General Anthroposophical Society Anthroposophy Worldwide

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General Anthroposophical Society Anthroposophy Worldwide 3/16

Communication

Learning to love the judgment of othersThe sociologist Niklas Luhmann made it quite clear: communication is for the social sphere what life is for nature and consciousness for humans. Communication is the life-blood of the community, if not its actual body.

How individual people speak and listen to one another is the most important

question when it comes to the wellbeing of a social organism. Three things are es-sential in communication: it should be complete, comprehensible and honest. We meet these three conditions again and again in guidebooks on communication – and most people have become particularly sensitive to any violations in this respect.

If we speak in an incomprehensible and complicated way our listeners will soon lose interest. At a time when there are so many infl uences vying for our attention, any in-terest fades if the speaker comes across as vague or unconvincing. We awaken inter-est, on the other hand, when we use a lan-guage that is clear and rich in images.

A few years ago an American car hire company advertised with the slogan “Last year we were only No 2 in car rentals”. This is an example of how captivating honesty is, especially in places where you do not ex-pect it. It is the creed of Non-Violent Com-munication that honesty evokes empathy.

Joseph Beuys warned us not to hide our wound. And it is true: honesty is disarm-ing, requires courage and awakens love. As much as comprehensibility is an outer matter, honesty is an inner one.

The real building site – the complete-ness of communication – lies between those two poles. The more alive and trust-inspiring the work of a body is, the less it often seems inclined to include the sur-rounding in its processes, because life tends to form a skin. The warmth inside meets the cool air outside.

It is there where one feels immediately when information is incomplete, when something is left unsaid. Distrust arises. ‘Completeness’ can, of course, not mean that one is informed about every last de-tail, but rather that one can sense the speaker’s respect for his hearers, or better even, the speaker’s love for the indepen-dent judgment of the other: his sympathy towards the antipathy. It is interest – love for the world around us – that conveys life.| Wolfgang Held

March 2016Anthroposophy Worldwide

Anthroposophical Society 1 Communication 2 Meeting of Christian Community and

Anthroposophical Society leaders 8 Canada: Conference ‹Encountering our

Humanity› 9 Torin Finser on the Annual Theme10 Finance Report 201514 40 years of music for the Goetheanum:

Christian Ginat14 Obituary: Wolfgang Rommel 15 Obituaries: Lidiya Kusminitshna Syrkova

and Gerhart Palmer 15 Membership News

Anthroposophy Worldwide 2 Russia: Eurythmy training 3 Switzerland: Jufa School closure 3 Spain: EcoRegió 4 Switzerland/India: The Light Eurythmy

Ensemble Arlesheim on tour

School of Spiritual Science4 Literary Arts and Humanities Section:

Conference on Judas5 Social Science Section: Economics Con-

ference

Goetheanum6 Art and art collections7 Art Collection Aenigma7 The Aenigma Initiative8 Stage: International Faust Festival

Feature16 Three reasons to celebrate for

Anemone Poland and the ‹the-aterforum kreuzberg›

■ ANTHROPOSOPHICAL SOCIETY

The virtues of communication: complete, comprehensible, honest

Grafi c

: S.J.

2 | Anthroposophy Worldwide No. 3/16

Russia: eurythmy training

Before the Representa-tive of HumanityThe graduates of the Andrei Bely Euryth-my School in St Petersburg decided that they did not want to receive their diplo-mas in Russia – but at the Goetheanum, in front of the “group sculpture”. Thankfully, the Goetheanum made this possible.

On 1 July 2015 at 6.30 p.m. the eleven graduates entered the Exhibition

Room with the sculpture, some of them for the first time. In silence they took their seats in the first two rows, followed by around 25 guests. Several speakers then addressed the Russian students in joyous and earnest words, before their eurythmy teachers Ruth Barkhoff and Olga Roza-nova handed each student the diploma is-sued by the Performing Arts Section at the Goetheanum. They then rose togeth-er and humbly bowed their thanks to the “Representative of Humanity”.

The students had also asked for a guided tour of Edith Maryon’s room and to Rudolf Steiner’s studio (Hochatelier) and the room where he died, where they performed the “Hallelujah” together. Under the vault of the starry night sky east and west said their good-byes in front of the Goetheanum. | Margrit Hitsch-Schindler, Ittigen, (CH)

■ ANTHROPOSOPHY WORLDWIDE

Anthroposophy Worldwide appears tentimes a year, is distributed by the nationalAnthroposophical Societies, and appears asa supplement to the weekly Das Goethea-num• Publisher: General AnthroposophicalSociety, represented by Justus Wittich • Editors:Sebastian Jüngel (responsible for this edition), Michael Kranawetvogl (re-sponsible for the Spanish edition), Margot M. Saar (responsible for the English edition).Address: Wochenschrift ‹Das Goetheanum›,Postfach, 4143 Dornach, Switzerland, Fax+41 61 706 44 65, [email protected]• Correspondents/news agency: Jürgen Vater (Sweden), News Network Anthroposo-phy (NNA). • We expressly wish for active supportand collaboration. • Subscriptions: Toreceive ‹Anthroposophy Worldwide› pleaseapply to the Anthroposophical Society in yourcountry. Alternatively, individual sub-scriptions are available at CHF 30.- (EUR/US$ 30.-) per year. An e-mail version is available to members of the Anthroposophical Society only at www.goetheanum.org/630.html?L=1. © 2016, General Anthroposophical Society, Dornach, Switzerland


Conversations allow us to get to know each other and to become familiar

with one another as part of this process. They can also facilitate an openness that allows us to sense what lies ahead and take hold of it. In the meetings between the Executive Council of the Anthropo-sophical Society and the leadership of the Christian Community a conversation culture has evolved over the recent years that has become fertile in both these di-rections.

As every year our meeting began with an exchange where each of us spoke of his or her impulses, impressions and particular ex-periences. As these reports continue we ob-serve increasingly over the years how each is going their own way and what tasks we each perceive and take hold of. Constanza Kaliks gave a more in-depth report because, as a new member of the Executive Council, she attended this meeting for the first time.

Perspectives gained from sacraments and mantras

We are working together in spiritual sci-ence in order to penetrate the present world situation more deeply – naturally also with the question in mind as to what task An-throposophical Society and the Christian Community have within the challenges of our time. We started our work with a study of Rudolf Steiner’s lectures of 25 and 26 October 1918 (GA 185, From Symptom to Reality in Modern History) which also play a central part in the Anthroposophical So-ciety’s next annual theme. In the two lec-tures mentioned Rudolf Steiner speaks of the mystery of death and evil as important forces in the development of the conscious-ness soul. If we look at them in a positive light, they form the counterforce that al-lows us to break through, in freedom and conscious awareness, to a real experience of the spirit; they become an existential threat only if we do not actively take hold of them and transform them out of our re-lationship with the Christ. Based on the ex-perience of the sacraments and the Act of the Consecration of Man we looked at the

path that leads us into these transforma-tive processes out of freedom. We reflected on how the sacraments can be understood more deeply so that they enable us to expe-rience the presence of the spirit out of the activity of our ‘I’ rather than through the rituals of an institutionalized religion.

The mantras of the eighth class lesson were another point of reference. In this con-text we asked how letting go of, and there-fore transforming, habitual patterns of the soul life can open up a new and deeper di-mension of the world. This inner movement has become the looking glass through which we examined how the Anthroposophical Society and the Christian Community have developed. Our question is, How can we, in a positive sense, let go of traditions that have become established over the last century in both movements in order to create space for the qualities and important possibilities of our time? To embrace this question in all its power and scope seemed to us to be prereq-uisite to considering concrete active steps. We will continue to work on this question in future meetings.

Working together on the basis of shared experiences

On the second evening of our meeting we attended a lecture by the Korean phi-losopher Byung-Chul Han, who teaches at the Berlin University of the Arts and who is finding a growing audience. After the lec-ture we discussed his inspiring and original way of investigating current cultural phe-nomena from a spiritual perspective.

Starting from these questions and shared experiences we looked to the forth-coming centenaries of the Christian Com-munity and of the Anthroposophical Soci-ety, and to our collaboration. With these celebrations we would like to consolidate the steps that will lead our movements further out of the twentieth and into the twenty-first century. Our conversations inspired us to think that we will be able to sense and actively seize what the future holds in store. | Stephan Meyer and Bodo von Plato

The leaders of the Christian Community and the Anthroposophical Society meet

The yearnings of the ZeitgeistFrom 24 to 26 January, the leading members of the Christian Community and the Gen-eral Anthroposophical Society met in Berlin. They looked at the mystery of death and evil, compared the experience of sacraments and mantras and attended a lecture by the philosopher Byung-Chul Han.

Anthroposophy Worldwide No. 3/16 | 3

Spain: EcoRegió

Regionally added valueThe achievements of the citizens’ share-holder enterprise RegionalWert (regional value) in the area of Freiburg (DE) have been used as a model for Catalonia (ES). Both initiatives work towards securing added value for regional farms from pro-duction to delivery services.

The tasks of RegionalWert and EcoRegió consist in consulting, supporting and

funding enterprises that need capital to real-ize valuable ideas. The shareholders’ money is used to buy land, for instance, and make it available to farmers who cannot afford to buy it or who need financial support to con-vert from conventional to biodynamic farm-ing methods. RegionalWert has 700 share-holders who support more than twenty en-terprises. At present EcoRegió is looking for micro-investors for eight enterprises. There are eighty indicators relating to the ecologi-cal, economic and social added value – the latter, for instance, by integrating people with special needs on a farm – that provide the shareholders with information about their investments. For many of the micro-investors it is important that their money is invested meaningfully and that this is verifi-able at any time. They are not primarily inter-ested in personal gains.

Award-winning social modelChristian Hiss, the founder of Regional-

Wert is very knowledgeable and looks back on many years of experience, partly acquired on his parents’ biodynamic farm. He thinks that his model, which combines associative economics with shareholding and ecological farming, is transferable to other regions. The first organization of the kind in Catalonia, Eco Regió, can be a model for other parts of Spain as well as for Portugal, Italy and Latin America.

