The Rudolf Steiner Archive

234

To Rudolf Steiner in Dornach
Wednesday, March 18, 1925

Heidenheim, March 18, 1925

Dear E., it has been so incredibly long since I wrote to you. Stuttgart proved to be what it always is: you fly from one to the other, or from one to the other, and so it happened that I always wrote to you in thoughts but could not fill out a sheet. From Fürth, I asked that a telegram be sent to you. Fürth was a great surprise for us. After the Landestheater in Stuttgart, it is perhaps the most beautiful theater we have ever been to, with excellent acoustics and the best order and cleanliness in the areas behind the scenes. Magnificent lighting options, it holds almost 1,200 people, and it was full again. The members told us the next day that they had only heard enthusiastic comments.

In Stuttgart, we have been removed from the Landestheater again. We held the two Faust performances at the Waldorf School; some thought that you could see better there because the stage was higher; maybe more strangers come there than in the Landhausstraße. Of course, everything went well and smoothly there; we also had another performance for members in the Landhausstraße.

I have now allowed myself to be persuaded, at the suggestion of some teachers, to agree to a Faust performance for the school children. It was tempting to think that 800 children could gain an impression for their lives that would prevent them from immediately developing a taste for trashy representations. We know how strong such children's impressions are. Of course, we would have to return from Mannheim to Stuttgart for this reason. But I felt compelled to do so for another reason as well: the eurythmy school performance. It takes place on the evening before the conference, offers many very enjoyable things, so it would be a shame to let it fall through. But recitation is impossible. So the only way out seemed to me to recite Froböse ^{Edwin Froböse (1900-1997), actor, member since 1921. 1924-1949 co-worker and secretary of the Section for Speaking and Musical Arts, since 1945 member of the Rudolf Steiner estate administration.} But I would have to supervise the matter, since they are poems that he does not know at all, and I would have to delete a great deal from the overabundance of the program and put together the best, for which there has not yet been time. — All in all, however, the school made a very positive impression. — So it will probably be my duty to make this presentation as good as possible. - Then Wagner would like to bring a gentleman with him whom I could talk to about my brother's entry permit. — For the pedagogical conference week, they have requested two eurythmy performances and an evening of recitation by me. So everything is very cramped and it is possible that I could only go to Dornach for two days to at least see you briefly.

Thank you very much for your kind letter and the comforting words you write me. Hopefully I will now find you well on the road to recovery.

There is still so much I would like to write to you, not just external facts, but the car is once again at the door and the rehearsal must begin. So I hope to continue this letter soon and send you all the love that fills my heart. Marie.

235

To Marie Steiner in Stuttgart
Friday, 20 March 1925

Goetheanum, 20 March 1925

M.l.M.

Thank you very much for your kind letter. It gave me great satisfaction. You must do everything without taking anything into consideration except your strength and your health. I watch with admiration all that you accomplish with such devotion. My thoughts are with you.

What you are doing for the children with this performance is deeply satisfying and joyful. I am so grateful to you.

My recovery is going slowly. Hopefully I will only start working on the construction model at the right time so that there is no interruption.

- In Stuttgart, however, the very beautiful things that are developing are repeatedly mixed with difficult things. Piper ¹⁶ is gradually

writing only abuse, which is a cause for concern. His article about the professor in Frankfurt is just one article of abuse. And it is not clear from any of the lines why he is abusing. There is no indication of what the professor said. I consider this Piper business to be very unfortunate. For Piper is an artistic and poetic nature; and we truly do not have many like him. I do not want to take away all his desire to work with us. But the way he is behaving now, the matter can hardly continue.

Likewise, the affair with Unger is very unfortunate for me. One must consider such things in context.

When I dissolved the Kommen Tag, I made provision for del Monte, who, had I not intervened, would simply have been thrown out onto the street.

I could not do anything for Unger. And so, since his factory was sold, he received a sum of money that will only last him a short time. He would have to be supported within the Anthroposophical Society in the future. But what should be done if this tendency to make him impossible in the Society keeps recurring?

