Rudolf Steiner in the Waldorf School
GA 298
7 September 1919, Stuttgart
Speech by councilor of commerce Emil Molt at the opening of the Independent Waldorf School
Ladies and gentlemen;1This address was published in the Waldorf-Nachrichten [Waldorf News], vol.1, no.19, October 1919. dear children! In the name of my company, the Waldorf-Astoria, I extend a cordial welcome to all of you who have come here to take part in this simple little opening ceremony for our Waldorf School. I would especially like to heartily welcome our honored guests. I want to thank them for putting in an appearance here today and for the interest in our undertaking that this demonstrates.
Ladies and gentlemen! Founding the Waldorf School was not something that sprang from the mere quirk of an individual. Rather, the idea was born out of insight into the needs of our present time. I simply felt the need to truly call the first so-called “comprehensive school” into existence and thereby to alleviate a social need, so that in future not only the sons and daughters of the affluent but also the children of simple workers will be in a position to acquire the education that is needed nowadays to ascend to a higher level of culture. In this sense, it is a deep personal satisfaction to me that it has been possible to call this institution into existence. But today it is not enough to simply create a facility; it is also necessary to fill it with a new spirit. And anthroposophically oriented spiritual science is our guarantee that a spirit of this sort will fill this facility. I feel a deep inner responsibility at this point to express heartfelt thanks to the one who has conveyed this spiritual science to us, our beloved Dr. Rudolf Steiner. But I also thank the authorities who have made it possible for us to bring this facility into existence, so that we are in the fortunate position today of really turning our thoughts into deeds.
But now I turn especially to you, dear staff and managers of the Waldorf-Astoria Company: Let us be clear that by calling such a thing into existence, we also take on a great responsibility. Let us be clear on this, and let us solemnly swear and promise today to show ourselves worthy to be the first in the German Empire to have the possibility of enacting this idea of the comprehensive school, which has been spoken about so much, right here in our city of Stuttgart. Let us show the world that we are not only idealists, but also people of practical deeds, and that our children, strengthened by this school, will in future be able to cope with daily life in a better and fuller manner.
It is in this sense that we send you, dear children, to this Waldorf School, so that when you leave this place you may draw from it the strength to cope, as whole human beings, with the difficult life that awaits you. But there are also joys that await you in this school. I was privileged to take part in the course that Dr. Steiner gave for the teachers, and so I became very aware of how much we ourselves missed out on in our youth, and how difficult it is later on in life to make up for what we missed back then. It is truly a matter dear to my heart to say that since we ourselves were not in a position to enjoy this blessing in earlier times, we must at least thank our destiny that we can make it available for others today. And thus I can say to you children who are entering this new school that there are pleasures waiting for you. And those who were privileged to take the course that Dr.Steiner gave for the new teachers know that this new method means that learning will no longer be a pain for you as it was for us older ones; for you, it will be a joy and a pleasure. So be glad, children, that you will be allowed to enjoy this school. You may not be able to understand this today in all its implications, but when you graduate from this place of education, show that you are a match for life and its challenges, show the world the wonderful fruits of this new method of education that will teach you to be purposeful individuals able to cope with life.
We also realize, however, that what we can create here is just a small beginning. The responsibility is great and the burden rests heavily on those who have accepted this task, and as time passes the attacks that come from all sides may also be great, but there is one thing we can already say today: The will within us will be so strong and the thoughts so mighty and the courage so great that we will also be able to overcome all the things that may try to hinder us, because we know what a lofty goal we are striving for, and because we are always aware of the responsibility that we have taken on.
And you, dear teachers who have taken up this work, who have yourselves been introduced to the spirit that is to ensoul this school, you know what a great responsibility has been laid upon you, and I address this request to all of you who will participate as faculty in the Waldorf School—may you all, along with me, be aware of the extraordinary gravity of this responsibility, and may you never cease to feel this responsibility as deeply as I do at all times.
And now, ladies and gentlemen, in handing over this institute to the staff and management of the Waldorf-Astoria company, and thus also to the public, I wish from the bottom of my heart that the spirit that brought us a Goethe, a Schiller, a Herder and whatever their names may be, all those great cultural heroes of the past, that this spirit may reign here again, so that through the school of the future this spirit can once again enter our German fatherland. If this is the case, then all of us who carry the responsibility for it will be aware that we are the servants of these spiritual forces. Then a day will dawn when our poor fatherland can begin to ascend from the depths of its great need, both of body and of soul, and we may hope that then there will be more people who can help to lead our people upward to the heights where our cultural heroes, a Goethe and a Schiller and so forth, once stood, and further still.
