Architecture, Sculpture and Painting of the First Goetheanum
GA 288
When Steiner began staging dramatic performances from 1907 onwards, the necessity arose, particularly with the “mystery plays” that Steiner himself had begun writing in 1910, to think about performance venues that would correspond to the spiritual substance of these works. Around 1909, a group of Munich members took the initiative to build a building of their own for anthroposophical work and for the performance of anthroposophically inspired dramaturgy. But what had initially been launched with a great deal of personal and financial commitment was threatened with failure due to the formal objections of the future neighbors of the Protestant community, the local artists' commission and, finally, the Bavarian regent. At the same time, the painful split between the Anthroposophical and Theosophical movements took place, which culminated in the exclusion of the German section and the founding of the Anthroposophical Society in 1912/13. When the First World War broke out 1914, the project further faltered due to limited personnel and financial resources.
Rudolf Steiner repeatedly gave public and internal lectures about the building of the First Goetheanum in Dornach, Switzerland, not only in reaction to misunderstandings and conflicts that arose from outside the project, but also to explain the concept to colleagues and in preparation for the opening of the facility. The lectures compiled here in the following volume were given not only to members in Dornach but also as public lectures in Basel and Stuttgart. They cover the period from 1915 to the opening of the Goetheanum in the fall of 1920. During the construction work, they still had to be given with the help of slides throughout.
| I. | A Dornach Building in Its Design as a House for Spiritual Science | April 10, 1915 |
| II. | Misconceptions about the Spiritual Research and the Building Dedicated to it in Dornach | January 14, 1916 |
| III. | The Symbolism of the Building at Dornach I | April 4, 1920 |
| IV. | The Symbolism of the Building at Dornach II | April 5, 1920 |
| V. | The Goetheanum in Dornach | June 12, 1920 |