In 2011 Christian Hiss received awards from the Schwab Foundation for Social En-trepreneurship and from the Financial Times Germany for the social business model of Re-gionalWert. Awards for social entrepreneur-ship are given to organizations that pursue innovative approaches in searching for solu-tions to social and ecological problems. | Mi-chael Kranawetvogl, Villagarcía de Arosa (ES)


The new official regulations for the train-ing of persons with disabilities specify

the integration of these people rather than their education in special schools. While the equality aspect of this inclusive ap-proach meets with approval there is also criticism because it does not adequately consider the individual’s need for support. Legally, the new steps are based on the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities that was ratified in Switzer-land in 2014 and on the education reform “Harmonizing of public schools” (HarmoS) which was adopted in the Canton of Basel City in 2008 after 92% of the population had voted in its favour in a referendum. For Benjamin Kohlhase, the interim adminis-trator of Jufa, the problem lies in the fact that “each person has a right to integration but not the right to reject it.”

From the special schoolsSince 1937 Jufa has done pioneering

work, among other things by providing education for people in need of special sup-port. The Canton of Basel-City is obliged to offer and operate its own services. This was one of the reasons why the wishes of parents to send their children to Jufa were “often not considered”, as Benjamin Kohlhase points out. Children and young

people are referred via the Department of Education and as a result of the politi-cal developments the number of referrals has dropped drastically. “A school without a reliable referral agreement – for instance by giving parents the freedom of choice – has no firm ground to stand on,”Benjamin Kohlhase summarizes the situation.

Some areas of work were savedThe decision to close the Jufa schools

meant that other services were also un-der threat, including many workshops, residences, occupational activities and a day centre for children. By merging with another pioneering institution of curative education, the “Sonnenhof” in Arlesheim, on 1 July 2016, these areas will, however, be able to continue their work. While 75 work places could be saved in this way, 39 of the 130 employees still lost their jobs as a result of the school closure.

The present plans of Basel-City allow the Jufa Association to continue as an in-dependent organization. Mr Kohlhase said that Jufa will “take on new tasks and con-tinue to support projects for people with special needs.” | Sebastian Jüngel

Switzerland: Special Needs Centre Jufa in Basel

School closureAt the end of July 2016 the organization “Jufa” (for young people with special needs and their families) will close its Curative School and Day Centre “Rägeboge” (rainbow). Jufa – short for “Jugend und Familie” (youth and family) – was founded in 1937 and was the first anthroposophical special needs school in the Canton of Basel-City. Other parts of the organization will continue to operate after merging with the “Sonnenhof” in Arlesheim.

Contact: Oriol Costa Lechuga, ecoregio@dy¬namislab.com; www.dynamislab.com

One of the surviving areas: the wood workshop

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Contakt Jufa: Benjamin Kohlhase, Tel. +41 61 561 41 11, [email protected]


■ SCHOOL OF SPIRITUAL SCIENCE

India: Light Eurythmy Ensemble

Light into the ethericAfter a break of two years, the Light Eurythmy Ensemble Arlesheim was back in India from 15 to 30 January 2016, presenting – ac-companied by Dilnawaz and Aban Bana – a Eurythmy programme with music, verses and the Indian legend of “Bhakta Dhruva” in the cities of Chennai, Bangalore, Mumbai and New Delhi

When the ensemble arrived in the city of Chennai the seminar on curative educa-

tion by Dr Rüdiger Grimm, head of the Curative Education and Social Therapy Council at the Goetheanum, with almost a hundred partici-pants was coming to an end. The seminar was held at the V-Excel Education Trust in Chennai and in the Theosophical Society’s premises in Adyar, organized by our friends from the vari-ous anthroposophical groups in Chennai. They also arranged a trip for the ensemble to visit Mammalapuram, a seaside place with ancient stone temples and carvings.

From Chennai we took a bus to Bangalore. Here the friends from the Steiner school and other Anthroposophical institutions received us warmly and gave us hospitality in their ho-mes. We had a city tour which included the Bannerghatta National Park, where we saw many Indian animals like the white tiger and elephants.

Touching hearts and mindsOur next city was Mumbai, where the

group had performed two years ago. Like in Chennai and in Bangalore, the venue was the auditorium of the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan (In-dian Culture Institute). The highlight in Mum-bai was the visit to the Elephanta Caves, a Shiva mystery site, reachable by a one hour boat ride. The Swiss General Consul, Mr Mar-tin Bienz, and his wife invited the entire group for an excellent lunch at their residence.

Finally we flew to New Delhi, where the Aarambh Waldorf School parents and teachers hosted us in their homes, and then at Zorba the Buddha, a centre for Spiritual renewal. Here the highlight was to see the Taj Mahal, followed by a visit to the Agra Fort. The Light Eurythmy Ensemble touched the hearts and minds of thousands of peo-ple. India is very grateful to the ensemble that through eurythmy they have brought so much light into the etheric of this ancient and wisdom-filled land. | Dilnawaz Bana and Aban Bana, Mumbai (IN)

In Christian tradition Judas Iscariot is seen as a traitor. He was the one who betrayed

Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane, iden-tifying him with a kiss to the leaders of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish Supreme Court, with the result that Christ was then handed over to the Romans. The mystery of Judas is re-vealed in his kissing of the Christ – a scene depicted by Giotto, for instance, in the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua. It is the act that made the Mystery of Golgotha possible, and yet, Christ said to his disciples at the last sup-per, “Verily I say unto you, One of you who eats with me shall betray me. […] The Son of man indeed goes, as it is written of him: but woe to that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! Good were it for that man if he had never been born.” (Mark, 14: 18-21) Did Judas betray Christ when he delivered him to the Romans? What is the difference between the betrayal and the delivery, or to be more precise, the handing over of the Christ? In his introductory lecture (“Judas as the representative of the fifth cultural era – Judas the human being of today”) – the first of four lectures – Michael Debus pointed out that the Gospels only once speak of Ju-das betraying Christ, and after that only of his handing over of the Christ. And yet we read in John 13: 27-28, “And after the sop Sa-tan entered into him [Judas]. Then said Jesus unto him, What you do, do quickly.”

The disciples as a cosmic human beingThe lectures by Ruth Ewertowski –

which included the well-researched contri-bution “The history of the interpretation of Judas” – made it increasingly clear that the disciples are a mirror image of the cosmic human being which manifests in twelve different aspects. In this context the expla-nations given by Michael Debus in his lec-tures “Judas in the New Testament – a con-tradiction”, “Judas and the human being of today” and “Judas as one of the apostles” were also particularly elucidating because they gradually unlocked the meaning of the ancient Old Testament words, making

them accessible to our modern conscious-ness. Freed from their religious and confes-sional attire, they revealed spiritual laws. And so an image arose of a community of the spirit, in which each individual – inclu-ding Judas – was an evolutionary necessity. Against the background of this future ideal and leitmotif, that needs to be individually attained, the question of Judas – as the re-presentative of the fifth cultural era – and the question of human karma became to-pical and very concrete. What is the meaning of betrayal and delivery in my life?

Not willingly becoming guiltyWhat is interesting when we look at the

figure of Oedipus in Sophocles’ epony-mous tragedy is his ‘I’-inspired dealing with a guilt that he did not willingly take upon himself. Christiane Haid’s clear and empathetic description of the inner drama of Oedipus’ destiny left me with the wish to see this mystery drama performed again on the Goetheanum stage. We were able to pursue this question further with the biography of Augustine, who was descri-bed by Rudolf Steiner as a precursor of the age of the consciousness soul.

Werner Barfod’s contemplation of Leo-nardo da Vinci’s “Last Supper”, which por-trays – in one single and, at the same time, four three-part compositions – the mo-ment of greatest consternation among the disciples when Christ reveals that one of them was about to betray him (hand him over), led us from the mere picture to the spiritual reality of the zodiac that underlies it. The movements of the disciples became the most striking key (or symbol) of their eurythmic relationship with the zodiac. In the eurythmy performance “Betrayal and Conscience - the Riddle of Judas” – presen-ted by the Else Klink Ensemble Stuttgart (DE) – the various interpretations of Judas were further deepened and explored in un-expected ways.| Matthias Mochner, Berlin (DE)

Literary Arts and Humanities Section: Conference on “Judas in the mirror of mod-ern humanity”

Judas – a traitor?The study of Judas Iscariot can sharpen our awareness of others: to what extent is someone guilty who carries out an act of historical dimensions? Would it be helpful in this instance to differentiate between betrayal and delivery? These were the kind of questions pursued during the Judas Conference which was held at the Goethea-num from 29 to 31 January 2016.



■ SCHOOL OF SPIRITUAL SCIENCE

Could Switzerland fund itself for two gen-erations without income derived from

earnings? Apparently the answer is yes, if it were simply to realize its ‘land values’. The fig-ures make this clear: the total value of real es-tate in Switzerland is in the region of 50 times the amount of the total annual income of its citizens. So by the simple process of selling the land beneath their feet the Swiss could be idle for a couple of generations. Notwithstanding the mathematics, it must be immediately obvious that something about this does not stack up – the values attributed to real estate cannot be real!

Vanishing into landWhat is behind this phenomenon? How

do apparent values enter the economic pro-cess? And not just in a negligible way but such that the whole arena of valuation no longer reflects the underlying economic rea-lity? Lecture 5 of Steiner’s economics course (GA 340 , lecture of 28 July 1922) addresses this topic head on. This involved a careful comparative study of English and German texts with reference to Steiner’s blackboard illustrations. In these lectures, it makes a great difference that one knows to which part of the sketch Steiner is pointing when he says “here” or suchlike. For example: “Thus, the only sensible thing will be for ca-pital at this point (sketch) not to preserve it-self in land, but rather to vanish into land.”

Marc Desaules guided us through the re-search by highlighting the pertinent passa-ges and expanding on the key thoughts of Steiner. “In a healthy economic process we

must not and cannot give ‘real credit’ – credit based on the security of land – not even to a person working on the land. He, too, should only receive personal credit – that is to say, credit which will enable him to turn capital to good account through the land. If we sim-ply unite land with capital, capital will beco-me congested the moment it arrives again at land.”