And in once again expressing my wish that this undertaking of ours may happily thrive, I do solemnly swear and promise in the name of the Waldorf staff, in the name of our school, in the name of our children, that this school will become a garden and a fountain of everything that is good, beautiful and true.
Eröffnung der Freien Waldorfschule im Stadtgartensaal in Stuttgart Durch Kommerzienrat Emil Molt
Sehr verehrte Anwesende! Liebe Kinder! Im Namen meiner Firma, der Waldorf-Astoria, heiße ich Sie alle von Herzen willkommen, die Sie hierhergekommen sind, um teilzunehmen an der einfachen, schlichten Eröffnungsfeier unserer Waldorfschule. Herzlich willkommen heiße ich besonders die verehrten Gäste und danke denselben für ihr Erscheinen und das dadurch bewiesene Interesse an unserem Unternehmen.
Meine sehr verehrten Anwesenden! Diese Gründung der Waldorfschule ist nicht etwa entsprungen einer bloßen Marotte eines einzelnen, sondern der Gedanke wurde geboren aus der Einsicht in die Notwendigkeiten unserer heutigen Zeit. Es war mir einfach Bedürfnis, in Wahrheit die erste sogenannte Einheitsschule ins Leben zu rufen und dadurch einem sozialen Bedürfnis wirklich abzuhelfen, so daß künftighin nicht nur der Sohn und die Tochter des Begüterten, sondern auch die Kinder der einfachen Arbeiter in die Lage versetzt werden, diejenige Bildung sich anzueignen, die heute notwendig ist zum Aufstieg zu einer höheren Kultur. In diesem Sinne ist es mir persönlich eine tiefe Befriedigung, daß es möglich war, diese Institution ins Leben zu rufen. Aber es genügt heute ja nicht, eine bloße «Einrichtung» zu schaffen, sondern es tut not, diese Einrichtung zu erfüllen mit neuem Geiste. Und daß ein solcher Geist erfülle diese Einrichtung, dafür bürgt uns die anthroposophisch orientierte Geisteswissenschaft, und ich fühle mich innerlich tief verpflichtet, an dieser Stelle innigen Dank auszusprechen demjenigen, der uns diese Geisteswissenschaft vermittelt hat, unserem verehrten Herrn Dr. Rudolf Steiner. Aber ich danke auch der Behörde, welche es uns ermöglicht hat, mit dieser Einrichtung ins Leben zu treten, so daß wir heute in der glücklichen Lage sind, unsere Gedanken wirklich in die Tat überzuführen.
Nun wende ich mich aber besonders an euch, ihr lieben Waldorfleute: Seien wir uns klar darüber, daß damit, daß wir etwas Derartiges ins Leben rufen dürfen, uns gleichzeitig eine hohe Verpflichtung auferlegt ist. Wir wollen uns dessen ganz klar sein, wir wollen an diesem Tage uns geloben, daß wir uns würdig zeigen wollen der Tatsache, daß wir als die ersten im Deutschen Reiche die Möglichkeit haben, diesen Gedanken der Einheitsschule, der so viel ausgesprochen wurde, hier in unserem Stuttgart zu verwirklichen. Wir wollen der Welt zeigen, daß wir nicht nur Idealisten sind, sondern daß wir Menschen der praktischen Tat sind, und daß unsere Kinder, gestärkt durch diese Schule, in Zukunft dem täglichen Leben besser und voller standhalten können.
