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Rudolf Steiner.
[Public domain photograph.]
Q. Who was Rudolf Steiner?
A. Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) was an Austrian mystic who founded Anthroposophy, Waldorf education, and related enterprises. Originally a secular intellectual and philosopher, Steiner became a Theosophist in 1899. Four years later, he broke away to establish his own spiritual system, Anthroposophy.
Steiner claimed to be a clairvoyant who could read the Akashic Record, a stellar storehouse of hidden ("occult") knowledge. Following his conversion to mysticism, all of his work — including the creation and formulation of Waldorf education — was based on his professed "clairvoyant" discoveries.
Steiner wrote numerous books, but he was even more prolific as a lecturer. Many of the books now attributed to him consist of transcripts of his lectures.
Steiner married for the first time in 1899. He and first his wife, Anna, separated in 1904; following Anna's death in 1911, Rudolf Steiner remarried in 1914. His second wife, Marie, carried on his work in Anthroposophical circles after his death in 1925.
Steiner established the first Waldorf school in 1919, at the behest of Emil Molt, a factory owner who had heard him lecture. Thereafter, Steiner spent a great deal of his time at the school, although he continued his career as a mystical lecturer and focused much of his attention on the Anthroposophical Society.
Steiner designed the first Anthroposophical headquarters and named it the Goetheanum (for the author Goethe). Construction began in 1913 and was substantially complete in a few years, but the building was destroyed by fire in 1922. Steiner then designed a second Goetheanum which stands today as the worldwide center of the Steiner movement. It is located in Switzerland.
Of all Steiner's undertakings, Waldorf education has been the most influential. Steiner's followers have opened Waldorf schools — also known as Steiner schools — all around the world.
Steiner's written and spoken words are disseminated by Anthroposophical organs such as the Rudolf Steiner Press and the Anthroposophical Press.
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