Thus, when capital arises in the economic process by envaluation (work on land and division of labour) a corresponding process of devaluation is called for: namely that it either be spent, thereby releasing the value back into the natural realm (because natural products gradually decay), or that it go to-wards the creation of new means of produc-tion (whose value will over time depreciate).

The snowball effect of stocked capitalIn economic terms there are no other op-

tions; but if this does not happen, the capital effectively leaves the economic process in order to preserve its apparent value, in the form of a collateralized asset. This is where the illusion begins: the land is mortgaged to enable value to be maintained. The value which is apparently saved exists only in legal terms, as a contract that can be enforced; but the snowballing life of stocked capital with its abstract existence imposes a higher and higher charge (rents and interest) on econo-mic productivity which eventually makes the whole thing unaffordable. The corollary of capitalizing land (which means attribu-ting to land an economic value which it can-not, other than through improvement, have) is the world of financial markets, money supply, banking, etc., which falsifies real eco-nomic values by introducing apparent ones.

Real values and apparent valuesThe solution for Steiner is clear, “In the

economic process it is high time that we learnt to understand the difference between real values and apparent values.” This means an end to real credit (namely collateralized lending against land and other ‘assets’) and an emphasis on personal credit, meaning that real investment can only be in the unfol-

ding capacities of human beings. “Lend to the man, not the asset,” as the old banking adage went. Furthermore, such an approach is premised on embracing, not avoiding, ‘risk’ because risk-taking is the hallmark of real initiative. Security in this realm is an illu-sion, or at most a form of self-preserving ego-ism that is beyond its sell-by date in a global interconnected economy.

To gain such an insight into the economic process is not beyond the ken of anyone who has the will to really look at it. The stumbling block appears to be an old consciousness of capital preservation that blinds us in its headlights, thereby paralyzing the will in fa-vour of conventional wisdom.

Today’s economy has reached the limit of viability – there are signs all around us that this is so – and people react in fearful ways, mindful of their own ‘security’. Such an ap-proach will not help us. Confidence in the future is needed, confidence built on real knowledge and faith in our humanity. To ca-pitalize another human being is to recognize his spirit and this is the only sure strategy on which to build a human future. The world, as it is, has become dangerously dependent on the presumed existence of apparent values, this needs to change by way of policies that gradually introduce personal credit and de-sist from capitalizing land. Legislative measures to put a stop to collateralized len-ding will not solve the problem by themsel-ves, however. What is needed is real econo-mic insight and the change of culture that comes with it if we are to stop stocking capi-tal in land.

The economic logic that Steiner describes speaks for itself – it simply needs to be repre-sented in such a way that contemporary eco-nomists can have that ‘aha’ moment and then draw their own conclusions. These may be far-reaching and even encompass the epi-stemology of economic methodology. Even in a throw-away remark Steiner penetrates to the depth of the problem: “You see, if you have an error in your system of thought you do not observe its full effect to begin with”. Contemporary economists, bankers and fi-nance ministers are caught within a system in which the error in thought is not observed or acknowledged in the full scale of its ef-fects. This needs to be brought to their atten-tion in a tactful and appropriate way if we are to stop perpetuating the unreality of our present financial circumstances. | Arthur Ed-wards, Stroud (GB)

Social Science Section: Economics Conference

“Lend to the man, not the asset”The fourth research colloquium of the Economics Council of the Social Sciences Sec-tion at the Goetheanum was held at L’Aubier in Switzerland from 22 to 24 January 2016. The conference was about the future of banking and considered the quality of money and credit and their roots in nature and in the human being.

drawing by Marc Desaules based on Rudolf Steiner’s course on economics (GA 340)


■ GOETHEANUM

“The museum of the future will have the power to change the world” (Ólafur

Elíasson)

For decades, the experts and other per-sons in positions of responsibility at the

Goetheanum and in nearby institutions have been aware of the need to preserve Rudolf Steiner’s artistic work. Consider-ing the scarcity of available means and competences it is impressive how much has been preserved, and often even been saved, by a small group of people. But sadly, the opposite is also true: the pres-ent state of the Goetheanum art collec-tion and the Rudolf Steiner Archives leaves much to be desired and conditions as they are will undoubtedly lead to the loss of many irreplaceable objects. The fact that until quite recently only anthroposophists were convinced of the importance of this work was not conducive to synergies but led to tedious discussions – some of them still ongoing – on the “right” way of deal-ing with Rudolf Steiner’s written and ar-tistic legacy.

Public interest and possible conse-quences

It was not until around thirty years ago that the public became aware of Rudolf Steiner’s artistic work and that he attract-ed some interest as the unusual architect of the monumental Goetheanum build-ing. What was initiated in 1983 by Harald Szeemann with the exhibition “Towards a gesamtkunstwerk”, and taken by Wal-ter Kugler and others around the world in the last twenty years, culminated in 2013 in the prominent exhibition of 54 black-board drawings in the main pavilion of the 55th Biennale in Venice (IT). Rudolf Stein-er’s work could not be more present in today’s discourse on art: there is no other area within the cultural, scientific or social life where we see this degree of integra-tion of, or at least interest in, his work. But does that mean that the perspective, the fundamental transformation and diversi-

ty of the concept of art which is inherent in anthroposophical spiritual science – not only as an idea but visibly in the work of many artists who were inspired by Rudolf Steiner – have become more effectual or accessible?

How is it with the artists – Joseph Beuys excepted – who have been inspired by anthroposophy and have worked out of this inspiration? How is it with Steiner’s extension of the concept of art, where art is not a means of aestheticizing our ev-eryday lives, but a force that one uses to make the often intolerable everyday life more bearable and humane than could be done in any other way: art as education or medicine, as agriculture and animal husbandry, as banking, care for people with special needs and for the elderly, as conflict management and world policies? But this does not make art suddenly and exclusively a transformative medium for knowledge, for the cultural, social and scientific life. Art nevertheless retains – maybe even only gains – through this its actual value which is reflected in an ever new evocation of deep aesthetic experi-ences that will always – both on the small and large scale – lead to transformation.

There has long been – and there will continue to be – a need for a place where this can be acknowledged, examined and honoured. That the public resonance has made no difference so far for the artistic treasures kept on the “Dornach Hill” does not necessarily mean that this will con-tinue to be the case. The art collection at the Goetheanum and the Rudolf Steiner Archives are presently hardly able to pre-serve the treasures entrusted to them, let alone research them sufficiently and make them accessible to the public, mostly for financial reasons. Despite the fact that the Rudolf Steiner Archives and the Goethea-num are working together well now and have brought order to a shattered history, further steps will be necessary in order to preserve Rudolf Steiner’s cultural heritage.

New possibilities are emerging following the staff changes at the Goetheanum in recent years.

Changes at the GoetheanumWhen Johannes Nilo became head of

the “Goetheanum Dokumentation” (li-brary, art collection, archives) in 2011, he brought sensitivity and competence to the questions and tasks outlined here. For him, one of the essential tasks of his department is to awaken the powers that lie dormant in Rudolf Steiner’s originals, in the works of his first coworkers and in subsequent artistic developments and interpretations. Mr Nilo is surprised that, considering the high value that is placed on art in anthroposophy, Rudolf Steiner’s artistic work has not been curated more professionally or prepared to be conveyed to suitable exhibition spaces.

In 2014 Marianne Schubert was ap-pointed leader of the Visual Arts Section. She not only has the architect’s awareness and eye for the Goetheanum building as a work of art, but knows and appreciates the treasures it holds. From the beginning she sought to work together actively with Johannes Nilo and Dino Wendtland, who is responsible for the art collection and its preservation. In the past years many people have had opportunity to see exhi-bitions prepared with great love for detail, in which Dino Wendtland explored partic-ular aspects of the work of Rudolf Steiner and of the one or other of his pupils. Untir-ingly, he has raised awareness of the fact that the art collection needs urgent atten-tion even though there are no funds for

Art and art collections

Where future and past become creativeTwo colloquia took place at the Goetheanum, one in November 2015 and one in Janu-ary 2016, both serving to provide a forum for consultations on the future of the arts and art collections at the Goetheanum. The meetings were called because it was nec-essary to look at the issue of curation in regard to the Goetheanum’s art collection, at the possibility of a space for research and exhibitions (museum) at the Goetheanum and at the future of Reinhold Fäth’s art collection “Aenigma”.

One of the Goetheanum Art collection’s storage spaces

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■ GOETHEANUM

The Art Collection “Aenigma”

Over a period of ten years I assem-bled a comprehensive collection

of anthroposophical art works in prep-aration for the publication “Dornach Design” and the great retrospective exhibition “Aenigma – a hundred years of anthroposophical art”, including a 400-page catalogue. By “assembled” I mean that I bought furniture, design items and art works from Germany and Switzerland, and also from South Africa and the USA, paying anything from five-figure sums to flea market prices for the acquired objects. Some pieces were also given to me as gifts by supporters of my work.

The next goal in my collecting and publishing activities, which is to con-tribute to a public collection, a kind of living museum or art centre, could not have been realized privately, wit-hout the help of the institutions re-sponsible for the preservation and curation of anthroposophical art, i.e. the Anthroposophical Society and the anthroposophical foundations. I therefore consider it as very fortuna-te that the Aenigma Initiative in Ber-lin (in partnership with the Anthro-posophical Society in Germany) and the Goetheanum Leadership have decided to take on the major part of the Aenigma Collection.

Since the Goetheanum is collec-ting specific items only, I will make a gift of the works not needed there to the Berlin Aenigma Initiative. If the anthroposophical art impulse can be-come visible and effective in both places – the Goetheanum as the world centre of the anthroposophical movement and Berlin as a world city of the arts – intentions could become reality that have been presented and planned within the Anthroposophi-cal Society for many decades without the possibility of realizing them. It was, after all, Rudolf Steiner’s express wish that anthroposophical art should speak “to the world at large” (GA 257, lecture of 23 January 1923.) | Reinhold Fäth, Apolda (DE)

The Aenigma Initiative for the preservation, curation and pro-motion of anthroposophical art – Berlin

Our initiative welcomes the develop-ments regarding the handling and

curation of anthroposophical art initiat-ed by the Goetheanum Leadership. The acquisition of a large part of Reinhold Fäth’s collection by the Goetheanum is an important step on the way to making the original impulses of anthroposophi-cal art visible to the public. This step is the realization of a central aspect of our endeavour, which is to preserve the col-lection for the future.

