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Significant Events in the Life of Rudolf Steiner

1829:   June 23: birth of Johann Steiner (1829–1910)—Rudolf Steiner’s father—in Geras, Lower Austria.

1834:   May 8: birth of Franciska Blie (1834–1918)—Rudolf Steiner’s mother—in Horn, Lower Austria. “My father and mother were both children of the glorious Lower Austrian forest district north of the Danube.”

1860:   May 16: marriage of Johann Steiner and Franciska Blie.

1861:   February 25: birth of Rudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner in Kraljevec, Croatia, near the border with Hungary, where Johann Steiner works as a telegrapher for the South Austria Railroad. Rudolf Steiner is baptized two days later, February 27, the date usually given as his birthday.

1862:   Summer: the family moves to Mödling, Lower Austria.

1863:   The family moves to Pottschach, Lower Austria, near the Styrian border, where Johann Steiner becomes stationmaster. “The view stretched to the mountains...majestic peaks in the distance and the sweet charm of nature in the immediate surroundings.”

1864:   November 15: birth of Rudolf Steiner’s sister, Leopoldine (d. November 1, 1927). She will become a seamstress and live with her parents for the rest of her life.

1866:   July 28: birth of Rudolf Steiner’s deaf-mute brother, Gustav (d. May 1, 1941).

1867:   Rudolf Steiner enters the village school. Following a disagreement between his father and the schoolmaster, whose wife falsely accused the boy of causing a commotion, Rudolf Steiner is taken out of school and taught at home.

1868:   A critical experience. Unknown to the family, an aunt dies in a distant town. Sitting in the station waiting room, Rudolf Steiner sees her “form,” which speaks to him, asking for help. “Beginning with this experience, a new soul life began in the boy, one in which not only the outer trees and mountains spoke to him, but also the worlds that lay behind them. From this moment on, the boy began to live with the spirits of nature.…”

1869:   The family moves to the peaceful, rural village of Neudorfl, near Wiener-Neustadt in present-day Austria. Rudolf Steiner attends the village school. Because of the “unorthodoxy” of his writing and spelling, he has to do “extra lessons.”

1870:   Through a book lent to him by his tutor, he discovers geometry: “To grasp something purely in the spirit brought me inner happiness. I know that I first learned happiness through geometry.” The same tutor allows him to draw, while other students still struggle with their reading and writing. “An artistic element” thus enters his education.

1871:   Though his parents are not religious, Rudolf Steiner becomes a “church child,” a favorite of the priest, who was “an exceptional character.” “Up to the age of ten or eleven, among those I came to know, he was far and away the most significant.” Among other things, he introduces Steiner to Copernican, heliocentric cosmology. As an altar boy, Rudolf Steiner serves at Masses, funerals, and Corpus Christi processions. At year’s end, after an incident in which he escapes a thrashing, his father forbids him to go to church.

1872:   Rudolf Steiner transfers to grammar school in Wiener-Neustadt, a five-mile walk from home, which must be done in all weathers.

1873–75: Through his teachers and on his own, Rudolf Steiner has many wonderful experiences with science and mathematics. Outside school, he teaches himself analytic geometry, trigonometry, differential equations, and calculus.

1876:   Rudolf Steiner begins tutoring other students. He learns bookbinding from his father. He also teaches himself stenography.

1877:   Rudolf Steiner discovers Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason, which he reads and rereads. He also discovers and reads von Rotteck’s World History.

1878:   He studies extensively in contemporary psychology and philosophy.

1879:   Rudolf Steiner graduates from high school with honors. His father is transferred to Inzersdorf, near Vienna. He uses his first visit to Vienna “to purchase a great number of philosophy books”—Kant, Fichte, Schelling, and Hegel, as well as numerous histories of philosophy. His aim: to find a path from the “I” to nature.

October 1879–1883: Rudolf Steiner attends the Technical College in Vienna—to study mathematics, chemistry, physics, mineralogy, botany, zoology, biology, geology, and mechanics—with a scholarship. He also attends lectures in history and literature, while avidly reading philosophy on his own. His two favorite professors are Karl Julius Schröer (German language and literature) and Edmund Reitlinger (physics). He also audits lectures by Robert Zimmerman on aesthetics and Franz Brentano on philosophy. During this year he begins his friendship with Moritz Zitter (1861–1921), who will help support him financially when he is in Berlin.

1880:   Rudolf Steiner attends lectures on Schiller and Goethe by Karl Julius Schröer, who becomes his mentor. Also “through a remarkable combination of circumstances,” he meets Felix Koguzki, an “herb gatherer” and healer, who could “see deeply into the secrets of nature.” Rudolf Steiner will meet and study with this “emissary of the Master” throughout his time in Vienna.

