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The Rudolf Steiner Archive

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Rudolf Steiner in the Waldorf School
GA 298

10 June 1920, Stuttgart

Address at a Monthly Assembly

Dear children!1Rudolf Steiner had suggested that the students gather at the school for a brief celebration instead of the monthly day off from school that was the custom in Baden-Württemberg. The mood of the course of the year was to form the background for this event and the classes were to show each other what they had been working on in recitation, drama, music, and eurythmy, or in foreign languages, gymnastics, and so on. Rudolf Steiner also gave a talk at these assemblies whenever he could be in Stuttgart. Last time I was able to be here, I told you how glad I am when our dear friend Herr Molt comes to pick me up in Dornach, where the school for big people, for grown-ups, is being built.2The wooden building of the Goetheanum, the Free School of Spiritual Science, was under construction from 1913-1921. Then I can be with you again for a little while and see what you are doing.

And why am I so glad when Herr Molt comes to bring me here? Because it makes me think, “Now I am going to the school that was founded for our dear children”—that is, for you who are here because you long to become capable people who are ready for life.

Because I have only been here for a short time, I have not been able to see much yet—just the tiny little folks in the first grade, and the eighth grade—but what I did see gave me great pleasure. I saw how patiently and lovingly the first grade teacher had helped the children make some progress, and I was privileged to spend a very nice lesson with the eighth grade students. They were hearing about what human history tells us of how human beings on earth are involved in an evolution, an ongoing progress, that is driven by the spirit: Something that lives in human history gives us the desire to work on into the future. The spirit in which this was being conveyed to the souls of our dear young friends in the eighth grade was very beautiful. I am looking forward to seeing all the other classes, too. I am always pleased when I see how what our friend Herr Molt planted here is beginning to develop.

You entered this school when the fall was approaching. At that time we tried to think about what we would experience here and what we wanted to foster—love for each other, love for our teachers, love for God, who speaks to us from everything. And now, while you have been enjoying what your teachers presented to you each morning, you have also been experiencing what comes up out of the earth, what the spring draws out of it. You have seen the trees growing green. And now we remember what we hear when we go out into the woods. We hear the songbirds, and we are glad.

But today we have also heard something else, something for which I am especially thankful. We have heard you, under the direction of your teachers, express something that comes from inside of you. We can hear the birds singing out in the woods, and we can also hear what you have expressed to us, but there is a difference between them.

We are glad when we hear the little birds singing. But we know that something else is present when we hear what you perform for us. This is something that we call the human soul. It is your human souls that speak to us and sing to us. This is what human beings make out of what speaks to them out there in nature. In the woods, we hear the birds, but when you sing many other things that are heard come toward us out from the human soul.

But there are also other things out there in nature. You see how the plants grow and the trees turn green. All of this is called forth by the light. Light floods the entire universe. Light and warmth are what call everything up out of the earth, all those things that delight your eyes and hearts. What sounds in your ears, brought to you through the patience and persistence of your teachers, what travels through the world as light and then enters your eyes—we hear all of this resounding from you, not only when you sing and dance, but also when you tell what you have learned to calculate and what you have learned about everything that is human. In your souls, this turns to light. And just think what the plants would be without the sun. They would not be able to come out of the ground. They would always remain roots that would not be able to develop flowers, and it would be dark. This is what it would be like for you if you went through the world without ever finding a school where you could learn something. You would be like a plant that never finds the sun. The soul finds its sun in people from whom it can learn something.

This is why we are so glad that a school like this has been founded as a result of Herr Molt’s insight, and why you are so glad to be able to be in a school that you love. Seek the light of the soul, just as the plants seek the light and warmth of the sun!

I do not want to always say the same things to you, because I also do not want to always hear the same things when I come, but there is one thing that I want to hear from you again and again. You must answer me; this is what I am most curious about. And so I ask you, children, do you still love your teachers? [“Yes!” shout the children.] That is what I want to hear from the majority of you. That is what you are meant to take up into your souls. Love for your teachers will support you as you go out into life. Again and again, each time I come here, I would like to experience that you have made progress in learning, but I would also like you to show me that you have continued to love your teachers. You can be sure that in the great building that is being built for grown-ups in Dornach, where big people are meant to learn something, we all think about the Waldorf School here, and we think of it with love and joy. There are a lot of people who are thinking of the Waldorf School with love today, and they are thinking, “How good and capable these people will grow up to be, since as children they were filled with love for their teachers.”

Oh, there is something I must tell you—Frau Steiner sends her greetings, since she cannot be here today.

There is a spirit that is always meant to prevail here, a spirit that your teachers bring to this place. From the spirit of the cosmos, they learn to bring this spirit here to you; they take in what St. Paul said with all of their souls. The spirit of Christ prevails throughout our school; whether we are doing arithmetic, reading, writing, or whatever we do, we do it with the attitude that the Christ awakened in us:

“I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.”3Matthew 28:20.