Considering the goals of our initia-tive (described in Anthroposophy Worldwide 9/2015, p. 2) we feel sup-ported by the developments at the Goetheanum. The task outlined by us – the acceptance of the anthroposo-phical art, its appropriate storage and presentation in public as well as its curation and further investigation – is waiting to be taken on. This is what we see as our task in Berlin.

We are convinced that an archive and viewable ‘depot’ of anthroposo-phical art is needed in Berlin: a living place to which legacies of anthropo-sophical art can be gifted and where they can be publically shown, studied and preserved for the future. In the past year we have received the first such legacies. We are also convinced that the development and creation of such a place in Berlin will not only fructify the anthroposophical life of this city, but that – once this accessib-le storage of anthroposophical art has been filled with life – the work of the General Anthroposophical Socie-ty will become more publically visib-le, locally as well as worldwide.

We would therefore like to conti-nue operating in Berlin (as a not-for-profit association) in free and cons-cious cooperation with the Goethea-num, the art collections in Dornach, the Anthroposophical Society in Ger-many and, in particular, with Rein-hold Fäth. | Armin Grassert, Matthias Mochner, Egon Tietz, Andrea Woorts, Ber-lin (DE)

One of the Goetheanum Art collection’s storage spaces

this. The necessary tasks include the com-pilation of inventories and catalogues, preventive measures, expert restoration, scientific evaluation of the collections, specific extensions to the collections as well as publications and exhibitions.

Justus Wittich, finally, pointed out – even before he assumed office as treasur-er in the Executive Council in 2012 – that the Goetheanum needed to apprehend its past from the point of view of the future and sharpen its profile as an academic institution (Hochschule). It was clear to him that Rudolf Steiner’s estate was the responsibility of the Anthroposophical Society and that, in answer to a globally growing interest, Steiner’s cultural heri-tage needed to be made more visible as an important part of the cultural landscape in and around Basel.

Future stepsThe question as to the future of Re-

inhold Fäth’s Aenigma collection, which has been looked after by an initiative in Berlin, led to the Anthroposophical So-ciety in Germany (Hartwig Schiller) and the Goetheanum (Justus Wittich) joining forces with a view to integrating it into the Goetheanum’s art collection. At the same time we received a second collection from the museologist and cultural scientist Heide Nixdorff, who had conducted field studies since 2015 and assembled a col-lection of anthroposophically designed clothes. Ms Nixdorff became a valued partner in our discussions of future steps, bringing to our considerations profound experience and contacts with art histori-ans, museologists, curators and with the International Council of Museums (ICOM). These two events were the first concrete steps on the way to serious consultations on the possibility of setting up a museum at the Goetheanum that would meet our particular requirements.

Maybe it will be possible to create in Dornach, around the Goetheanum as a work of art and as an academic institu-tion, a living place for anthroposophically inspired art that will be accessible to a wider public and to art experts, where past and future are seen as mutually pen-etrating creative impulses. And maybe this will even happen soon enough so that the present unique objects can be saved. | Bodo von Plato, Goetheanum



Michel Dongois: The conference has a threefold objective. Could you please elaborate?Arie van Ameringen: This event is an attempt to tighten what have become the rather loose con-nections between the Anthroposophical Society and the various initiatives inspired by anthroposo-phy. How can the anthroposophical (universal human) impulse be experienced and put into practice in daily life? Can we find through our work together answers that traditional ways of thinking can no longer supply? The ability to enter so deeply into the soul of another human being that I actu-ally suffer his or her pain – this is a quality belonging to the future sixth epoch. If I am able to transform myself, I shall be better equipped to help another human being – to begin with by simply learning to accept that being as he or she is. Rudolf Steiner refers to this in the fourth and fifth lectures (25 and 26 October 1918) of his cycle From Symptom to Reality in Modern History (GA 185).

Acting in ways that are appropriate to our timeMichel Dongois: What does our Michaelic era de-mand of us? Arie van Ameringen: That we move from knowl-edge into the realm of conscious activity! Infor-mation about anthroposophy is widely available today, and as anthroposophists we have certainly quoted Steiner profusely during the course of the twentieth century! How can we nowadays do more than merely remain content with the knowing? Are we able to experiment with anthro-posophy in our lives and see how it can inspire us in our deeds. For example, if I choose to work as a Waldorf teacher or an anthroposophical doctor, I must ask myself whether I have really made the necessary effort to connect with the living source of anthroposophy – or whether I am merely a technician applying a prescribed methodology. Does my activity respond to the needs of our era?How can we bring anthroposophy into a new phase, a phase of conscious activity? Act with dis-cernment and sensitivity, and you will soon see whether or not your deed was morally just – and you may then have to make adjustments as you go along, being aware that you are bound to the con-sequences of the deeds you perform. This means finding the morally right path through heart-connected thinking rather than by responding to outer imperatives (see The Philosophy of Freedom

and the Foundation Stone Meditation).

Within ourselves and with the help of othersMichel Dongois: You also have stated that the con-ference is one in a series of events.Arie van Ameringen: Yes, things are coming to-gether in a time-space convergence. Ottawa is the capital city of a country that is officially bilingual; and historically, Ottawa is a meeting point on the North American continent. For centuries First Nations Peoples have held a small island in the Ot-tawa River to be a sacred meeting place. And the city itself is the result of a compromise – a capital situated midway between Montreal, the French city, and Toronto, the English city. Something of the intellectual soul is still living in North America due to the French influence. The very history of Ottawa, with its diversity of influences, seems to point towards the possibility of building a commu-nity of the future.And as far as convergence in time is concerned: 2016 will mark the 400th anniversary of Shake-speare’s death, the year will also see Goethe’s Faust performed at the Goetheanum, where the Michaelmas conference will be held as well: Faust – contemporary man’s confrontation with evil. All of this prompts us to strengthen (within ourselves and also with the help of others) the “awareness of our humanity”. ■ (This is an abridged version of the interview)

Canada: Conference ‹Encountering our Humanity›

From knowledge to conscious actionA major conference entitled Encountering our Humanity: From Knowledge to Con-scious Action will be held in Ottawa from 7 to 14 August 2016. This conference is the initiative of Arie van Ameringen, General Secretary of the Anthroposophical Society in Canada. Michel Dongois asked Arie van Ameringen about the goals of this conference.

Goetheanum Stage: Faust 1 and 2

The drama of humanityFrom 1 to 5 August 2016 the Goethea-num will hold an international Faust Festival in four languages. The accom-panying conference will be in German, English, French and Spanish, with play performances being read simultaneously in these languages too.

The drama of today’s humanity is ex-pressed at length in Faust, a person

whose striving for true humanity meets with a variety of challenges and ques-tions: Is the realm of nature alive or dead? Can magic practices yield the fruits of knowledge or do they take us on a danger-ous and immoral journey? How does the individual human being find and retain his true identity in the face of spiritual and earthly temptations? Are love and destiny only significant in life or also in death? These are just some of the many riddles addressed in “Faust”. They, along with many other questions, will be presented in the daily performances of Goethe’s verse drama. With his work on Faust Ru-dolf Steiner has given us the key to a con-temporary interpretation of this play.

An international group of contributorsFaust performances have been a regu-

lar feature at the Goetheanum since 1938, with a changing cast and ever new stage sets. The use of eurythmy adds an impor-tant dimension. The daily performances will be accompanied by lectures, discus-sion groups and artistic work groups – all of them offered in German, English, French and Spanish.

The international team of contributors includes René Becker (FR), Oli¬ver Conradt (Goetheanum), Antoine Dodri¬mont (FR), Isabelle Dupin-Ablard (FR), Peter Engels (CH), Esther Gerster (CH), Evelyne Guil-loto (FR), Daniel Hafner (DE), Mirjam Hege (CH), Florencio Herrero (ES), Sighilt von Heynitz (CH), Sarah Kane (GB), Johan¬nes Kühl (Goetheanum), Douglas Miller (US), Geoff Norris (GB), Astrid Oelsner (CH), As-trid Prokofieff (CH), Carina Schmid (CH), Virginia Sease (Goetheanum), Joan Sleigh (Goetheanum), Silke Sponheuer (SA), An¬drew Wolpert (GB. | Virginia Sease, Goetheanum Executive Council emerita

■ GOETHEANUM

About the conference:Encountering our Humanity, Cité collégiale, Ottawa, August 7th to 14th, 2016. The event has been planned to correspond with the rhythm of the week from Sunday to Sunday: words of welcome and opening lecture; bio-graphy and karma; pedagogy; medicine; our earth and the sciences; the arts and archi-tecture; community building; religion, spiri-tuality, meditation. With members of the leadership at the Goetheanum: Bodo von Plato, Paul McKay, Seija Zimmermann, Con-stanza Kaliks, Joan Sleigh and Marianne Schubert, and several contributors from North America including Kenneth McAlister, Regine Kurek, Michael Schmidt, Irene Fran-çois, Duncan Keppie, Bert Chase, Jonah Evans, Nathaniel Williams. Members of the Youth section will also participate in the Conference. Individuals wishing to present the results of their personal research are in-vited to contact John Bach ( [email protected]) .Information: encounteringourhumani-ty.ca, alarencontredenotrehumanité.cafaust2016.ch


Recently students at the Monadnock Wal-dorf High School in Keene, NH, offered

several performances of Shakespeare’s Mac-beth. The human connection to the spiritual world in Macbeth is tenuous at best, and then only in the form of prophecy and the sinister words of the three witches. They can be seen as three counter forms of un-redeemed aspects of the human soul, and their leader, Hecate, the counter form of the human ‘I’. The prophecies that Macbeth takes turn out other than he expected. The abstract idea becomes, through lived experi-ence, a painful awakener of consciousness: “To know my deed, ‘twere best not to know myself”. Through death, first Lady Macbeth and then Macbeth himself, find release from inner torment. A death process is part of the awakening of the consciousness soul, if not for Macbeth than at least for a comprehend-ing audience.