1881:   January: “… I didn’t sleep a wink. I was busy with philosophical problems until about 12:30 a.m. Then, finally, I threw myself down on my couch. All my striving during the previous year had been to research whether the following statement by Schelling was true or not: Within everyone dwells a secret, marvelous capacity to draw back from the stream of time—out of the self clothed in all that comes to us from outside—into our innermost being and there, in the immutable form of the Eternal, to look into ourselves. I believe, and I am still quite certain of it, that I discovered this capacity in myself; I had long had an inkling of it. Now the whole of idealist philosophy stood before me in modified form. What’s a sleepless night compared to that!”

           Rudolf Steiner begins communicating with leading thinkers of the day, who send him books in return, which he reads eagerly.

July:     “I am not one of those who dives into the day like an animal in human form. I pursue a quite specific goal, an idealistic aim—knowledge of the truth! This cannot be done offhandedly. It requires the greatest striving in the world, free of all egotism, and equally of all resignation.”

August: Steiner puts down on paper for the first time thoughts for a “Philosophy of Freedom.” “The striving for the absolute: this human yearning is freedom.” He also seeks to outline a “peasant philosophy,” describing what the worldview of a “peasant”—one who lives close to the earth and the old ways—really is.

1881–1882: Felix Koguzki, the herb gatherer, reveals himself to be the envoy of another, higher initiatory personality, who instructs Rudolf Steiner to penetrate Fichte’s philosophy and to master modern scientific thinking as a preparation for right entry into the spirit. This “Master” also teaches him the double (evolutionary and involutionary) nature of time.

1882:   Through the offices of Karl Julius Schröer, Rudolf Steiner is asked by Joseph Kurschner to edit Goethe’s scientific works for the Deutschen National-Literatur edition. He writes “A Possible Critique of Atomistic Concepts” and sends it to Friedrich Theodore Vischer.

1883:   Rudolf Steiner completes his college studies and begins work on the Goethe project.

1884:   First volume of Goethe’s Scientific Writings (CW 1) appears (March). He lectures on Goethe and Lessing, and Goethe’s approach to science. In July, he enters the household of Ladislaus and Pauline Specht as tutor to the four Specht boys. He will live there until 1890. At this time, he meets Josef Breuer (1842–1925), the coauthor with Sigmund Freud of Studies in Hysteria, who is the Specht family doctor.

1885:   While continuing to edit Goethe’s writings, Rudolf Steiner reads deeply in contemporary philosophy (Edouard von Hartmann, Johannes Volkelt, and Richard Wahle, among others).

1886:   May: Rudolf Steiner sends Kurschner the manuscript of Outlines of Goethe’s Theory of Knowledge (CW 2), which appears in October, and which he sends out widely. He also meets the poet Marie Eugenie Delle Grazie and writes “Nature and Our Ideals” for her. He attends her salon, where he meets many priests, theologians, and philosophers, who will become his friends. Meanwhile, the director of the Goethe Archive in Weimar requests his collaboration with the Sophien edition of Goethe’s works, particularly the writings on color.

1887:   At the beginning of the year, Rudolf Steiner is very sick. As the year progresses and his health improves, he becomes increasingly “a man of letters,” lecturing, writing essays, and taking part in Austrian cultural life. In August-September, the second volume of Goethe’s Scientific Writings appears.

1888 January–July:  Rudolf Steiner assumes editorship of the “German Weekly” (Deutsche Wochenschrift ). He begins lecturing more intensively, giving, for example, a lecture titled “Goethe as Father of a New Aesthetics.” He meets and becomes soul friends with Friedrich Eckstein (1861–1939), a vegetarian, philosopher of symbolism, alchemist, and musician, who will introduce him to various spiritual currents (including Theosophy) and with whom he will meditate and interpret esoteric and alchemical texts.

1889:   Rudolf Steiner first reads Nietzsche (Beyond Good and Evil ). He encounters Theosophy again and learns of Madame Blavatsky in the Theosophical circle around Marie Lang (1858–1934). Here he also meets well-known figures of Austrian life, as well as esoteric figures like the occultist Franz Hartman and Karl Leinigen-Billigen (translator of C.G. Harrison’s The Transcendental Universe.) During this period, Steiner first reads A.P. Sinnett’s Esoteric Buddhism and Mabel Collins’s Light on the Path. He also begins traveling, visiting Budapest, Weimar, and Berlin (where he meets philosopher Edouard von Hartman).

1890:   Rudolf Steiner finishes volume 3 of Goethe’s scientific writings. He begins his doctoral dissertation, which will become Truth and Science(CW 3). He also meets the poet and feminist Rosa Mayreder (1858–1938), with whom he can exchange his most intimate thoughts. In September, Rudolf Steiner moves to Weimar to work in the Goethe-Schiller Archive.