This is the spirit that is meant to prevail here, and it will do so through what your teachers bring to you with love, patience and endurance. May it also prevail through what lives in your souls!

Be with this spirit when you are in your class, and think of it when you leave. Be glad in your souls that you are coming back to the Waldorf School where the sun is lit for you, the sun that people need for life.

If there is someone among you who does not pay attention, there should be one of you who can go to that person and lovingly say, “Hey, hard work and paying attention get us up the mountain of life. Upward, friend! You should always be going up the mountain of life.”4In the original German, this is a reference to a song sung by the students at the beginning of the assembly. This is how each of you should help the friend who falters a little—all of you for each one, all for one, one for all, lovingly. Love needs to be present among you, for each other and for your teachers. This is something we want to cultivate as part of the good spirit of the Waldorf School.

Ansprache Bei Einer Monatsfeier

Meine lieben Kinder! Als ich das letzte Mal hiersein durfte, da erzählte ich euch, wie froh ich bin, wenn unser lieber Freund, Herr Molt, nach Dornach kommt, wo die Schule für die Großen, die Erwachsenen gebaut wird, und mich abholt, um wiederum ein bißchen unter euch zu sein, wiederum zu sehen, was ihr hier macht.

Und warum freue ich mich so sehr, wenn Herr Molt kommt, um mich hierher zu holen? Aus dem Grunde freue ich mich so sehr, weil ich dann immer zunächst denken muß: Jetzt komme ich wiederum in die Schule, welche begründet worden ist für unsere lieben Kinder, die ihr hier seid, aus der Sehnsucht heraus, aus euch tüchtige Menschen für das Leben zu machen.

Ich habe noch nicht viel sehen können, weil ich erst kurze Zeit da bin; nur die ganz kleinen Sputzen der ersten und die letzte Klasse. Aber ich habe eine große Freude gehabt. Ich habe gesehen, mit welcher Geduld und Liebe die Lehrerin der ersten Klasse die Kinder um ein Stück vorwärts gebracht hat, und ich habe gesehen, aus welchem schönen Geiste heraus in der achten Klasse dasjenige den Seelen unserer lieben jungen Freunde überliefert wird, was aus der menschlichen Geschichte heraus spricht, daß die Menschen auf der Erde in einem Fortschritt, in einer Entwickelung leben, daß der Geist diese Entwickelung treibt, daß in der Menschengeschichte dasjenige lebt, was uns die Sehnsucht gibt, auch hineinzuarbeiten in die Zukunft. Es war eine schöne Stunde, die ich mit den Schülern der achten Klasse verleben durfte. Ich freue mich auch so, alle die anderen zu sehen. Ich freue mich auch immer, wenn ich sehe, wie hier dasjenige, was unser Herr Molt pflanzen wollte, anfängt sich zu entwickeln.

Ihr seid hereingezogen, als der Herbst sich nahte. Da haben wir versucht, uns Gedanken zu machen, was wir hier erleben werden, wie wir pflegen wollen: Liebe zueinander, Liebe zu den Lehrern, Liebe zu dem Gott, der aus allem spricht. Jetzt habt ihr erlebt, während ihr euch hier freuen konntet an dem, was euch die Lehrer jeden Morgen entgegenbringen, was aus der Erde herauskommt, was der Frühling herauszieht. Ihr habt die Bäume grünen gesehen. Nun erinnern wir uns auch, was wir hören, wenn wir herausgehen in den Wald. Da hören wir die Singvögelein; da freuen wir uns.

Aber wir haben heute, und ich mit ganz besonderer Dankbarkeit, noch etwas anderes gehört, wie ihr selbst dasjenige, was in eurem Inneren ist, unter Anleitung eurer lieben Lehrer uns vorgebracht habt. Man kann die Vögel draußen im Walde singen hören; man kann aber auch dasjenigehören, was ihr unshier vorgebrachthabt. Daistein Unterschied.

Wir freuen uns, wenn wir die Vögelein hören. Aber wir sagen uns: Wenn wir das hören, was ihr uns vorgeführt habt, da ist etwas anderes darin. Da ist dasjenige darin, was wir Menschenseele nennen. Da sprechen eure Menschenseelen zu uns, da singen sie zu uns. Das ist dasjenige, was der Mensch aus dem macht, was draußen in der Natur zu ihm spricht. Die Vöglein, die hören wir im Walde; manches andere hört ihr, das wirkt aus der Menschenseele uns entgegen, wenn es von euch gesungen wird.