In diesem Sinne schicken wir euch, ihr lieben Kinder, in diese Waldorfschule, damit ihr euch Kraft dort holt, um, wenn ihr diese Stätte verlaßt, als ganze Menschen dem schweren euch erwartenden Leben gewachsen zu sein. Aber es erwarten euch, ihr Kinder, innerhalb der Schule auch Freuden. Mir, dem es vergönnt war, den Lehrerkursus, den Herr Dr. Steiner abhielt, mitzumachen, kam es deutlich zum Bewußtsein, wieviel man selbst versäumen mußte in seiner Jugendzeit, und wie schwer es einem in vorgeschrittenem Alter wird, dasjenige nachzuholen, was man in jenen Zeiten versäumt hat, und es ist mir wirklich ein Herzensbedürfnis, das auszusprechen, daß, weil man in früheren Zeiten nicht selbst in der Lage war, diesen Sege zu genießen, man seinem Schicksal wenigstens dankbar sein muß, wenn man diesen Segen heute andern zukommen lassen darf. Und so kann ich sagen: Ihr Kinder, die ihr hineingeht in diese neue Schule, es erwarten euch Freuden, und denjenigen, denen es vergönnt war, diesen Kursus durchzumachen, den Herr Dr. Steiner abgehalten hat mit den neuen Lehrkräften, die wissen, daß durch die neue Methode das Lernen nicht mehr, wie es bei uns Älteren der Fall war, eine Plage ist, sondern daß es bei euch zur Freude und zur Lust werden wird. Deshalb freut euch, ihr Kinder, daß ihr diese Schule genießen dürft. Aber zeigt euch, wenn ihr das heute auch noch nicht in seiner ganzen Tragweite verstehen könnt, zeigt euch bei der Entlassung aus dieser Bildungsstätte dem Leben und seinen Anforderungen gewachsen, zeigt der Welt dann die herrlichen Früchte dieser neuen Lehrmethode, die euch zu lebenstüchtigen, zielbewußten Menschen erziehen will. Aber auch darüber sind wir uns klar: Was wir hier schaffen durften, ist nur ein kleiner Anfang. Schwer ist die Last und groß die Verantwortung, die auf denjenigen ruht, welche sich dieser Aufgabe unterzogen haben, und groß werden vielleicht die Anfechtungen sein, welche mit der Zeit von vielen Seiten auf uns einstürmen werden; aber eines können wir heute schon sagen: Der Wille in uns wird so stark sein und die Gedanken werden so kräftig sein und der Mut so groß, daß wir auch alle diejenigen Dinge, die hemmend vielleicht an uns herankommen möchten, überwinden werden, weil wir wissen, welch hohes Ziel wir anstreben, und weil wir stets eingedenk sind der Verantwortung, die wir übernehmen.
Und Ihr, sehr verehrte Lehrer, die Ihr diese Arbeit übernommen habt, die Ihr selbst eingeführt worden seid in den Geist, der diese Schule beseelen soll, Ihr wißt ja, welch tiefe Verantwortung Euch damit auferlegt ist, und ich richte die Bitte an Sie alle, die Sie mitwirken werden als Lehrkräfte an der Waldorfschule: seien Sie sich mit mir voll bewußt der außerordentlichen Schwere der Verantwortung und hören Sie nie auf, diese Verantwortung ebenso tief wie ich jederzeit zu verspüren. Und nun, meine sehr verehrten Anwesenden, indem ich dieses Institut den Waldorfleuten und damit auch der Öffentlichkeit übergebe, wünsche ich aus vollem Herzen: Es möge wieder dort der Geist herrschen, den ein Goethe, ein Schiller, ein Herder und wie sie alle heißen, die großen Geisteshelden vergangener Zeiten, uns nahegebracht haben, damit dieser Geist durch die Schule der Zukunft auch wieder einziehen möge im deutschen Vaterlande. Wenn das der Fall sein wird, werden wir alle, die wir die Verantwortung tragen, dessen eingedenk sein, daß wir Diener sind jener geistigen Kräfte. Dann wird die Zeit anbrechen, wo auch wieder der Aufstieg beginnen wird aus der tiefen seelischen und körperlichen Not unseres armen Vaterlandes, und wir dürfen hoffen, daß dann die Menschen zahlreicher werden, welche unser Volk wieder hinaufführen können auf die Höhen und darüber hinaus, auf denen gestanden haben unsere Geisteshelden, ein Goethe und ein Schiller und so weiter.
Und indem ich nochmals meinen Wunsch für ein glückliches Gedeihen unseres Unternehmens zum Ausdruck bringe, will ich geloben im Namen unserer Waldorfleute, im Namen unserer Schule, im Namen unserer Kinder, daß diese Schule eine Pflanzstätte werden soll, eine Quelle für alles Gute, für alles Schöne und für alles Wahre.