1891:   Volume 3 of the Kurschner edition of Goethe appears. Meanwhile, Rudolf Steiner edits Goethe’s studies in mineralogy and scientific writings for the Sophien edition. He meets Ludwig Laistner of the Cotta Publishing Company, who asks for a book on the basic question of metaphysics. From this will result, ultimately, The Philosophy of Freedom (CW 4), which will be published not by Cotta but by Emil Felber. In October, Rudolf Steiner takes the oral exam for a doctorate in philosophy, mathematics, and mechanics at Rostock University, receiving his doctorate on the twenty-sixth. In November, he gives his first lecture on Goethe’s “Fairy Tale” in Vienna.

1892:   Rudolf Steiner continues work at the Goethe-Schiller Archive and on his Philosophy of Freedom. Truth and Science, his doctoral dissertation, is published. Steiner undertakes to write introductions to books on Schopenhauer and Jean Paul for Cotta. At year’s end, he finds lodging with Anna Eunike, née Schulz (1853–1911), a widow with four daughters and a son. He also develops a friendship with Otto Erich Hartleben (1864–1905) with whom he shares literary interests.

1893:   Rudolf Steiner begins his habit of producing many reviews and articles. In March, he gives a lecture titled “Hypnotism, with Reference to Spiritism.” In September, volume 4 of the Kurschner edition is completed. In November, The Philosophy of Freedom appears. This year, too, he meets John Henry Mackay (1864–1933), the anarchist, and Max Stirner, a scholar and biographer.

1894:   Rudolf Steiner meets Elisabeth Förster Nietzsche, the philosopher’s sister, and begins to read Nietzsche in earnest, beginning with the as yet unpublished Antichrist. He also meets Ernst Haeckel (1834–1919). In the fall, he begins to write Nietzsche, A Fighter against His Time (CW 5).

1895:   May, Nietzsche, A Fighter against His Time appears.

1896:   January 22: Rudolf Steiner sees Friedrich Nietzsche for the first and only time. Moves between the Nietzsche and the Goethe-Schiller Archives, where he completes his work before year’s end. He falls out with Elisabeth Förster Nietzsche, thus ending his association with the Nietzsche Archive.

1897:   Rudolf Steiner finishes the manuscript of Goethe’s Worldview (CW 6). He moves to Berlin with Anna Eunike and begins editorship of the Magazin fur Literatur. From now on, Steiner will write countless reviews, literary and philosophical articles, and so on. He begins lecturing at the “Free Literary Society.” In September, he attends the Zionist Congress in Basel. He sides with Dreyfus in the Dreyfus affair.

1898:   Rudolf Steiner is very active as an editor in the political, artistic, and theatrical life of Berlin. He becomes friendly with John Henry Mackay and poet Ludwig Jacobowski (1868–1900). He joins Jacobowski’s circle of writers, artists, and scientists—“The Coming Ones” (Die Kommenden)—and contributes lectures to the group until 1903. He also lectures at the “League for College Pedagogy.” He writes an article for Goethe’s sesquicentennial, “Goethe’s Secret Revelation,” on the “Fairy Tale of the Green Snake and the Beautiful Lily.”

1898–99:  “This was a trying time for my soul as I looked at Christianity…I was able to progress only by contemplating, by means of spiritual perception, the evolution of Christianity…Conscious knowledge of real Christianity began to dawn in me around the turn of the century. This seed continued to develop. My soul trial occurred shortly before the beginning of the twentieth century. It was decisive for my soul’s development that I stood spiritually before the Mystery of Golgotha in a deep and solemn celebration of knowledge.”

1899:   Rudolf Steiner begins teaching and giving lectures and lecture cycles at the Workers’ College, founded by Wilhelm Liebknecht (1826–1900). He will continue to do so until 1904. Writes: Literature and Spiritual Life in the Nineteenth Century; Individualism in Philosophy; Haeckel and His Opponents; Poetry in the Present; and begins what will become (fifteen years later). The Riddles of Philosophy (CW 18). He also meets many artists and writers, including Käthe Kollwitz, Stefan Zweig, and Rainer Maria Rilke. On October 31, he marries Anna Eunike.

1900:   “I thought that the turn of the century must bring humanity a new light. It seemed to me that the separation of human thinking and willing from the spirit had peaked. A turn or reversal of direction in human evolution seemed to me a necessity.” Rudolf Steiner finishes World and Life Views in the Nineteenth Century (the second part of what will become The Riddles of Philosophy) and dedicates it to Ernst Haeckel. It is published in March. He continues lecturing at Die Kommenden, whose leadership he assumes after the death of Jacobowski. Also, he gives the Gutenberg Jubilee lecture before 7,000 typesetters and printers. In September, Rudolf Steiner is invited by Count and Countess Brockdorff to lecture in the Theosophical Library. His first lecture is on Nietzsche. His second lecture is titled “Goethe’s Secret Revelation.” October 6, he begins a lecture cycle on the mystics that will become Mystics after Modernism (CW 7). November–December: “Marie von Sivers appears in the audience….” Also in November, Steiner gives his first lecture at the Giordano Bruno Bund (where he will continue to lecture until May, 1905). He speaks on Bruno and modern Rome, focusing on the importance of the philosophy of Thomas Aquinas as monism.

