. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2007. pp. 245–246.
  19. ^ Helmut Zander: Anthroposophy in Germany. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2007. p. 247
  20. ↑ Helmut Zander: The Anthroposophy. Rudolf Steiner's ideas between esotericism, Weleda, Demeter and Waldorf education. Ferdinand Schöningh Verlag, Paderborn 2019, ISBN 978-3-657-79225-2 . P. 132.
  21. ^ Helmut Zander: Anthroposophy in Germany. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2007. P. 727.
  22. ↑ Robert Jütte (1996), pp. 254-256.
  23. ^ Helmut Zander: Anthroposophy in Germany. 2007, p. 1539f.
  24. ^ Helmut Zander: Anthroposophy in Germany. 2007, p. 1540.
  25. ↑ quoted from: Arfst Wagner : Anthroposophie und Nationalozialismus. Problems of the past and the present . In: Anthroposophen und Nationalozialismus (= Flensburger Hefte Nr. 32), Flensburger-Hefte-Verlag, Flensburg, 1991, ISBN 3-926841-32-X , p. 62, there also the wording of the entire order. See also: Prussian Secret State Police Berlin, November 1, 1935, StAM LR 17 134354, BAD Z / B 1 904, BAK R 43 II / 822. In: Walter Kugler: Feindbild Steiner. Free Spiritual Life Publishing House, Stuttgart 2001, p. 11 f.
  26. ^ Helmut Zander: Anthroposophy in Germany. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2007. pp. 250f.
  27. ^ Helmut Zander: Anthroposophy in Germany. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2007. p. 251.
  28. ^ Helmut Zander: Anthroposophy in Germany. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2007. p. 252.
  29. ↑ Various communities / recent religious movements. remid.de