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“Anthroposophy is a path of knowledge aiming to guide the spiritual element in the human being to the spiritual in the universe.”

Rudolph Steiner

Years 1913 - 1925

Dornach 1913-19

Construction of the Goetheanum, a sculpted, double-domed wooden building, in Dornach, Switzerland. Designed by Rudolf Steiner, the project is carried out with the help of numerous artists from various countries under his direction. Artistic work by Steiner: designs for the sculpted interior and exterior of the building, designs for ceiling murals (some painted by him), designs for colored glass windows, design for a nine meter high sculpture, The Representative of the Human Being, partially carved by him. Steiner himself carries out the main statistic calculations for the building.
Marriage to Marie von Sivers (1914).
An ensemble of other buildings designed by Steiner are gradually built near the Goetheanum (Glass House, Haus Duldeck, Heating Building, Publishing House, Transformer Building); he later designs Haus de Jaager and other homes.
The Dornach hill becomes an artists’ colony. Among them are numerous Russian artists, including Assja Turgenieff, Andrej Belyj and Margarita Woloschin.
Numerous lectures on art, architecture, contemporary events and spiritual science.

1917 Steiner’s research on the threefold human organism (nerve-sense system, rhythmic system, metabolic/limb system) appears under the title, The Riddle of Man. Expositions on the relationship between anthropology and anthroposophy.
After discussions with the politician Count Otto Lerchenfeld about the situation in central Europe, Steiner writes two memorandums in which he develops perspectives for a new social form for public life. These are given to influential political personalities in Germany (Kühlmann, Prince Max von Baden) and Austria (Kaiser Karl).

1919 First public eurythmy performance on February 24 in Zurich’s Pfauentheater. Directed by Marie Steiner.
A lecture cycle on “The Social Question” held in Zurich appears in April under the title, Towards Social Renewal. The key idea is to trisect the social
organism, that is, to separate the state into a free cultural life, a democratic life of rights and an associative economic life.
Steiner lectures and participates in numerous meetings with workers and industrialists to encourage the formation of works committees.
In autumn, after intensive preparations, the Independent Waldorf School opens in Stuttgart, Germany. Its patron is the director of the Waldorf-Astoria cigarette company, Emil Molt. Steiner is the school’s director until his death in 1925. He offers the teachers courses in education to help them prepare for their task.

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1920 - 1925

Numerous public lectures in Germany and elsewhere, as well as lecture cycles for members of the Anthroposophical Society, including:

  • Man: Hieroglyph of the Universe, Cosmosophy
  • Man as a Symphony of the Creative Word and Karmic Relationships.

In addition, Steiner receives increasing requests for courses and lectures in specific fields, such as education, medicine, national economy, theology,
agriculture, physics, acting and curative education.
In Vienna in 1922, an East-West congress with Steiner as the main speaker.
He creates a series of pastel sketches and watercolor paintings as teaching material for painters (“Nature Moods” and “Friedwart Sketches”).
Numerous eurythmy performances at various theaters in Germany and beyond, which Steiner frequently introduces with short lectures to explain this new art of movement.
Anthroposophical institutes for research, clinics and other schools are founded.
Regular articles by Steiner in Dreigliederung des sozialen Organismus and Das Goetheanum.

1922 - 1923 The Goetheanum is destroyed by fire on New Year’s Eve 1922/23. All performances and lectures continue unabated, in the carpentry building next to the ruins. Due to his illness in autumn 1924, Steiner only manages to create a model for a second Goetheanum (concrete, finished in 1928).

1924 - 1925 Confinement to sickbed begins in autumn 1924. His immense lecture and teaching activity breaks off abruptly. Continues to write his autobiography, The Course of My Life.
Collaborates with Ita Wegman, M.D., on Fundamentals of Therapy. An Extension of the Art of Healing through Spiritual Science.

Steiner in 1924
Writes regular letters and articles for the members of the Anthroposophical Society, offering suggestions for deepening the spiritual work.
Steiner dies in Dornach on March 30, 1925.