1901:   In continual financial straits, Rudolf Steiner’s early friends Moritz Zitter and Rosa Mayreder help support him. In October, he begins the lecture cycle Christianity as Mystical Fact (CW 8) at the Theosophical Library. In November, he gives his first “Theosophical lecture” on Goethe’s “Fairy Tale” in Hamburg at the invitation of Wilhelm Hubbe-Schleiden. He also attends a tea to celebrate the founding of the Theosophical Society at Count and Countess Brockdorff’s. He gives a lecture cycle, “From Buddha to Christ,” for the circle of the Kommenden. November 17, Marie von Sivers asks Rudolf Steiner if Theosophy does not need a Western-Christian spiritual movement (to complement Theosophy’s Eastern emphasis). “The question was posed. Now, following spiritual laws, I could begin to give an answer….” In December, Rudolf Steiner writes his first article for a Theosophical publication. At year’s end, the Brockdorffs and possibly Wilhelm Hubbe-Schleiden ask Rudolf Steiner to join the Theosophical Society and undertake the leadership of the German section. Rudolf Steiner agrees, on the condition that Marie von Sivers (then in Italy) work with him.

1902:   Beginning in January, Rudolf Steiner attends the opening of the Workers’ School in Spandau with Rosa Luxemburg (1870–1919). January 17, Rudolf Steiner joins the Theosophical Society. In April, he is asked to become general secretary of the German Section of the Theosophical Society, and works on preparations for its founding. In July, he visits London for a Theosophical congress. He meets Bertram Keightly, G.R.S. Mead, A.P. Sinnett, and Annie Besant, among others. In September, Christianity as Mystical Fact appears. In October, Rudolf Steiner gives his first public lecture on Theosophy (“Monism and Theosophy”) to about three hundred people at the Giordano Bruno Bund. From October 19–21, the German Section of the Theosophical Society has its first meeting; Rudolf Steiner is the general secretary, and Annie Besant attends. Steiner lectures on practical karma studies. On October 23, Annie Besant inducts Rudolf Steiner into the Esoteric School of the Theosophical Society. On October 25, Steiner begins a weekly series of lectures: “The Field of Theosophy.” During this year, Rudolf Steiner also first meets Ita Wegman (1876–1943), who will become his close collaborator in his final years.

1903:   Rudolf Steiner holds about 300 lectures and seminars. In May, the first issue of the periodical Luzifer appears. In June, Rudolf Steiner visits London for the first meeting of the Federation of the European Sections of the Theosophical Society, where he meets Colonel Olcott. He begins to write Theosophy (CW 9).

1904:   Rudolf Steiner continues lecturing at the Workers’ College and elsewhere (about 90 lectures), while lecturing intensively all over Germany among Theosophists (about 140 lectures). In February, he meets Carl Unger (1878–1929), who will become a member of the board of the Anthroposophical Society (1913). In March, he meets Michael Bauer (1871–1929), a Christian mystic, who will also be on the board. In May, Theosophy appears, with the dedication: “To the spirit of Giordano Bruno.” Rudolf Steiner and Marie von Sivers visit London for meetings with Annie Besant. June: Rudolf Steiner and Marie von Sivers attend the meeting of the Federation of European Sections of the Theosophical Society in Amsterdam. In July, Steiner begins the articles in Luzifer-Gnosis that will become How to Know Higher Worlds(CW 10) and Cosmic Memory (CW 11). In September, Annie Besant visits Germany. In December, Steiner lectures on Freemasonry. He mentions the High Grade Masonry derived from John Yarker and represented by Theodore Reuss and Karl Kellner as a blank slate “into which a good image could be placed.”

1905:   This year, Steiner ends his non-Theosophical lecturing activity. Supported by Marie von Sivers, his Theosophical lecturing—both in public and in the Theosophical Society—increases significantly: “The German Theosophical Movement is of exceptional importance.” Steiner recommends reading, among others, Fichte, Jacob Boehme, and Angelus Silesius. He begins to introduce Christian themes into Theosophy. He also begins to work with doctors (Felix Peipers and Ludwig Noll). In July, he is in London for the Federation of European Sections, where he attends a lecture by Annie Besant: “I have seldom seen Mrs. Besant speak in so inward and heartfelt a manner….” “Through Mrs. Besant I have found the way to H. P. Blavatsky.” September to October, he gives a course of thirty-one lectures for a small group of esoteric students. In October, the annual meeting of the German Section of the Theosophical Society, which still remains very small, takes place. Rudolf Steiner reports membership has risen from 121 to 377 members. In November, seeking to establish esoteric “continuity, ”Rudolf Steiner and Marie von Sivers participate in a “Memphis-Misraim” Masonic ceremony. They pay forty-five marks for membership. “Yesterday, you saw how little remains of former esoteric institutions.” “We are dealing only with a ‘framework’… for the present, nothing lies behind it. The occult powers have completely withdrawn.”

