Memories of Rudolf Steiner
by Ludwig Graf Polzer-Hoditz
Introduction
The memoirs of Ludwig Graf Polzer-Hoditz were written in German and were published in Prague in 1937. The present book, which contains principally his recollections of Rudolf Steiner, was written at the request of his good friend, Walter Johannes Stein, editor of the English Journal, The Present Age. The articles that make up this book started appearing in the issue published in November 1936.
Ludwig Graf Polzer-Hoditz is little known today even in European anthroposophical circles, yet when we become acquainted with this remarkable personality, we learn to appreciate the central part he played in the development of the anthroposophical movement from 1911 to 1925 — the period which covers the last fourteen years of Rudolf Steiner’s manifold practical and artistic activities. We have every reason to consider him a personal friend of Rudolf Steiner and one of his closest helpers, especially in his efforts to bring about the realization of the ideas of the Threefold Commonwealth.
He met Rudolf Steiner in 1908 and became a member of the Society in 1911. Rudolf Steiner admitted him to the early Esoteric School in 1912. Graf Polzer-Hoditz belonged to the Austrian landed aristocracy with many valuable connections in influential cultural and political circles. This enabled him to work tirelessly for social reform which was so desperately needed in the chaos of his time. As an Austrian he felt acutely the central role his country could play as a harmonizing element between East and West. He also cared for the common man and showed deep concern for the welfare of workers and farmers.
In 1913, Rudolf Steiner called him to Dornach so that he could be present at the laying of the foundation stone of the first Goetheanum. It was an especially memorable event which the Count here relates vividly.
In 1917, Graf Polzer-Hoditz, whose brother Arthur was the Prime Minister and a personal friend of Kaiser Karl of Austria, belonged to a small circle to whom Rudolf Steiner gave the first indications regarding the ideas of social reform known as the Threefold Commonwealth.
The memoirs here published present the reader with unique insights into the struggles that Rudolf Steiner and a few faithful helpers were involved in to bring about a harmonizing health-giving impulse in the social political affairs of Middle Europe. But too few hearts and minds were open for a spiritual reform that could have influenced the practical, material life in a positive way. Graf Polzer-Hoditz describes some of his many conversations with Rudolf Steiner, how he travelled with him and did everything he could so that the impulses of his great teacher might bear fruit. The Count was present at the burning of the first Goetheanum 1922/23. He was also given special responsibility for the then newly-founded School of Spiritual Science in 1924.
Graf Polzer-Hoditz was, apart from the physicians who cared for Rudolf Steiner, one of the last friends who visited him before his passing. Notes of these conversations (which have not yet appeared in print) enable one to gauge the deep confidence and esoteric trust that Rudolf Steiner placed in this remarkable pupil and friend. He also entrusted the Count with the care to be given after his death to his sister Josephine and brother Gustav who lived in Austria.
As late as March 25, 1925 — that is five days before his death — Rudolf Steiner wrote a letter to Graf Polzer-Hoditz and addressed him as follows: "My dear friend Graf Polzer."
These memoirs will help us to understand the role played by a remarkable individuality but, even more so, they will enable us to gain a first-hand impression of Rudolf Steiner in daily life. This work is filled with colorful anecdotes and insights during the turbulent years of World War I.
Graf Polzer-Hoditz was deeply affected by the difficulties that arose within the Anthroposophical Society after Rudolf Steiner’s death. Free from fanaticism and always in an open-hearted way, he attempted to reconcile the serious personal differences that had come about among the leading figures in the movement. The final rift in 1935 led him to withdraw from the outer scene but he continued to devote himself to the cause of Anthroposophy and to the work of Rudolf Steiner by means of lectures and visits to Great Britain and Switzerland where he actively participated in meetings and conferences. He died in 1945 before the healing of the old wounds had taken place.
More than 60 years have elapsed since the death of Rudolf Steiner. A younger generation, born since the fifties, who meets Anthroposophy often inquires, who was Rudolf Steiner? What was he like as a man in every-day life? Readers who have these questions in mind will find these memoirs particularly stimulating. They were written 50 years ago but they have lost nothing of their charm, forthrightness and spontaneity.
Rene M. Querido Rudolf Steiner College Fair Oaks/Sacramento, CA September 1987