Death forces facilitate precise thinkingIn a lecture given on 26 October 1918,

Rudolf Steiner speaks of two great myster-ies connected with the development of the consciousness soul, “The Mystery of Death and the Mystery of Evil” (From Symptom to Reality in Modern History). The death forces otherwise active in the universe are now available to humankind, in part to help us “think precisely in matters of importance”. The way forward is developing new clarity of thinking which will make it possible to re-ceive the forces of Spirit Self, Life Spirit and Spirit Human.

Likewise with evil, we cannot just fixate on evil all around us, but need to look at evil tendencies within each of us. Rudolf Steiner points out that “all human evil proceeds from what we call egotism”. Evil action is of course another matter, and much has occurred on the world stage due to what has been “per-verted by the social order”.

I have taken up some of these indications as I watch CNN or read of the latest atrocities portrayed in newspapers or on the internet. After the customary reactions of disbelief, anguish and shock, I have tried to look for evidence of this awakening to the life of the

spirit. It is not easy at first. But when tak-ing a walk later in the day, and particularly when one carries an issue over a few nights of sleep, something can start to happen in the life of the soul. One starts to ask: what is happening to humanity? Why are we bom-barded with so many experiences of death, and often also evil? Why have so many peo-ple stopped being human?

The reason for being on earth nowThis then led me to wonder about con-

science. For me conscience has to do with the inner compass that point within where one can weigh and evaluate actions (and our thoughts and feelings). Even a young child will often show a remarkable ability to speak out of this place of conscience, such as “Mommy, I am so sorry I broke your favourite coffee mug”. If a three year old can listen to this inner voice, why can’t we?

It is easy, perhaps, to just turn off the news and leave the newspaper on the door-step. But it is for some reason that I am on this earth at this particular time and I feel an inner obligation to stay connected, even af-firm that I too am part of this world, and as such I have some responsibility for the state of humanity. If I am connected, then what happens in Missouri and in Paris is part of me.

I am inwardly revolted at the all too many instances of racism that are still evident to-day (and not only on some college campus-es). My heart aches when friends and neigh-bours suffer loss due to drugs and addiction. And out of this struggle something emerges that we can call the voice of conscience.

One of the reasons I entered the teaching profession many years ago, and have contin-ued as a faculty member in the Education Department at Antioch University New Eng-land, is that education in all its dimensions is needed more than ever. Learning is all about seeing other perspectives, looking for layers of meaning and developing understanding. It is good to be passionate about something, but that passion needs to be tempered (or enhanced) with knowledge. Is it not puzzling that over time acts of violence, even wars have been perpetrated in the name of one

religion or another? We seem to have forgot-ten that the voice of God can also be heard in the stirrings of human conscience.

Seeing the eternal in othersIt seems humanity is being challenged

to wake up and see that we are all in this to-gether. Every time we judge someone else (something also known to students of an-throposophy), we are embarking on a path that can lead downhill… We need to come together and be willing to hear the voices of those who are different and have different views than our own. Tolerance is but a first step, necessary but not sufficient. For being human means stretching ourselves to see the universal, the eternal in others. And so at the end of the above cited lecture in “From Symptom to Reality”, Rudolf Steiner gives us a few very practical, yet deeply significant steps forward toward creating a new, more humane culture on this earth:

- We need to learn to perceive the arche-type of a person through his or her picture-nature, a warm appreciation of the other.

- We need to develop the capacity to feel, to sense our neighbour through the spoken word. It will not be the exact words that matter, but rather the sensing of the region of soul from whence they come, the colours of words. Thus a new capacity for listening will emerge.

- Then one can work on sensing the emo-tional reactions of others to such a degree that respiration will change, one will breathe differently when in contact with one person than with another.

- Finally, and most difficult to understand, is the indication that in the realm of the will one will be able to “digest” the deeds of oth-ers, process them in a way that awakens new comprehension of the other human being.

This is precisely what was prophetically present in so many of Shakespeare’s plays. Even though we err throughout life, our striv-ing in the end can lift us up again:

“Mephistopheles: You’ll lose him yet! I offer bet and tally,/ Provided that your Hon-our gives / Me leave to lead him gently up my alley! / The Lord: So long as on the earth he lives, / So long it shall not be forbidden. / Man ever errs the while he strives.” (Faust, Prologue in Heaven) | Torin M. Finser, General Secretary of the Anthroposophical Society in America.


Annual Theme 2016/2017

From Macbeth to FaustFor Torin Finser, the theme of the year 2016 – World Transformation and Self-Knowl-edge in the Face of Evil – is closely connected with the age of the consciousness soul. He refers in this context to Shakespeare’s dramas and Goethe’s Faust as well as to the daily news we receive of the atrocities that happen in the world.

The full version of this article was published in “being human”, March 2016.


For the first time in a long while each of the Sections within the School of Spiritual Science has its own leader(s): Marianne Schubert (Visual Arts Section) had fully ar-rived at the Goetheanum in 2015, Stefan Hasler (Performing Arts Section) was there part of the time, giving Margrethe Solstad the opportunity to concentrate on her task as director of the Eurythmy Ensemble and on her work on “Faust”. Later in the year, Gerald Häfner was appointed to support the Social Science Section as co-leader. All these developments show that the Goetheanum is moving forward, whilst we are doing our best to reduce the structural budget deficit.

Impact of the exchange rateThen we were hit unexpectedly by the

rapid drop of the currency roller coaster on 15 January 2015, when the cap on the Swiss Franc was removed, resulting in an increase of costs against all currencies, but particularly the Euro. From one day to the next the income from other currencies we had hoped and budgeted for was worth 16 per cent less, leaving us with a poten-tial shortfall of one to two million Swiss Francs. What could we do? Should we stop the Faust project, discontinue the renova-tion work and lay off staff? Following a difficult negotiation process, 95 per cent of Goetheanum staff members declared their willingness to have their salaries cut by around eight per cent as a precau-tionary measure. It was this sacrifice that made it possible for the Goetheanum to get – just about – through the summer, without borrowing money.

While this financial crisis was ongoing in the spring, we received news of a large legacy, the impulse for which actually went back to an encounter with Rudolf Steiner. In conjunction with additional legacies from Great Britain, Germany and Australia the sum received by the end of the year amounted to 6.45 million Swiss Francs. This allowed us to pay all the ma-

terial costs and other expenditure for the many artists involved in the Faust produc-tion, a total of 2.95 million Swiss Francs. We now hope that you will come and see the outcome of all this work at Easter or at one of the following Faust cycles – and that you will recommend them to others if you have liked what you saw!

Building costsThe structural changes to the kitchen

and cafeteria, which are partly necessi-tated by legal requirements and partly an attempt to bring new life to the Goethea-num’s west (main) entrance, constitute an-other important building project, but are, of course, an additional financial burden. This work could be taken on thanks to a generous donation of more than 500,000 Swiss Francs from an Italian branch. We hope that we will be able to step together through a more light-filled west entrance into the Goetheanum for this year’s annual conference, welcomed by the new recep-tion area on the right and the Bookshop (Art and Cards) on the left. The renovation of the cafeteria will unfortunately take some more time. This restructuring will cost 1.4 million Swiss Francs (839,245 of which were paid in 2015). One of the main conditions for starting this project was that it would not be funded out of the pres-ent budget and that the major Goethea-num renovation (main stage, roof, façade), which will be finalized in 2016 once the ter-race is ready, would remain strictly within budget (13.5 million Swiss Francs).

SolidarityAppeals for solidarity and financial sup-

port in Switzerland and Germany brought in 188,000 Swiss Francs. After assessment of the situation in the autumn we were then able to offer staff members to cut their salaries in December only by half the amount originally envisaged. And then – one day before Christmas – a gen-erous benefactor had the impulse to gift

us 200,000 Swiss Francs in support of our staff members. The Treasurers’ Group and the Goetheanum Leadership recommend-ed that we set aside 600,000 Swiss Francs to avoid situations in the future that re-quire similar sacrifices.

The financial year 2015 was a roller coaster ride that put much pressure on staff members in terms of work and of carrying the difficulties we encountered. I would therefore like to take this opportu-nity to thank you as contributors, donors and supporters, and in particularly also the staff at the Goetheanum, very warmly. Without your and their help a cultural in-stitution like the Goetheanum would not be possible.

The financial statement in detailLast year Switzerland issued uniform

legal regulations regarding the account-ing and balance of large enterprises and not-for-profit organizations, to which the Anthroposophical Society and the Goethe-anum, with assets of over 20 million Swiss Francs, also belong. This step is meant to increase transparency and, above all, comparability. These regulations, which we have largely met, have been applied already in the 2015 financial statement, which will be presented at this year’s AGM. For the sake of clarity we will, however, use the previous format in this issue of Anthro-posophy Worldwide.

With a view to the founding byelaws and their amendment in 2014, we find that, apart from the profit and loss ac-count, it is particularly important to dif-ferentiate the income and expenses of the General Anthroposophical Society and of the Goetheanum as a School of Spiritual Science (see “Result according to areas”, p. 12). The relevant figures show that – with the contributions it received from its ap-proximately 45,000 members, and further income and legacies – the Anthroposophi-cal Society was able to support the School of Spiritual Science with its eleven sec-tions, the stage and the infrastructure of the Goetheanum building and its depart-ments with a total of almost 5 million Swiss Francs in 2014 and almost 10 mil-lion Swiss Francs in 2015. This is a brilliant achievement – even if money will always be short.

We must strive in future to bring the Goetheanum’s cultural impulse and achievements increasingly in line with

General Anthroposophical Society: Financial Report 2015

A Rollercoaster rideThe Executive Council and Leadership at the Goetheanum together with the individual Sections and departments made a number of plans for 2015. One of them was the great artistic adventure of once again producing the whole of the Faust tragedy, parts 1 and 2 – who has the courage to do such a thing nowadays? – another plan was to restructure the ground floor of the Goetheanum in parallel with the ongoing major renovation work, plus many smaller projects.




1 Despite increased efforts on the part of the national societies we received less money from membership contributions this year, once the incoming amounts were changed into Swiss Francs. There were also conside-rable losses due to the particular situations in Brazil and the US.

