It was during the last of the three phases that Steiner's prodigious achievements in so many fields of life began to inspire a number of his students and followers to practical foundations. Best known today are perhaps the Rudolf Steiner Schools/Waldorf Schools, which have been founded in many countries and in which his concept of the true human being is the well-spring of all educational methods and activities. … (in 1961 there were) some seventy Steiner schools in existence with well over 30,000 pupils. A separate branch are the Institutes for Curative Education which have sprung up both in Europe and overseas, and whose activities have been immensely beneficial to the ever increasing number of physically and mentally handicapped children and adults. Steiner's contributions to medical research and to medicine in general are used by a steadily growing number of doctors all over the world, and his indications are tested and followed up in a number of research centers and clinics. Another blessing for humanity flowed from his method of Biodynamic agriculture, by which he was able to add to the basic principles of organic husbandry just those extras which, if rightly used, can greatly increase both fertility and quality without those chemical stimulants which in the long run poison both the soil and its products.
In the field of art there is hardly an area he did not touch with the magic wand of creative originality. The second Goetheanum which replaced the first one destroyed by fire shows the massive use of reinforced concrete as a plastic material for architecture a generation before this use was attempted by others. Steiner's direct and indirect influence on modern painting with the symphonic use of color, on sculpture, on glass-engraving, on metal work and other visual arts is too far-reaching for anyone even to attempt to describe in condensed form. Students and graduates of the Steiner schools for Eurythmy and for dramatic arts have performed before enthusiastic audiences in the cultural centers of the world, ably directed by Marie Steiner, his wife.
… It will be of particular interest to hear that among those foundations which came into being during the last phase of Steiner's anthroposophical work was a Movement for Religious Renewal, formed by a body of Christian ministers, students and other young pioneers who had found in Rudolf Steiner “a man sent from God,” able to show the way to a true reconciliation of faith and knowledge, of religion and science. This movement is known today as “The Christian Community” and has centers in many cities in (many parts of the world). Apart from the inestimable help this movement received from him in theological and pastoral matters, Rudolf Steiner was instrumental in mediating for this movement a complete spiritual rebirth of the Christian sacraments for the modern age and a renewal of the Christian priestly office.
A Biographical Sketch by Alfred Heidenreich (London, England -- August 1961)
Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6 / Part 7/ Part 8 / Part 9
In the field of art there is hardly an area he did not touch with the magic wand of creative originality. The second Goetheanum which replaced the first one destroyed by fire shows the massive use of reinforced concrete as a plastic material for architecture a generation before this use was attempted by others. Steiner's direct and indirect influence on modern painting with the symphonic use of color, on sculpture, on glass-engraving, on metal work and other visual arts is too far-reaching for anyone even to attempt to describe in condensed form. Students and graduates of the Steiner schools for Eurythmy and for dramatic arts have performed before enthusiastic audiences in the cultural centers of the world, ably directed by Marie Steiner, his wife.
… It will be of particular interest to hear that among those foundations which came into being during the last phase of Steiner's anthroposophical work was a Movement for Religious Renewal, formed by a body of Christian ministers, students and other young pioneers who had found in Rudolf Steiner “a man sent from God,” able to show the way to a true reconciliation of faith and knowledge, of religion and science. This movement is known today as “The Christian Community” and has centers in many cities in (many parts of the world). Apart from the inestimable help this movement received from him in theological and pastoral matters, Rudolf Steiner was instrumental in mediating for this movement a complete spiritual rebirth of the Christian sacraments for the modern age and a renewal of the Christian priestly office.
A Biographical Sketch by Alfred Heidenreich (London, England -- August 1961)
Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6 / Part 7/ Part 8 / Part 9