1906:   Expansion of Theosophical work. Rudolf Steiner gives about 245 lectures, only 44 of which take place in Berlin. Cycles are given in Paris, Leipzig, Stuttgart, and Munich. Esoteric work also intensifies. Rudolf Steiner begins writing An Outline of Esoteric Science (CW 13). In January, Rudolf Steiner receives permission (a patent) from the Great Orient of the Scottish A & A Thirty-Three Degree Rite of the Order of the Ancient Freemasons of the Memphis-Misraim Rite to direct a chapter under the name “Mystica Aeterna.” This will become the “Cognitive Cultic Section” (also called “Misraim Service”) of the Esoteric School. (See: From the History and Contents of the Cognitive Cultic Section (CW 264). During this time, Steiner also meets Albert Schweitzer. In May, he is in Paris, where he visits Edouard Schuré. Many Russians attend his lectures (including Konstantin Balmont, Dimitri Mereszkovski, Zinaida Hippius, and Maximilian Voloshin). He attends the General Meeting of the European Federation of the Theosophical Society, at which Col. Olcott is present for the last time. He spends the year’s end in Venice and Rome, where he writes and works on his translation of H. P. Blavatsky’s Key to Theosophy.

1907:   Further expansion of the German Theosophical Movement according to the Rosicrucian directive to “introduce spirit into the world”—in education, in social questions, in art, and in science. In February, Col. Olcott dies in Adyar. Before he dies, Olcott indicates that “the Masters” wish Annie Besant to succeed him: much politicking ensues. Rudolf Steiner supports Besant’s candidacy. April–May: preparations for the Congress of the Federation of European Sections of the Theosophical Society—the great, watershed Whitsun “Munich Congress,” attended by Annie Besant and others. Steiner decides to separate Eastern and Western (Christian-Rosicrucian) esoteric schools. He takes his esoteric school out of the Theosophical Society (Besant and Rudolf Steiner are “in harmony” on this). Steiner makes his first lecture tours to Austria and Hungary. That summer, he is in Italy. In September, he visits Edouard Schuré, who will write the introduction to the French edition of Christianity as Mystical Fact in Barr, Alsace. Rudolf Steiner writes the autobiographical statement known as the “Barr Document.” In Luzifer–Gnosis, “The Education of the Child” appears.

1908:   The movement grows (membership: 1150). Lecturing expands. Steiner makes his first extended lecture tour to Holland and Scandinavia, as well as visits to Naples and Sicily. Themes: St. John’s Gospel, the Apocalypse, Egypt, science, philosophy, and logic. Luzifer-Gnosis ceases publication. In Berlin, Marie von Sivers (with Johanna Mücke (1864–1949) forms the Philosophisch-Theosophisch (after 1915 Philosophisch-Anthroposophisch) Verlag to publish Steiner’s work. Steiner gives lecture cycles titled The Gospel of St. John (CW 103) and The Apocalypse (104).

1909:   An Outline of Esoteric Science appears. Lecturing and travel continues. Rudolf Steiner’s spiritual research expands to include the polarity of Lucifer and Ahriman; the work of great individualities in history; the Maitreya Buddha and the Bodhisattvas; spiritual economy (CW 109); the work of the spiritual hierarchies in heaven and on Earth (CW 110). He also deepens and intensifies his research into the Gospels, giving lectures on the Gospel of St. Luke (CW 114) with the first mention of two Jesus children. Meets and becomes friends with Christian Morgenstern (1871–1914). In April, he lays the foundation stone for the Malsch model—the building that will lead to the first Goetheanum. In May, the International Congress of the Federation of European Sections of the Theosophical Society takes place in Budapest. Rudolf Steiner receives the Subba Row medal for How to Know Higher Worlds. During this time, Charles W. Leadbeater discovers Jiddu Krishnamurti (1895–1986) and proclaims him the future “world teacher,” the bearer of the Maitreya Buddha and the “reappearing Christ.” In October, Steiner delivers seminal lectures on “anthroposophy,” which he will try, unsuccessfully, to rework over the next years into the unfinished work, Anthroposophy (A Fragment) (CW 45).