Opening of the Waldorf School in the Stadtgartensaal in Stuttgart By Commercial Councilor Emil Molt
Dear guests! Dear children! On behalf of my company, Waldorf-Astoria, I warmly welcome all of you who have come here to participate in the simple, modest opening ceremony of our Waldorf School. I would like to extend a special welcome to our distinguished guests and thank them for their attendance and the interest they have shown in our enterprise.
Ladies and gentlemen! The founding of the Waldorf School did not arise from the mere whim of a single individual, but rather from an understanding of the needs of our time. I simply felt the need to establish the first so-called comprehensive school and thereby truly meet a social need, so that in future not only the sons and daughters of the wealthy, but also the children of ordinary workers would be able to acquire the education that is necessary today to advance to a higher culture. In this sense, it gives me deep personal satisfaction that it was possible to bring this institution into being. But today it is not enough to create a mere “institution”; it is necessary to fill this institution with a new spirit. And anthroposophically oriented spiritual science guarantees that such a spirit will fill this institution, and I feel deeply obliged to express my heartfelt thanks to the person who taught us this spiritual science, our esteemed Dr. Rudolf Steiner. But I also thank the authorities who have made it possible for us to bring this institution into being, so that today we are in the fortunate position of being able to put our thoughts into practice.
Now I turn especially to you, dear Waldorf people: Let us be clear that by being allowed to bring something like this into being, we are also taking on a great responsibility. Let us be very clear about this, let us vow on this day that we will prove ourselves worthy of the fact that we are the first in the German Empire to have the opportunity to realize this idea of a unified school, which has been spoken of so much, here in our Stuttgart. Let us show the world that we are not just idealists, but that we are people of practical action, and that our children, strengthened by this school, will be better equipped to face everyday life in the future.
With this in mind, we send you, dear children, to this Waldorf school so that you may draw strength there and, when you leave this place, be able to face the difficult life that awaits you as whole human beings. But there are also joys awaiting you, children, within the school. Having had the privilege of participating in the teacher training course held by Dr. Steiner, I became keenly aware of how much one must miss out on in one's youth, and how difficult it is in later life to make up for what one missed in those days, and it is truly a heartfelt need for me to express that, because one was not able to enjoy this blessing oneself in earlier times, one must at least be grateful to fate when one is allowed to bestow this blessing on others today. And so I can say: You children who are entering this new school, joys await you, and those who have been fortunate enough to take this course, which Dr. Steiner has held with the new teachers, know that with the new method, learning is no longer a chore, as it was for us older people, but that for you it will become a joy and a pleasure. Therefore, rejoice, children, that you are able to enjoy this school. But even if you cannot yet understand its full significance today, show yourselves, when you leave this educational institution, to be equal to life and its demands. Show the world the wonderful fruits of this new teaching method, which aims to educate you to become capable, purposeful human beings. But we are also clear about this: what we have been able to achieve here is only a small beginning. The burden is heavy and the responsibility great for those who have taken on this task, and the challenges that will come at us from many sides over time may be great; but one thing we can already say today: our will will be so strong, our thoughts so powerful, and our courage so great that we will overcome all the obstacles that may come our way, because we know what lofty goal we are striving for and because we are always mindful of the responsibility we have taken on.
And you, esteemed teachers, who have taken on this work, who have yourselves been introduced to the spirit that is to animate this school, you know what a profound responsibility has been placed upon you, and I ask all of you who will be working as teachers at the Waldorf School: be fully aware, as I am, of the extraordinary gravity of this responsibility, and never cease to feel this responsibility as deeply as I do at all times. And now, dear guests, as I hand over this institute to the Waldorf community and thus also to the public, I wish with all my heart: May the spirit that Goethe, Schiller, Herder, and all the other great intellectual heroes of past times brought close to us reign there once again, so that this spirit may also return to the German fatherland through the school of the future. If this is the case, all of us who bear responsibility will remember that we are servants of those spiritual forces. Then the time will come when our poor fatherland will once again begin to rise from its deep spiritual and physical distress, and we may hope that there will then be more people who can lead our people back up to the heights and beyond, where our intellectual heroes, Goethe, Schiller, and so on, once stood.
And as I once again express my wish for the happy prosperity of our enterprise, I want to vow on behalf of our Waldorf people, on behalf of our school, on behalf of our children, that this school shall become a seedbed, a source of all that is good, beautiful, and true.