I hope your events continue to go well; I send you my warmest regards

Rudolf Steiner

Dr. Rudolf Steiner
Dornach near Basel, Switzerland.

• 16. Dr. med. Kurt Piper (1875-1952), physician and poet. Met Rudolf Steiner at the medical week in October 1922 in Stuttgart and from then on became a permanent member of the staff in Stuttgart. He was an editor for various anthroposophical journals.

236

To Rudolf Steiner in Dornach
Monday, March 23, 1925 23.

March 1925, Stuttgart

Dear E., a thousand thanks for your kind letter. We are all very much looking forward to tonight. Hopefully the noise of the children will not drown out the sound of the sunrise. Afterwards, the teachers have invited the eurythmists to a tea party. We have had a series of very successful evenings behind us. Heidenheim (full house), which earned us three hymns as reviews, - Karlsruhe, where the atmosphere was very warm and enthusiastic (- reviews have not yet been sent to us -), except for very few empty chairs in the last row of expensive seats, it was packed (1200 people) - Mannheim also went very well; even though it was confirmation morning in town, there were only a few empty rows at the very back of the long hall. Bernhard Klein ¹⁷ was confirmed, visited me (with roses) and asked to give you his best regards; the Leinhas, where Flossy lived, also had a confirmation celebration. Everything we have heard about the comments of the audience sounds very enthusiastic; there are even claims that people cried at the Faust scene in Mannheim. It is almost a shame that no further performances could take place between the pedagogical conference and today: Schuurmans, in particular, had to go to Dornach because of their house. With them, I then dismissed Savitch and de Jaager, since they could be dispensed with for the local school performance. It is striking how well things went in the end, and how much everyone has learned through the repetitions. The 'Urträume' (dreams of the origin of the soul),¹⁸ We were supposed to present them at the pedagogical conference, but they have of course been somewhat forgotten. These include the work of Frau Lewerenz,¹⁹ We have to do it on Saturday evening or Sunday in Dornach, and then we will go straight back to Stuttgart. Tomorrow I have to hold a lot of rehearsals; first with the Stuttgart group, who have to fill the second part of our program with the big group pieces. Then the students' performance, for which there is so much material that I certainly can't get through it all. For a poetry evening, I have also been talked into it by Schwebsch ²⁰ still let myself be talked into it after I had initially declined: I want to venture into Pandora's ²¹ But . to my horror, I see that time is running out for everything again. I am almost wondering whether I will not have to stay here. I would have liked to travel on Wednesday and leave Dornach again on Sunday morning. If it were a three-hour drive, I would not have hesitated for a moment; but if it means spending eight hours in a closed car over snow-covered mountain roads, I am a little worried about my strength. I will probably make the decision tomorrow, after I have seen whether I can finish the preparations here. The Piper evening, which was supposed to take place on Saturday evening, as we decided at the board meeting here, has been postponed because the Waldorf School is having a concert that evening; now I have to see how I manage that, because Piper was already looking forward to it, and it is perhaps the best way to soften him after all. Schwebsch, who persuaded me to use Pandora and from whom I requested introductory music, has also not yet had the time or the head to suggest something. It will probably have to be Bruckner rather than Bach. The event is to take place in the school, so we won't have the organ harmonium. For the Piper evening, on the other hand, I have to arrange something with Arenson, on the harmonium, which also needs to be rehearsed. So I see with horror – as always in Stuttgart, hundreds of things that still need to be done.

Mrs. Kolisko ²² has become so close to me. I didn't even know that she had had this longing for a long time. Now she wants me to be her mother, and I have to give such a prominent daughter the time she wants.

And all the speakers and actors! But if you have experienced this terrible, ever-deepening decline again, as we did on the trip, you don't feel at all justified in depriving those people of the opportunity to be saved. The priests, on the other hand, are all making remarkable progress in speaking; this must come from the content of their ritual.