1910:   New themes: The Reappearance of Christ in the Etheric (CW 118); The Mission of Folk Souls (CW 121); Occult History (CW 126); the evolving development of etheric cognitive capacities. Rudolf Steiner continues his Gospel research with The Gospel of St. Matthew (CW 123). In January, his father dies. In April, he takes a month-long trip to Italy, including Rome, Monte Cassino, and Sicily. He also visits Scandinavia again. July–August, he writes the first mystery drama, The Portal of Initiation (CW 14). In November, he gives “psychosophy” lectures. In December, he submits “On the Psychological Foundations and Epistemological Framework of Theosophy” to the International Philosophical Congress in Bologna.

1911:   The crisis in the Theosophical Society deepens. In January, “The Order of the Rising Sun,” which will soon become “The Order of the Star in the East,” is founded for the coming world teacher, Krishnamurti. At the same time, Marie von Sivers, Rudolf Steiner’s coworker, falls ill. Fewer lectures are given, but important new ground is broken. In Prague, in March, Steiner meets Franz Kafka (1883–1924) and Hugo Bergmann (1883–1975). In April, he delivers his paper to the Philosophical Congress. He writes the second mystery drama, The Soul’s Probation (CW 14). Also, while Marie von Sivers is convalescing, Rudolf Steiner begins work on Calendar 1912/1913, which will contain the “Calendar of the Soul” meditations. On March 19, Anna (Eunike) Steiner dies. In September, Rudolf Steiner visits Einsiedeln, birthplace of Paracelsus. In December, Friedrich Rittelmeyer, future founder of the Christian Community, meets Rudolf Steiner. The Johannes-Bauverein, the “building committee,” which would lead to the first Goetheanum (first planned for Munich), is also founded, and a preliminary committee for the founding of an independent association is created that, in the following year, will become the Anthroposophical Society. Important lecture cycles include Occult Physiology (CW 128); Wonders of the World (CW 129); From Jesus to Christ (CW 131). Other themes: esoteric Christianity; Christian Rosenkreutz; the spiritual guidance of humanity; the sense world and the world of the spirit.

1912:   Despite the ongoing, now increasing crisis in the Theosophical Society, much is accomplished: Calendar 1912/1913 is published; eurythmy is created; both the third mystery drama, The Guardian of the Threshold (CW 14) and A Way of Self-Knowledge (CW 16) are written. New (or renewed) themes included life between death and rebirth and karma and reincarnation. Other lecture cycles: Spiritual Beings in the Heavenly Bodies and the Kingdoms of Nature (CW 136); The Human Being in the Light of Occultism, Theosophy, and Philosophy (CW 137); The Gospel of St. Mark (CW 139); and The Bhagavad Gita and the Epistles of Paul (CW 142). On May 8, Rudolf Steiner celebrates White Lotus Day, H. P. Blavatsky’s death day, which he had faithfully observed for the past decade, for the last time. In August, Rudolf Steiner suggests the “independent association” be called the “Anthroposophical Society.” In September, the first eurythmy course takes place. In October, Rudolf Steiner declines recognition of a Theosophical Society lodge dedicated to the Star of the East and decides to expel all Theosophical Society members belonging to the order. Also, with Marie von Sivers, he first visits Dornach, near Basel, Switzerland, and they stand on the hill where the Goetheanum will be. In November, a Theosophical Society lodge is opened by direct mandate from Adyar (Annie Besant). In December, a meeting of the German section occurs at which it is decided that belonging to the Order of the Star of the East is incompatible with membership in the Theosophical Society. December 28: informal founding of the Anthroposophical Society in Berlin.

1913:   Expulsion of the German section from the Theosophical Society. February 2–3: Foundation meeting of the Anthroposophical Society. Board members include: Marie von Sivers, Michael Bauer, and Carl Unger. September 20: Laying of the foundation stone for the Johannes Bau (Goetheanum) in Dornach. Building begins immediately. The third mystery drama, The Soul’s Awakening (CW 14), is completed. Lecture cycles include: Secrets of the Threshold (CW 147), The Esoteric Meaning of the Bhagavad Gita (CW 146), which the Russian philosopher Nikolai Berdyaev attends; The Mysteries of the East and of Christianity (CW 144); The Effects of Esoteric Development (CW 145); and The Fifth Gospel (CW 148). In May, Rudolf Steiner is in London and Paris, where anthroposophical work continues.

1914:   Building continues on the Johannes Bau (Goetheanum) in Dornach, with artists and coworkers from seventeen nations. The general assembly of the Anthroposophical Society takes place. In May, Rudolf Steiner visits Paris, as well as Chartres Cathedral. June 28: assassination in Sarajevo (“Now the catastrophe has happened!”). August 1: War is declared. Rudolf Steiner returns to Germany from Dornach—he will travel back and forth. He writes the last chapter of The Riddles of Philosophy. Lecture cycles include: Human and Cosmic Thought (CW 151); Inner Being of Humanity between Death and a New Birth (CW 153); Occult Reading and Occult Hearing(CW 156). December 24: marriage of Rudolf Steiner and Marie von Sivers.