Aber es gibt noch anderes draußen in der Natur. Ihr seht, wie die Pflanzen wachsen, wie die Bäume grünen. Das alles wird hervorgerufen durch das Licht. Das Licht durchflutet das ganze Weltall. Das Licht und die Wärme sind es, die alles aus der Erde hervorrufen, was eure Augen erfreut und euer Herz entzückt. Was an eure Ohren tönt, herangebracht durch die Geduld und Ausdauer eurer lieben Lehrer, was als Licht durch die ganze Welt geht, was in eure Augen dringt, das tönt uns auch aus euch entgegen, nicht nur wenn ihr singt und tanzt, sondern wenn ihr alles dasjenige, was ihr euch errechnet, was ihr erlent von allem Menschlichen, wenn ihr das wiedergebt. In euren Seelen wird es Licht. Und denkt nur daran, was wären die Pflanzen, wenn die Sonne nicht da wäre. Sie könnten nicht herauskommen aus dem Boden. Sie blieben immer Wurzeln, die könnten keine Blüten entwickeln, und es wäre finster. So wäre es für euch, wenn ihr in der Welt herumgehen würdet, und ihr würdet nicht eine Schule finden, wo ihr etwas lernen könntet. So wäre es euch wie der Pflanze, die keine Sonne findet. Die Seele findet ihre Sonne bei den Menschen, bei denen sie etwas lernen kann.

Deshalb freuen wir uns so, daß durch Herrn Molts Einsicht eine solche Schule gegründet worden ist, und deshalb freut man sich so, in einer solchen Schule sein zu können, der man seine Liebe zuwendet. Sucht das Licht der Seele, wie die Pflanzen das Licht der Sonne und die Wärme der Sonne suchen!

Ich möchte euch nicht immer dasselbe sagen, weil ich auch nicht immer dasselbe hören will, wenn ich komme, aber eines möchte ich immer wieder von euch hören, das müßt ihr beantworten, das ist dasjenige, wo ich am allerneugierigsten bin, wenn ich euch frage: Liebt ihr eure Lehrer, meine Kinder, noch immer? [Ja! - rufen die Kinder.] Das ist dasjenige, was ich von euch in der Mehrzahl hören möchte. Das ist dasjenige, was ihr in eure Seelen aufnehmen sollt: Die Liebe zu euren Lehrern wird euch hinaustragen ins Leben! - Immer wiederum, wenn ich herkomme, möchte ich erleben, daß ihr weiter fortgeschritten seid, aber ich möchte auch erleben, daß ihr wiederum zeigt, wie ihr die Liebe zu euren Lehrern bewahrt habt. Dessen könnt ihr versichert sein, wenn wir bei dem großen Bau, der für die Großen in Dornach errichtet wird, wo die großen Leute etwas lernen sollen, wenn wir da an die liebe Waldorfschule hier denken, dann denken wir mit Liebe und Fröhlichkeit, und viele Leute denken heute mit Liebe an die Waldorfschule: Wie tüchtig werden die Leute dadurch, daß sie als Kinder mit Liebe erfüllt sind zu ihren Lehrern!

Jetzt möchte ich euch noch etwas ausrichten: Frau Dr. Steiner läßt euch grüßen, sie kann heute nicht dasein.

Ein Geist soll immer hier walten, der Geist, den eure Lehrer hereintragen. Aus dem Geiste des Alls lernen eure Lehrer diesen Geist hereintragen. So ist es, daß sie in ihre ganze Seele aufnehmen, was Paulus gesagt hat. Der Christus-Geist durchwaltet unsere Schule; ob wir rechnen, ob wir lesen, ob wir schreiben, alles dajenige, was wir treiben, ist so, daß wir es in der Gesinnung treiben, die der Christus erweckt hat:

«Ich bin bei euch alle Tage bis an das Ende der Welt.»

Dieser Geist soll walten; walten wird er durch dasjenige, was in Liebe, Geduld und Ausdauer eure Lehrer euch entgegenbringen. Walten soll er auch durch das, was in euren Seelen lebt! Seid mit diesem Geist in der Klasse; denkt daran, wenn ihr die Klasse verlaßt. Freut euch in der Seele, daß ihr wieder in die Waldorfschule. kommt, wo euch die Sonne angezündet wird, die der Mensch für das Leben braucht!

Wenn einer unter euch nicht aufmerksam sein sollte, so soll sich ein anderer von euch finden, in Liebe zu ihm, und soll sagen: Du, es geht hinauf in Fleiß und Aufmerksamkeit auf den Berg des Lebens. Frisch auf, Kamerad! Du sollst immer auf den Berg des Lebens hinaufgehen! So soll jeder dem Kameraden aufhelfen, der etwas wankt. Alle für jeden anderen, alle für einen; einer liebend für alle. Liebe soll sein unter euch, Liebe zu den Lehrern. Das wollen wir pflegen als etwas von dem guten

Geist der Waldorfschule.