2 This figure includes, apart from a donation from Weleda to the School of Spiritual Sci-ence, a donation of 400,000 Swiss Francs from the “Dotationsverein” (a charitable association), accumulated in order to balan-ce a final reserve liability of the

Goetheanum’s staff benefit foundation. On 1 January 2015 this foundation, with its pen-sion liabilities, was taken over by the Wele-da personnel foundation.

3 This item includes all income and expenses for events and guest performances as well as the Spanish-, English-, and German- stu-dies at the Goetheanum with all annual and supplementary courses.

4 The expenses for the Goetheanum staff re-main almost unchanged. The staff mem-bers contributed 400,000 Swiss Francs by accepting a cut in wages in order to avoid

coworkers having to be laid off. All Sections are now fully staffed and operating. In the service sector we try to work even more ef-ficiently and with fewer staff.

5 With the help of several legacies we were able to not only cover the high costs for the new production of Faust Parts 1 and 2, which was ongoing in 2015, and the structural de-ficit that was aggravated by the currency situation, but also build up reserves for ex-penses we will certainly incur in the coming year.

the worldwide commitment of anthropo-sophical specialist movements and civil society groups. Awareness of these mat-ters has grown strongly in recent years among the section leaders of the School of Spiritual Science. Exemplary associations exist already, such as between the Ger-man Waldorf Schools and the Pedagogical Section at the Goetheanum for instance: one Euro per year is taken from the school fees paid by Waldorf parents for each pupil in Germany in order to subsidize the Sec-tion. Similar schemes are in place in other countries.

Such associative arrangements be-tween the spiritual research worldwide, the coordination within a particular spe-cialist field, and the daily practice in the work places will in future be crucial for the Goetheanum as an academic institution. These kinds of relations will also play an important part in funding the tasks that fall to the Goetheanum – a place of grow-ing historical importance, visited by many people, who wish to experience one of the essential sites where anthroposophy incarnated and where Rudolf Steiner was active. Some of these visitors were drawn to Dornach after attending the much-noticed exhibitions on Rudolf Steiner (“Al-chemy of the Everyday”) in Rotterdam (NL), Wolfsburg, Halle (DE) and elsewhere.

Preserving Rudolf Steiner’s cultural heritage

We have the urgent task in future years to preserve and curate Rudolf Steiner’s cultural heritage, the art collection with original models and paintings, the famous blackboard drawings and the archives around the Goetheanum (see p. 6), and make them accessible to the public. This task has been neglected in the past and there is no doubt that important time has

Continued on page 13

General Anthroposophical SocietyProfit and Loss Account 2015

2015 2014g

2016REVENUES all amounts in CHF note

membership contributions 3'351'620 1 3'550'829 3'550'000contributions from institutions, non-designated 1'988'845 2 1'614'218 1'700'000non-designated donations 1'066'789 497'709 900'000designated donations 2'652'309 2'652'514 2'850'000contributions and donations 9'059'563 8'315'270 9'000'000

events, studies, professional development 2'060'733 3 2'071'459 2'470'000weekly journal, publications 928'202 953'721 930'000services 1'025'472 874'125 1'100'000financial revenues 531'081 196'294 0operational revenues 4'545'488 4'095'599 4'500'000

TOTAL REVENUES 13'605'051 12'410'869 13'500'000EXPENSESexpenses events and studies -3'217'100 3 -2'013'955 -1'950'000expenses services -2'478'789 -2'764'988 -2'400'000maintenance, buildings, grounds, inventory -1'260'568 -872'950 -850'000financial expenses -959'593 -208'067 0

TOTAL EXPENSES -7'916'050 -5'859'960 -5'200'000GROSS RESULT 5'689'001 6'550'909 8'300'000

staff salaries incl. social security benefits -10'745'905 4 -10'555'261 -10'885'000release of reserves previous year 594'687building up reserves -548'358expenses in relation to previous accounting periods -13'564

ORDINARY RESULT -5'024'139 -4'004'352 -2'585'000EXTRAORDINARY RESULTstaff housingrevenues 1'321'774 1'385'433 1'350'000expenditure -598'166 -693'711 -600'000result 723'608 691'722 750'000

pension schemes retired staff members -195'812 -194'723 -170'000

extraordinary mattersrevenues 15'392 2'373revenues from property sales 1 964'000donations Goetheanum renovation 703'730 2'228'056 200'000expenditure -152'333 -2expenses renovation ground floor -839'245result -272'455 3'194'427 200'000

reservesrelease of reserves previous year 57'004 810'974 1'805'000building up reserves -1'111'911 -516'800building up reserves Goetheanum renovation -614'960 -2'228'056Result -1'669'867 5 -1'933'882 1'805'000

Legacies non-designated 6'455'305 5 1'854'248

EXTRAORDINARY RESULT 5'040'779 3'611'792 2'585'000Ordinary result -5'024'139 -4'004'352 -2'585'000Extraordinary result 5'040'779 3'611'792 2'585'000

RESULT 16'640 -392'560 0



1 The expenses of the General Anthroposo-phical Section include, among others, the sum of 70,000 CHF for the Rudolf Steiner Archives as well as the costs of exhibitions at the Goetheanum.

2 An expected payment by a foundation to the Section and its project was unfortunately cancelled.

3 Stefan Hasler has become full-time in the course of the year and addressed all known qualified eurythmists via the Section news-letter.

4 At the end of the year the “Dokumentation” department acquired an essential part of Reinhold Fäth’s collection, which had been shown to great success in Olomouch (CZ)

and Halle (DE). This is reflected in the higher costs and was only possible with the help of the legacies we received.

5 The 2015 budget did not include the produc-tion costs for Faust 1 and 2, because the plan was to fund this production as a separate project. This turned out to be impracticable, because it would have needed several years of saving up, while the production could on-ly be done now. This means that the costs incurred for the production have indeed be-en paid out of the budget thanks to the lega-cies we received.

6 Unexpected revenue due to the prolonged sickness of a co-worker (insurance money).

7 Due to the average exchange rates for fo-

reign currencies that are specified by the tax office we incurred accounting losses of al-most one million CHF in the course of the year, but we also made currency gains in the second half of the year. This figure also inclu-des the dividend paid on Weleda shares.

8 More than 500,000 CHF of the funds for the restructuring of the ground floor were given to us by an Italian branch. The costs have so far amounted to 839,245 CHF (as of 31 De-cember 2015). The remaining expenses for the still ongoing major Goetheanum reno-vation are put aside until the whole renova-tion process is complete (see balance).

Result2015splitintoareas

GeneralAnthroposophicalSocietyIn1,000CHF revenuesexpenses net revenuesexpenses net

membershipcontributions 3'600 3'600 3'352 3'352annualconferences 150 -40 110 176 -156 20membershipoffice -145 -145 -151 -151executivecouncilandoffices(50%) 5 -546 -541 41 -552 -511staffhousingandproperty 1'350 -600 750 1'564 -840 724legacies 1'200 0 1'200 6'601 -146 6'455total 6'305 -1'331 4'974 11'734 -1'845 9'889supportforSchoolofSpiritualScience 4'974 9'889

School of Spiritual Sciencesupport General Anthroposophical Society 4'974 4'974 9'889 9'889donations 700 700 1'067 1'067donations and contributions from institutions 1'600 1'600 1'989 1'989

General Anthroposophical Section 295 -350 -55 1 800 -958 -158(of that studies and professional development) 163 -228 -65 524 -529 -5Youth Section 75 -202 -127 104 -230 -126Mathematical-Astronomical Section 132 -194 -62 2 71 -246 -175Medical Section 1'475 -1'510 -35 1'703 -1'774 -71Natural Science Section 400 -687 -287 592 -890 -298Pedagogical Section 785 -880 -95 864 -905 -41Visual Arts Section 40 -173 -133 42 -180 -138Section for Agriculture 425 -571 -146 533 -668 -135Performing Arts Section 250 -432 -182 3 253 -470 -217Literary Arts and Humanities Section 120 -239 -119 194 -297 -103Social Sciences Section 160 -156 4 129 -130 -1

Executive Council and offices 6 -546 -540 41 -551 -510Communication and Documentation 993 -1'573 -580 4 1'042 -1'824 -782of that PR -107 -107 -110 -110of that Documentation 30 -415 -385 20 -550 -530of that weekly journal Das Goetheanum 963 -1'051 -88 1'022 -1'164 -142

Goetheanum Stage 369 -2'327 -1'958 752 -2'610 -1'858new production Faust 1 and 2 60 -2'972 -2'912 5 1'035 -2'956 -1'921Goetheanum Building Administration 1'135 -3'200 -2'065 1'372 -3'702 -2'330Reception and Event Management 82 -912 -830 106 -837 -731Human Resources 25 -279 -254 6 74 -239 -165Finance Department 5 -360 -355 0 -324 -324financial revenues and expenses 7 532 -950 -418EDP 0 -300 -300 2 -290 -288

support for retired staff members 0 -165 -165 -196 -196extraordinary revenues and expenses 0 0 0 39 -176 -137Goetheanum renovation 450 450 8 704 -1'454 -750reserves 560 0 560 774 -1'829 -1'055

15'056 -15'056 0 26'548 -26'531 17

Budget2015 Result2015

Budget2015 Result2015


been lost. The department “Goetheanum Dokumentation” is in the process of devel-oping an emergency plan.

This step was initiated at the begin-ning of the year, when the Goetheanum received Reinhold Fäth’s collection after it had been exhibited in Halle (DE) and Olomouc (CZ) (see p. 7). We are grate-ful that the Anthroposophical Society in Germany helped with the organization of this step by temporarily storing and taking responsibility for the exhibition. We also hope that another long-expected, well-illustrated and -documented project – by Mirela Falday and David Hornemann von Laer – on Rudolf Steiner’s artistic work (the Representative of Humanity, the central section of this sculpture, paintings and coloured windows) will be completed this year and published by the Goetheanum Press (Verlag am Goetheanum).