1915:   Building continues. Life after death becomes a major theme, also art. Lectures include: The Secret of Death (CW 159); The Uniting of Humanity through the Christ Impulse (CW 165).

1916:   Rudolf Steiner begins work with Edith Maryon (1872–1924) on the sculpture “The Representative of Humanity” (“The Group”—Christ, Lucifer, and Ahriman). He also works with the alchemist Alexander von Bernus on the quarterly Das Reich. He writes The Riddle of Humanity (CW 20). Lectures include: Necessity and Freedom in World History and Human Action (CW 166); Past and Present in the Human Spirit (CW 167); The Karma of Vocation (CW 172); The Karma of Untruthfulness (CW 173).

1917:   Russian Revolution. The U.S. enters the war. Building continues. Rudolf Steiner delineates the idea of the “threefold nature of the human being” (in a public lecture March 15) and the “threefold nature of the social organism” (hammered out in May–June with the help of Otto von Lerchenfeld and Ludwig Polzer-Hoditz in the form of two documents titled Memoranda, which were distributed in high places). August–September: Rudolf Steiner writes The Riddles of the Soul (CW 21). Also: commentary on “The Chemical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz” for Alexander Bernus (Das Reich ). Lectures include: The Karma of Materialism (CW 176); The Spiritual Background of the Outer World: The Fall of the Spirits of Darkness (CW 177).

1918 March 18:    peace treaty of Brest-Litovsk—“Now everything will truly enter chaos! What is needed is cultural renewal.” June: Rudolf Steiner visits Karlstein (Grail) Castle outside Prague. Lecture cycle: From Symptom to Reality in Modern History (CW 185). In mid-November, Emil Molt, of the Waldorf-Astoria Cigarette Company, has the idea of founding a school for his workers’ children.

1919:   Focus on the threefold social organism: tireless travel, countless lectures, meetings, and publications. At the same time, a new public stage of Anthroposophy emerges as cultural renewal begins. The coming years will see initiatives in pedagogy, medicine, pharmacology, and agriculture. January 27: threefold meeting: “We must first of all, with the money we have, found free schools that can bring people what they need.” February: first public eurythmy performance in Zurich. Also: “Appeal to the German People” (CW 24), circulated March 6 as a newspaper insert. In April, Toward Social Renewal (CW 23)—“perhaps the most widely read of all books on politics appearing since the war”—appears. Rudolf Steiner is asked to undertake the “direction and leadership” of the school founded by the Waldorf-Astoria Company. Rudolf Steiner begins to talk about the “renewal” of education. May 30: a building is selected and purchased for the future Waldorf School. August–September, Rudolf Steiner gives a lecture course for Waldorf teachers, The Foundations of Human Experience (Study of Man) (CW 293). September 7: Opening of the first Waldorf School. December (into January): first science course, The Light Course (CW 320).

1920:   The Waldorf School flourishes. New threefold initiatives. Founding of limited companies Der Kommenden Tag and Futurum A.G. to infuse spiritual values into the economic realm. Rudolf Steiner also focuses on the sciences. Lectures: Introducing Anthroposophical Medicine (CW 312); The Warmth Course (CW 321); The Boundaries of Natural Science (CW 322); The Redemption of Thinking (CW 74). February: Johannes Werner Klein—later a cofounder of the Christian Community—asks Rudolf Steiner about the possibility of a “religious renewal,” a “Johannine church.” In March, Rudolf Steiner gives the first course for doctors and medical students. In April, a divinity student asks Rudolf Steiner a second time about the possibility of religious renewal. September 27–October 16: anthroposophical “college course.” December: lectures titled The Search for the New Isis (CW 202).

1921:   Rudolf Steiner continues his intensive work on cultural renewal, including the uphill battle for the threefold social order. “College” arts, scientific, theological, and medical courses include: The Astronomy Course (CW 323); Observation, Mathematics, and Scientific Experiment (CW 324); the Second Medical Course (CW 313); Color. In June and September–October, Rudolf Steiner also gives the first two “priests’ courses” (CW 342 and 343). The “youth movement” gains momentum. Magazines are founded: Die Drei (January), and—under the editorship of Albert Steffen (1884–1963)—the weekly, Das Goetheanum (August). In February–March, Rudolf Steiner takes his first trip outside Germany since the war (Holland). On April 7, Steiner receives a letter regarding “religious renewal,” and May 22–23, he agrees to address the question in a practical way. In June, the Klinical-Therapeutic Institute opens in Arlesheim under the direction of Dr. Ita Wegman. In August, the Chemical-Pharmaceutical Laboratory opens in Arlesheim (Oskar Schmiedel and Ita Wegman, directors). The Clinical Therapeutic Institute is inaugurated in Stuttgart (Dr. Ludwig Noll, director); also the Research Laboratory in Dornach (Ehrenfried Pfeiffer and Gunther Wachsmuth, directors). In November–December, Rudolf Steiner visits Norway.