Address at a Monthly Celebration

My dear children! The last time I was here, I told you how happy I am when our dear friend, Mr. Molt, comes to Dornach, where the school for older children and adults is being built, and picks me up so that I can spend a little time with you again and see what you are doing here.

And why am I so happy when Mr. Molt comes to pick me up? I am so happy because I always think first: Now I am coming back to the school that was founded for our dear children who are here, out of a desire to make you capable people for life.

I haven't been able to see much yet, because I've only been here a short time; only the very little ones in the first and last grades. But I have had great joy. I have seen with what patience and love the first-grade teacher has helped the children progress a little, and I have seen the beautiful spirit with which the eighth grade imparts to the souls of our dear young friends what human history tells us, that people on earth live in progress, in development, that the spirit drives this development, that human history contains what gives us the longing to work our way into the future. It was a wonderful hour that I was able to spend with the eighth-grade students. I am also so happy to see all the others. I am always happy when I see how what Mr. Molt wanted to plant here is beginning to develop.

You moved in as autumn was approaching. We tried to think about what we would experience here, how we would nurture each other: love for one another, love for the teachers, love for the God who speaks from everything. Now you have experienced, while you were able to rejoice here in what the teachers bring you every morning, what comes out of the earth, what spring brings forth. You have seen the trees turn green. Now we also remember what we hear when we go out into the forest. There we hear the songbirds; there we rejoice.

But today, and I am especially grateful for this, we heard something else, as you yourselves, under the guidance of your dear teachers, presented to us what is within you. One can hear the birds singing outside in the forest; but one can also hear what you have presented to us here. That is the difference.

We rejoice when we hear the birds singing. But we say to ourselves: when we hear what you have presented to us, there is something else in it. There is something in it that we call the human soul. Your human souls speak to us, they sing to us. That is what human beings make of what speaks to them outside in nature. We hear the birds in the forest; you hear many other things that come to us from the human soul when you sing them.

But there is something else out there in nature. You see how the plants grow, how the trees turn green. All this is brought about by light. Light floods the entire universe. It is light and warmth that bring forth from the earth everything that delights your eyes and enchants your heart. What sounds to your ears, brought forth by the patience and perseverance of your dear teachers, what goes through the whole world as light, what penetrates your eyes, that also sounds out to us from you, not only when you sing and dance, but when you reproduce everything you have calculated, everything you have learned from all that is human. It becomes light in your souls. And just think, what would plants be if the sun were not there? They could not come out of the ground. They would always remain roots, unable to develop flowers, and it would be dark. So it would be for you if you were to go around the world and not find a school where you could learn something. It would be like the plant that finds no sun. The soul finds its sun in people from whom it can learn something.

That is why we are so happy that such a school has been founded thanks to Mr. Molt's insight, and that is why we are so happy to be in such a school, to which we devote our love. Seek the light of the soul, as plants seek the light and warmth of the sun!

I don't want to always say the same thing to you, because I don't always want to hear the same thing when I come, but there is one thing I want to hear from you again and again, and you must answer it, because it is what I am most curious about when I ask you: Do you still love your teachers, my children? [Yes! – the children shout.] That is what I want to hear from most of you. That is what you should take into your souls: love for your teachers will carry you out into life! Whenever I come here, I want to see that you have made progress, but I also want to see that you have shown how you have preserved your love for your teachers. You can be sure of that. When we think of the great building that is being erected for the grown-ups in Dornach, where grown-ups are to learn something, when we think of the dear Waldorf School here, we think with love and joy, and many people today think of the Waldorf School with love: how capable people become when they are filled with love for their teachers as children!

Now I would like to tell you something else: Dr. Steiner sends her regards; she cannot be here today.

A spirit should always reign here, the spirit that your teachers bring in. Your teachers learn to bring in this spirit from the spirit of the universe. Thus, they take in with their whole soul what Paul said. The spirit of Christ reigns throughout our school; whether we are calculating, reading, or writing, everything we do is done in the spirit that Christ awakened:

“I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.”

This spirit should prevail; it will prevail through the love, patience, and perseverance your teachers show you. It should also prevail through what lives in your souls! Be with this spirit in class; remember it when you leave class. Rejoice in your souls that you are returning to the Waldorf School, where the sun that man needs for life is kindled for you!

If one of you is not attentive, another of you should find him with love and say: You, it is up to diligence and attention on the mountain of life. Come on, comrade! You should always climb the mountain of life! So everyone should help their comrade who is faltering. All for each other, all for one; one loving for all. There should be love among you, love for the teachers. Let us cultivate this as something good.

The spirit of the Waldorf school.