Renovation probably cheaper than expected

The scaffolding around the Goethea-num was finally taken down at the be-ginning of the winter and the graffiti was removed from the basement. As soon as the temperatures rise the terrace can be resurfaced in the last stage of the overall terrace repairs. The outside stairs leading up to the terrace will then be open to visi-tors during the day. From the terrace, dear readers, you will be able not only to enjoy a wonderful view of Basel, the valley of the river Birs and of the Gempen mountain, but you can also study the sinuous forms of the building from up close.

The major renovation project, which in-cluded the total technical updating of the stage, the addition of an orchestra pit, the insulation and part-retiling of the roof, the restoration of the concrete including the foundation and the terrace, was planned in 2012 at an expected cost of 13.5 mil-lion Swiss Francs. By 31 December 2015 the Building Administration had spent 11.7 million. We estimate that 1.5 million will still be needed to finish the terrace, which means that we may manage to re-duce the overall costs to 13.2 million Swiss Francs. The money has already been raised through donations, construction notes and loans. With the funds we are still ex-pecting from the Canton of Solothurn and the Swiss Federation for the protection of

listed buildings (660,000 Swiss Francs) and the donations that are thankfully still arriv-ing we hope to be able to pay back the time loans on their respective due dates or to replace them with new interest-free loans.

All this has not least been possible thanks to our excellent finance depart-ment, headed by Frieder Sprich, who has seamlessly replaced Walter Laubi after his retirement in June 2015. We also receive competent advice from the Treasurers’ Group and, since last year, from Marianne

Schubert and Ueli Hurter as representa-tives of the Goetheanum Leadership. All this, in conjunction with the ongoing, great support we receive from you, the members, makes me look toward the fu-ture of the Goetheanum with some confi-dence. | Justus Wittich, Schatzmeister


1 The started jobs of the renovation project li-sted here, which have so far cost 11.7 million CHF (of the scheduled total of 13.5 CHF) are covered by corresponding reserves of 9.975 million CHF, plus construction notes and loans worth 3.3 million CHF (13.27 million CHF in total). For the restoration of the ter-race which will be done in the spring we esti-mate costs of 1.5 million CHF. This means

that the overall costs would be 13.2 million CHF, which is less than originally expected!

2 Thanks to larger legacies we were able to build up reserves, including a working capital of 600,000 CHF in order to avoid in future emergency situation like the one we had in 2015. We have also put aside 100,000 each for the Goetheanum World Conference and the revival of Rudolf Steiner’s Mystery Dramas.

… continued from page 11

General Anthroposophical Society Balance as of 31 December 2015 compared to 2014

all amounts in CHF 31.12.15 31.12.14ASSETS notescurrent assets

cash, banks 4'289'790 1 3'224'552debtors and clearing accounts 1'339'357 2'017'247

financial assetsloans, securities and investments 4'249'312 3'829'782

fixed assetsGoetheanum buildings, grounds, inventory 1 1Main Auditorium 1'674'695 1'805'914started renovation work building/stage 11'695'782 1 10'032'667staff housing 5'702'950 5'160'082TOTAL ASSETS 28'951'887 26'070'245

LIABILITIES

short-term liabilitiescreditors and other liabilities 2'990'126 2'389'047

long-term liabilitiesgifts with right of withdrawal 3'277'248 3'644'473loans Goetheanum 1'819'227 1'412'616construction notes and loans main auditorium 1'674'695 1'805'914construction notes + loan Goetheanum renovation 3'295'340 2'556'953loans staff housing 3'054'000 3'061'000

equitydiverse reserves 1'907'615 2 1'045'895reserves Goetheanum renovation 10'775'602 1 10'012'953free equity 1/1/2015 - 1/1/2014 141'394 533'954result 2015 / 2014 16'640 -392'560free equity 31/12/2015 - 31/12/2014 158'034 141'394TOTAL LIABILITIES 28'951'887 26'070'245


40 years of music for the Goethe-anum

Christian Ginat

On 20 September 2015, Chris-tian Ginat looked back on 40

years as a musician in Dornach. During these years he brought life to the music department of the Goetheanum’s Performing Arts Section in manifold ways. He celebrated his anniversary with Bach’s “Art of Fugue”, played by the “Quatuor B-A-C-H” which he co-founded.

Focusing on new musical im-pulses

When, in 1975, Josef Gunzinger, who was head of the Section’s mu-sic department at the time, found-ed a Goetheanum String Quar-tet (Anthroposophy Worldwide 1-2/2016, p. 14) he engaged Chris-tian Ginat to play the viola, having invited him already in 1974 to join the summer orchestra for the Faust Conference. In 1980, under section leader Hagen Biesantz, the cellist Gotthard Köhler assumed respon-sibility for the music department.

After studying eurythmy from 1877 to 1981, Christian Ginat joined Köhler’s team in order to prepare the music conferences, focusing particularly on the new musical impulses arising from anthroposophy. There was, for instance, an improvisation con-ference with Pär Ahlbom, Julius Knierim, Norbert Visser and Wolf-gang Wünsch; or a conference for string instruments with Helmut Bleffert, Karl Weid¬ler and Nor-bert Visser. During those years Heiner Ru¬land, Hermann Pfrog-ner, Jür-gen Schriefer and many others were also invited to come to the Goetheanum in order to speak of their specific themes and impulses, be they tone systems or singing techniques. There was a spring mood in the air at the time in the Goetheanum’s Music De-partment: the string quartet was brought back to life and performed new music on the big conferences

on anthroposophy and contempo-rary music held in Oslo (NO), Järna (SE) or Wangen (DE) and organized by Andreas Delor.

By that time Christian Ginat had started teaching at the mu-sic school in Dornach, of which he would later be director for three years. After the dissolution of the Goetheanum String Quartet in 1989 he reduced his involvement to voluntary engagements.

Inspired and sensitively discern-ing

In our working together since 2001 I have learned to value Chris-tian as a circumspect, but deeply inspired and sensitively discerning colleague, who experienced prom-inent personalities of the musical life in and around the Goethea-num, such as Emil Himmelsbach, Wilhelm Dörfler and Maria Re-nold; and not least as a musician with an excellent ear, especially for extended tonality and the early Greek scales discovered by Kath-leen Schlesinger.

Again and again he has played the works of contemporary com-posers, from Alois Haba to Eliott Carter, premiered solo and cham-ber pieces – by Gregers Brinch, Gott¬hart Killian, Knut Rennert and Kazuhiko Yoshida, for instance – and composed music for special occasions, such as the reopening of the Goetheanum main stage in 2013, played at that event by the String Septet Heiligenberg (DE), which he co-founded in 1995. | Michael Kurtz, Goetheanum


14 February 1945 to 11 February 2016

Wolfgang Rommel

Wolfgang Rommel was born in Göttingen (DE),

the oldest of four children. His parents were anthroposophists. Hanover’s first Waldorf School was founded in his grandfather’s house. His father, grand-father and some other ancestors were sculptors, some of them in the service of the Kings of Hanover. His maternal grandmother de-scended from an aristocratic Po-meranian family (Isle of Wolin). The Christian Community Lenker Erhard Kröner, whose youth group Wolfgang Rommel attended, was a friend of the family. Wolfgang was confirmed in the Christian Community.

From gold to speech Because of the family’s re-

stricted means, Wolfgang had to leave the Waldorf School after class 10 and began an appren-ticeship with a goldsmith, which he completed as the second best candidate of his year in the city of Hanover. After that his father allowed him to pursue his own goals. Wolfgang Rommel went to Stuttgart (DE), where he attended the Anthroposophical Study Year, followed by a year at the Priest Seminar of the Christian Commu-nity and a year of social work at the Husemann Clinic in Wiesneck (DE). At the age of 21 – at the time the minimum age – he became a member of the Anthroposophical Society.

When he was 24 he went to Dornach to study speech. During his studies he already played the part of Johannes in Rudolf Stein-er’s Mystery Dramas, in a touring production directed by Günther Sponholz. From 1973 onwards he was a dedicated member of the Goetheanum stage ensemble (up until its dissolution), playing parts such as Theodosius, Romanus, the business manager, the Guardian

of the Threshold and the Spirit of the Elements (speech); he played Wagner and the astrologer in “Faust” and the dervish in “Na-than the Wise”. In 2005 he direct-ed Friedrich Schiller’s (fragment) play “Demetrius”.

Up until the time when he be-came ill in May 2015, Wolfgang Rommel took on leading parts in the Mystery Dramas and in the Speech Choir. He worked as a speaker and speech instructor, took responsibility for the work of the Section and on stage, and accompanied people on the path of inner development, the latter being one of his main concerns throughout.

Visiting all continents Because he needed to earn

money to fund his trainings, his life forces had been weakened since his early twenties, but he nevertheless fulfilled his dream of getting to know the world and managed to visit all continents.