1922:   The first half of the year involves very active public lecturing (thousands attend); in the second half, Rudolf Steiner begins to withdraw and turn toward the Society—“The Society is asleep.” It is “too weak” to do what is asked of it. The businesses—Die Kommenden Tag andFutura A.G.—fail. In January, with the help of an agent, Steiner undertakes a twelve-city German tour, accompanied by eurythmy performances. In two weeks he speaks to more than 2,000 people. In April, he gives a “college course” in The Hague. He also visits England. In June, he is in Vienna for the East-West Congress. In August–September, he is back in England for the Oxford Conference on Education. Returning to Dornach, he gives the lectures Philosophy, Cosmology, and Religion (CW 215), and gives the third priest’s course (CW 344). On September 16, The Christian Community is founded. In October–November, Steiner is in Holland and England. He also speaks to the youth: The Youth Course (CW 217). In December, Steiner gives lectures titled The Origins of Natural Science (CW 326), and Man and the World of Stars: The Spiritual Communion of Humanity (CW 219). December 31: Fire at the Goetheanum, which is destroyed.

1923:   Despite the fire, Rudolf Steiner continues his work unabated. A very hard year. Internal dispersion, dissension, and apathy abound. There is conflict—between old and new visions—within the society. A wake-up call is needed, and Rudolf Steiner responds with renewed lecturing vitality. His focus: the spiritual context of human life; initiation science; the course of the year; and community building. As a foundation for an artistic school, he creates a series of pastel sketches. Lecture cycles: The Evolution of Consciousness (CW 227) (in England at the Penmaenmawr Summer School); The Four Seasons and the Archangels (CW 229); Harmony of the Creative Word (CW 230); At Home in the Universe (CW 231), given in Holland for the founding of the Dutch society. On November 10, in response to the failed Hitler-Ludendorf putsch in Munich, Steiner closes his Berlin residence and moves the Philosophisch-Anthroposophisch Verlag (Press) to Dornach. On December 9, Steiner begins the serialization of his Autobiography: The Course of My Life (CW 28) in Das Goetheanum. It will continue to appear weekly, without a break, until his death. Late December-early January: Rudolf Steiner refounds the Anthroposophical Society (about 12,000 members internationally) and takes over its leadership. The new board members are: Marie Steiner, Ita Wegman, Albert Steffen, Elizabeth Vreede, and Guenther Wachsmuth. See The Christmas Meeting for the Founding of the General Anthroposophical Society (CW 260). Accompanying lectures: Mystery Knowledge and Mystery Centers (CW 232); World History in the Light of Anthroposophy (CW 233). December 25: the Foundation Stone is laid (in the hearts of members) in the form of the “Foundation Stone Meditation.”

1924:   January 1: having founded the Anthroposophical Society and taken over its leadership, Rudolf Steiner has the task of “reforming” it. The process begins with a weekly newssheet (“What’s Happening in the Anthroposophical Society”) in which Rudolf Steiner’s “Letters to Members” and “Anthroposophical Leading Thoughts” appear (CW 26). The next step is the creation of a new esoteric class, the “first class” of the “College of Spiritual Science” (which was to have been followed, had Rudolf Steiner lived longer, by two more advanced classes). Then comes a new language for Anthroposophy—practical, phenomenological, and direct; and Rudolf Steiner creates the model for the second Goetheanum. He begins the series of extensive “karma” lectures (CW 235–40); and finally, responding to needs, he creates two new initiatives: biodynamic agriculture and curative education. After the middle of the year, rumors begin to circulate regarding Steiner’s health. Lectures: January–February, Anthroposophy (CW 234); February: Tone Eurythmy (CW 278); June: The Agriculture Course (CW 327); June–July: Speech Eurythmy (CW 279); Curative Education (CW 317); August: (England, “Second International Summer School”), True and False Paths in Spiritual Investigation (CW 243); September: Pastoral Medicine (CW 318). On September 26, for the first time, Rudolf Steiner cancels a lecture. On September 28, he gives his last lecture. On September 29, he withdraws to his studio in the carpenter’s shop; now he is definitively ill. Cared for by Ita Wegman, he continues working, however, and writing the weekly installments of his Autobiography and Letters to the Members/Leading Thoughts (CW 26).

1925:   Rudolf Steiner, while continuing to work, continues to weaken. He finishes Extending Practical Medicine (CW 27) with Ita Wegman.

           On March 30, around ten in the morning, Rudolf Steiner dies.