From the Acting Administrator
On Sunday at different places around the world many gatherings took place to commemorate Rudolf Steiner's death 100 years ago. This extraordinary individual has touched the lives of millions of people, both when he lived (1861 - 1925) and in the 100 years since. We know of him mostly through his incredibly accurate insights into child development and the growth of Waldorf Education around the world. In 2025 alone there are 10,000 students in Australia, 90,000 in Germany, plus many more in another 38 countries; and over 40,000 teachers worldwide.
His multi-faceted genius brought new insights into a wide range of disciplines.
Andrew Hill the CEO of Steiner Education Australia writes,
"How many lives have been touched by this one, single life?
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All the students of Steiner schools and their teachers over 100 years
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All the patients treated by the hundreds of medical doctors and hospitals which have delivered anthroposophic medicine, developed by Steiner alongside Dr Ita Wegman and other fully qualified medical practitioners
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Everyone who has eaten biodynamic food produced from the now 250,000 hectares of biodynamic farmland around the world, all stemming from the eight lectures on agriculture given by Steiner to 50 famers in 1924
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The children and adults with disabilities, and their families, who have been cared for humanely in the hundreds of Camphill communities and other special education settings inspired by Rudolf Steiner’s lectures on Special Education in 1924
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Everyone who has attended a Eurythmy course or concert performed by the thousands of practitioners of this unique art form, invented by Rudolf Steiner
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All the visitors to the Goetheanum in Dornach, Switzerland, designed by Rudolf Steiner, which is listed on the Swiss Heritage Sites of national importance and described as a “masterpiece of expressionist architecture”
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All those who have read or attended performances of his four Mystery Dramas
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The social activists and economists inspired by Steiner’s books on the Threefold Social Order, and his activism at a crucial time in German history, which pioneered a vision for a free, equal and compassionate society
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All the speech artists, painters, scientists, sculptors, actors, dentists (yes, dentists), psychologists and architects who have worked with Steiner’s suggestions, and the people who have experienced their work
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Everyone who has read one of the approximately 6,450 lectures he delivered over 24 years (that’s an average of one lecture every 36 hours)
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All the members over 100 years of the worldwide Anthroposophical Society which he founded in 1923 (current membership approximately 42,000 across 36 national societies)
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All the people who have read his books on philosophy, spirituality, history, science, art and other topics and have been inspired by the spiritual path he pioneered.
Why isn’t this remarkable biography more widely known and accepted?
Steiner’s work does not fit the dominant narrative of our time. But narratives change and new ones emerge. The Romans took 300 years to accept Christianity: first they were persecuted, then ridiculed, then tolerated, then taken over and owned by the state. People ridicule anything they don’t understand, and which doesn’t fit into their worldview. At the moment, Steiner is ridiculed..... But we understand why and we also understand that this perception may change."
With gratitude
Mark Phillips
Teaching & Curriculum Development Coordinator
Bruce is taking a much needed break and will be back on 7th April.
Ar
And when the golden summer sun grows weaker in our skies,
I know it really does not die - it just goes through a change.
For it has given its very self to me, in me it lies
As seed within my deepest heart - a thing most rich and strange.
This sun-seed - I must guard it, precious in my heart as gold.
It will live on in me through nights of winter, dark and cold,
Till lo, in spring a radiant, beauteous flower shall unfold!
by Michael Hedley Burton / verse no. 27