He was an avid reader, eru-dite and interested in all things beautiful, including visual art works. While he could be strict as a teacher on the esoteric path, his soul was gentle and loving. His strong spirit went on its way silently, at home in all realms be-yond the threshold that are acces-sible to us. Only few people were given the opportunity to experi-ence his hidden sanctuary, the rich spiritual treasure of his soul. | Elisabeth Bessau, Dornach (CH)


We have been informed that the following 61 members have crossed the threshold of death. In their remembrance we are providing this information for their friends. | The Membership Office at the Goetheanum

Gisela Burgard Järna (SE) 18. April 2014Dagmar Dennert Järfälla (SE) 14. Mai 2014Inga Bergman Stockholm (SE) 12. Oktober 2014Uwe Koch Bromma (SE) 5. Dezember 2014Auli Hietakangas Bromma (SE) 6. Dezember 2014Inger Modum Hosle (NO) 30. Januar 2015Gloria Leonetti Sacrofano (IT) 15. April 2015Bruno Armillei Milano (IT) 18. April 2015Doris Krattiger Riehen (CH) 13. Mai 2015Ragna Ledsaak Trondheim (NO) 16. Mai 2015Nina Kretschmer Dortmund (DE) 3. Juli 2015Ester Balduino Torino (IT) 23. Juli 2015Giuseppe de Luca Palermo (IT) 28. August 2015Dora Ariodante Torino (IT) 3. September 2015Lilli Nøstdal Bergen (NO) 11. September 2015Terje Eriksen Moss (NO) 12. September 2015Juan Kratzer Savona (IT) 1. Oktober 2015Ruth Manson Toronto (CA) 12. Oktober 2015Ulrich Stoller Aarau (CH) 13. Oktober 2015Gesine Kothe Dortmund (DE) 4. November 2015Joachim Dorfner Gera (DE) 8. November 2015Annelise Juul Stockholm (SE) 12. November 2015Hildegard Koch München (DE) 12. November 2015Ingeborg Doede Düsseldorf (DE) 26. November 2015Anneliese Eyssen Basel (CH) 15. Dezember 2015Hanne Schroer Olivos (AR) 17. Dezember 2015Susan Smook Guelph (CA) 17. Dezember 2015Levi Bæk Virum (DK) 23. Dezember 2015Lorenz Thissen Wassenberg (DE) 26. Dezember 2015Reiner Kuhle Ulm (DE) 28. Dezember 2015Justina Ochoa Rosario (AR) 30. Dezember 2015

Elisabeth Kellermeier Las Matas-Madrid (ES) im Jahr 2015Arieh Paz Doar Na Shimshon (IL) im Jahr 2015Alka Subotić Zagreb (HR) im Jahr 2015Martin Kliewer Hamburg (DE) 8. Januar 2016Inger Rugholt Bindslev (DK) 12. Januar 2016Ortrud Kupke Barsbüttel (DE) 13. Januar 2016Felix Wälti Winterthur (CH) 13. Januar 2016Margot Lambe Ilkeston (GB) 15. Januar 2016Sonja Ziesler Kassel (DE) 16. Januar 2016Anina Bösch Arlesheim (CH) 17. Januar 2016Gerhard Müller Kassel (DE) 18. Januar 2016Annelise Twentyman Forest Row (GB) 18. Januar 2016Ernst Wegerif Cape Town (ZA) 18. Januar 2016Bruno Hänggi Nunningen (CH) 19. Januar 2016Maja Kappeler Uster (CH) 19. Januar 2016Rudolf Wepfer Oberdorf (CH) 19. Januar 2016Lore von Zeska Hamburg (DE) 19. Januar 2016Anna Grünewald Darmstadt (DE) 22. Januar 2016Ruth-Lore Heymann Dortmund (DE) 22. Januar 2016Ursula Niedrig Goslar (DE) 23. Januar 2016Erwin Schoch Berlin (DE) 26. Januar 2016Sonna Kürzdörfer Schifferstadt (DE) 27. Januar 2016Otto Buchner München (DE) 28. Januar 2016Wedig von Bonin Schashagen (DE) 31. Januar 2016Marie Elisabeth Pederiva-Unger Milano (IT) 3. Februar 2016Ute Reifenberg Düsseldorf (DE) 4. Februar 2016Iris Jäppinen Lappeenranta (FI) 6. Februar 2016Wolfgang Rommel Dornach (CH) 11. Februar 2016Annalie Mulholland Christchurch (NZ) 14. Februar 2016Karla Hülsenberg Bornheim (DE) 18. Februar 2016

Correction: Last month Esther Due, Skanderborg (DK) was mistakenly listed among the dead due to a wrong report. We sincerely apologize for this error.

From 19 January to 22 February 2016 the Society welcomed 54 new members. 144 are no longer registered as members (resignations, lost, and corrections by country Societies).


25 August 1918 - 24 Septem-ber 2015

Lidiya Kusminit-shna Syrkova

Lidiya Kusminitshna Syrkova joined the Anthroposophi-

cal Society in November 2012. She had been in contact with anthroposophists for many years, in particular through her two sons, Pavel and Boris. Dur-ing her final years, when she was confined to her bed, she was cared for devotedly by her daughter-in-law, Irina Vittovna Syrkova.

Listening to the conversati-ons that took place in her house, Lidiya gradually grew closer to anthroposophy.

Looking back on her life, she then decided that “since I have been granted such a long life, I must become a member of the Anthroposophical So-ciety.” Her life had been event-ful: her destiny had taken her to the Urals, Leningrad, Gorki, China and other places in the Far East. At the end of her life she lived in Moscow, not far from her birthplace, Kuntsevo. On the evening before she died, she was able to enter de-eply into the Gospel of St John as it was read to her by Irina Vittovna. | From a report by Elisbetha Gulbina, Moskau (RU) (English translation based on Hans Hasler’s Russian to German translation)

11 July 1929 - 19 February 2016

Gerhart Jo-hannes Palmer Gerhard Palmer was original-

ly from Berlin, but was sent to Leipzig after his ordination as a priest in 1952. Joyfully he took on his new task. “Things were happening in the east,” he said, “while the spiritual life seemed rather stagnant in the west”. The conditions he encountered as a priest were not exactly favourable, however. Because the Christian Community had been banned from 1941 until 1945, it was initially hardly ex-istent anywhere in the GDR. There were no meeting places. The Act of the Consecration of

Man and other events usually took place in private homes or in rented premises. Together with Wilhelm Gädeke and Gerhard Dittmann, Gerhart Palmer founded and headed the East-German priest semi-nar. He also initiated a number of study groups and supported the building of a congregation hall and of a church in Leipzig. Without ever being a member of any official committees, he had contact throughout his life with officials of all colours, and was sometimes able to put in a word for members of his con-gregation or anthroposophists he was friendly with. | From a report by Elisbeth Wiederkehr, ‹Das Goetheanum› 41/2009


■ FEATURE

The foyer with its wooden fi ttings and counter seem deserted when we meet

in the afternoon. Up in lofty heights, like in a Shakespearean theatre, we spot the lit-up offi ce, where people are working, even during performances.

The newest edition of the weekly “Das Goetheanum” on display in the foyer sub-tly hints at the theatre’s background: it is part of “Forum Kreuzberg”, a self-man-aged cooperative for communal living and working. Next to the theatre, a new build-ing is being raised with fl ats, a gallery and premises for the Michael Chekhov Drama Studio. The studio’s founder and director, Jobst Langhans, also founded the tfk . It was here that, in 1992, the fi rst Interna-tional Michael Chekhov Conference took place and, in 1995, the fourth Internation-al Michael Chekhov Workshop.

Every week, without a summer breakIf you ask Anemone Poland about the

highlights of her 27-year career at the tfk – twenty of these as impresario (one anniversary!) – she laughs. “It is always the present moment. What we are play-ing now. Everything else is in the past. Theatre is an ephemeral medium”. The important years for her are the ones she spent as director, for she had started as an actor. “Directing was not part of my life plan.” But she had already produced plays at the “Tanztheater” and choreographed “Everyman” in the Berlin Cathedral (Ber-liner Dom). At last, in 2003, she directed “Bastien and Bastienne” at the Chamber Music Hall of the Berlin Philharmonie. “My roots are in choreography,” Anemone Po-land says.

In 1989 Olaf Bockemühl invited her to join the tfk as an actor. She had never done fringe theatre before. She found the part she was off ered attractive: her fi rst role as a mother. At that time the tfk only staged its own productions. She suggested that they should invite touring companies, as that would bring in money and the theatre would not be unused. “A theatre where nothing is happening will soon be forgot-ten.” Today there is a show on every week-

end, often also during the week, and there is no summer break.

Once she had become manager it was mostly her husband, Rudi Müller-Poland, who directed the plays at the tfk . When he died unexpectedly in 1997 the theatre was plunged into a crisis. Guest perfor-mances did not work out; members of the ensemble fell out. And so Anemone Po-land decided in 2001 to direct the plays at the tfk herself, a role she has played for 15 years now (another anniversary).

Rarely performed playsShe is mostly interested in rarely per-

formed plays and frequently ends up with French plays by surrealist authors such as Roger Vitrac and Eugène Ionesco, which she often has to translate herself. But she also digs out unplayed pieces such as “The Hotel” by the painter Max Beckmann. In this case, the Beckmann family descended upon the tfk for the premiere, as did mem-bers of the august association “Friends of

the National Gallery” who would not nor-mally fi nd their way there.

Anemone’s love of the theatre was fi rst inspired by an anthroposophical paedia-trician. Because she was quite a delicate little girl, who often had bruised knees, her doctor suggested she should take up gymnastics. At the age of four she there-fore started dance at the City Theatre in Oberhausen. When she was 8 she had her fi rst ballet engagement. After that she took classical ballet lessons with Tatiana Gsovsky and started acting with Erika Dann¬hoff – whilst also studying electri-cal engineering at the Technical University in Berlin!

A theatre in BerlinIn order to gain a complete picture of

Anemone Poland one must see her after a performance – if possible after a pre-mière: serenely she walks from guest to guest, involving them, or being involved by them, in conversations about the show and the theatre. The play she has chosen for the tfk ’s 30th anniversary is about an unsettled life and a love that will remain unfulfi lled during this life. But unlike Jean Anouilh’s Eurydice, Anemone Poland is happily in love (with the theatre). The the-atre and its ensemble are doing well de-spite ongoing fi nancial worries. Donations from foundations have made the produc-tion possible that will remain on the pro-gramme. When the play premiered last October, a colourful Kreuzberg melange of young and old theatre fans fl ocked to the tfk so that more and more chairs need-ed to be found.

Since the theatre split away from the Forum ten years ago and became an in-dependent association, the tfk has sud-denly become a normal stage in Berlin’s theatrical landscape. A decision taken for reasons of economic transparency – spon-sors should be sure that their money re-ally went to the theatre – proved to have a positive eff ect on how the theatre is perceived in public. Although everything is, as Anemone Poland points out, “on my head now”, the theatre continues to re-ceive support from the Forum Kreuzberg Association which pays the rent and half a technician’s salary. There is, after all, great interest in culture within the Forum. | Ron-ald Richter, Berlin (DE)

Three anniversaries at the “theaterforum kreuzberg”

A colourful Kreuzberg melangeAnemone Poland seems out of place outside the “theaterforum kreuzberg” (tfk ), an independent 99-seat theatre, where she has worked for 27 years, as an actor, director and manager. But these are not the only credentials of the theatre’s bubbly manager.

A background in choreography: Anemone Poland

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www.tfk -berlin.de

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