I find it so regrettable with Unger; there is so much mass suggestion involved. What has been said by certain prominent people who have been so deceived by themselves is now circulating among young people like a dictum. Rath, for example, seems to explain to newcomers that Unger is a pest to society. Stein ²³ always refers to you when he wants to condemn Unger to passivity. Maybe I should talk to

the people. Or not? What do you think?

I have to close. Warmest Marie

Should a Piper evening here be announced as originating from the Section for the Arts of Eurythmy or from the board? What do you think?

Postscript on page 1:

The children at school were delighted, but thought the performance was too short.

• 17. Bernhard Klein (1910-1988), youngest son of Pastor Paul Klein, Mannheim.
• 18. 'Chor der Urträume', a poem by Fercher von Steinwand.
• 19. Rie Lewerenz (1899-1982), a eurythmist in Dornach.
• 20. Dr. Erich Schwebsch (1889-1953), art teacher and music writer. Appointed by Rudolf Steiner in 1921 at the Free Waldorf School in Stuttgart. In 1945, he was actively involved in the reopening of the Stuttgart school, and then founded and chaired the “Association of Independent Waldorf Schools”.
• 21. fragment by Goethe.
• 22. Lilly Kolisko (1889-1976). From 1921 at the Biological Research Institute in Stuttgart; conducted a series of experiments based on suggestions by Rudolf Steiner: “Spleen Function and Platelet Question”, Stuttgart 1922 and “Physical Proof of the Effectiveness of the Smallest Entities”, Stuttgart 1923.
• 23. Dr. Walter Johannes Stein (1891-1957), a member of the Anthroposophical Society since the summer of 1913, was appointed by Rudolf Steiner to the Free Waldorf School in Stuttgart in 1919. 1923-1928/29 on the board of the German national society. 1932 moved to England.

237

To Marie Steiner in Stuttgart
Monday, March 23, 1925

Goetheanum, March 23, 1925

M.l.M. I really cannot express to you how much I admire your dedicated work and how grateful I am to you for everything you do so beneficially. The fact that you are also taking on the school is particularly significant. Because the children need impulses now that they do not see me. And above all, you bring art into the school, an element that it needs so much.

Regarding your question about the Piper evening, it would be good if it started with the section of the speaking arts. If it seems right to you, just organize it that way, sign the program with the addition “Section of the Speaking Arts” and add only my name.

However, if you also find the time to talk to the opponents of Unger, that could be good. I have already written to you about the state of affairs.

Everything is going terribly slowly for me; I am actually quite desperate about this slowness.

I don't want you to decide to come here on the snow trails. But to discuss this, the letter will probably arrive in Stuttgart too late. I just hope I hear soon that you won't make this superhuman effort.

Unfortunately, I have received some very bad news from Horn. Polzer,²⁴ who worked on this matter with incomparable dedication. My sister is almost completely blind. Now the necessary arrangements have to be made. But everything is going well. I hope that our medical friend Dr. Glas,²⁵ who is making an eye examination in Horn, will send a detailed medical report in a few days. As I said, Polzer has taken the matter very energetically in hand.

Here – I don't know whether I should write about the matter, but it is better if you are not completely unaware of it until you get here. P. is in a wild state. He and she will now live separately for a few days on the advice of Dr. W.[egman]. There seems to have been a real storm. He seems to have lashed out, injuring himself so badly that he had to be bandaged in the clinic. It seems certain that there will also be offspring.

I love you so much and send you my very best thoughts and warmest feelings.

Your Rudolf Steiner

Dr. Rudolf Steiner
Goetheanum, Dornach near Basel, Switzerland.

• 24. Count Ludwig Polzer-Hoditz (1869-1945), member since April 1911. In 1917, he lobbied the Austrian government on behalf of Rudolf Steiner's efforts to achieve a threefold social order. Active for the threefolding movement in Austria from 1919 to 1921. With the founding of the Austrian national society (October 1923) on its board, 24
• 25. Dr. med. Norbert Glas (1897-1986), connected with anthroposophy since 1920. Active in the anthroposophical youth movement. Emigrated to England in 1939.