The Rudolf Steiner Archive

13

To Marie von Sivers in Berlin
Monday, April 11, 1904

Munich, April 11, 1904

Dear Marie!

It is really only now possible to write to you. You already know that everything went well in Stuttgart. The Stuttgart members were beaming when they saw the packed hall; and I was naturally delighted to be able to speak to 500 people about Theosophy. Yesterday, immediately after my arrival, was the evening at Baroness Wangenheim's.¹⁴ I was supposed to speak about the development of Christian mysticism. I did so. After the lecture, the audience immediately wanted me to speak in public. And - Deinhard now wants it too. So everything points to me staying for Wednesday and then giving a public lecture. But I have my doubts now. Baroness Wangenheim made sacrifices earlier than Böhme ¹⁵ there was, and therefore she doubted whether we could not make such a fiasco with a public lecture with such a deterred audience that nobody would come at all. Now everything would be rushed until Wednesday; and such a hastily organized lecture does not seem to me to be the right thing. It could be poorly attended precisely because of the haste, and then the organizers could become even more suspicious. So when I go to Deinhard's for lunch later, I'll suggest that I have my card rewritten on my return journey via Augsburg and perhaps give a public lecture here. That might be a better idea in any case. In any case, a telegram will be sent to you in the afternoon.

In the meantime, the “discussions with Theosophy enthusiasts” scheduled by Deinhard have increased by one for tomorrow morning. You see, such things are also growing. But I'm not going away; and it seems to me that you won't find me very dejected when we meet.

The more your dear strength is at my side, the less I will dissolve. The moment I read your letters is a moment of celebration; and I know that is how it should be.

So now we shall continue. We shall see. This afternoon there is a “discussion in a small circle” at Deinhard's. In the evening, lecture at Countess Kalckreuth's. ¹⁶

Thank you very much, my dear, and come back to Zurich in good health.¹⁷

Your Rudolf

• 14. Baroness Gertrud Alexandrine v. Wangenheim (1863-1958), after Rudolf Steiner's visit, undertook to unite the various Theosophical groups in Munich into a branch of the German Section. This new branch, which also incorporated Ludwig Deinhard's old branch, was given a new foundation charter dated June 6, 1904, with Rosa v. Hofstetten as chairwoman. Sophie Stinde and Countess Kalckreuth also became members of the German section in May 1904.
• 15. Edwin Böhme (1877-1906), General Secretary of the Leipzig “Theosophical Society in Germany”. The reason for its foundation was the following event: in 1894, three years after the death of H. P. Blavatsky, H. S. Olcott and A. Besant made an attempt to remove W.Q. Judge from the Theosophical Society. Judge out of the Theosophical Society. William Quan Judge (1851-1896), was co-founder and Vice-President of the Society, as well as General Secretary of the American Section of the T.S. In protest, this section broke away from the Adyar Society in 1895 and constituted itself as an independent “Theosophical Society in America”. Groups outside America also joined this protest, thus the “Theosophical Society in England” and the German Society of Franz Hartmann came into being. For more details see: Chapter VII in H. Wiesberger, “Rudolf Steiners esoterische Lehrtätigkeit”, Dornach 1997.
• 16. Pauline v. Kalckreuth (1856-1929), painter, member since May 1904, later chairwoman of the Munich I branch, also on the Section's board since 1911. In 1911, as co-founder of the Bauverein, on its board until 1925. Together with her friend Sophie Stinde, she was responsible for the organization of the Munich Festival in 1907 and 1909-1913.
  Sophie Stinde (1853-1915), painter, May 1904, together with her friend, involved in the re-founding of the Munich branch, which became one of the main centers of Rudolf Steiner's activity alongside Berlin. She was on the board of the German section from 1904. In 1911, she co-founded and became the first chairwoman of the Bauverein.
• 17. to travel on together to Lugano. The return journey together was again via Munich.

16

To Marie von Sivers in Berlin
Thursday, November 24, 1904

Munich - Stuttgart, November 24, 1904

Dear Marie, I must now write to you in the car, otherwise things in Stuttgart will go back to the way they have been. The time when I should be writing has always been occupied. But you know that my thoughts surround you. And yours accompany me. We are close, inside, connected.

Until now, everything has gone well. Nuremberg first. Arrived, gave a talk. People asked a lot of questions. There was a great deal of interest. On the second day I had a lot to talk about with individual people. Mrs. Rissmann ³² is always intensely involved. The poor woman has a hard time. Her husband is far removed from such things. The lecture on the second evening was like the first. It is good that more and more scientifically educated people are coming over to the spiritual view of the world. One doctor spoke relatively well in the discussion. On Sunday morning I gave the Lodge another hour at 10 o'clock. Then most of the Nuremberg Theosophists came with me to the train station.

Feldner was waiting for me in Regensburg.³³ This is a city. All wrapped up in Roman lust for power. A thick cloud of these desires kept the population in a terrible stupor. Feldner himself had rejected the advertisements in the widespread clerical paper. There was also a danger that the local clerical associations would disrupt the lecture with riots. Years ago - something like this only happens in Regensburg after years - when a man wanted to speak here, the clerical men appeared and started shouting: “You have nothing like that to say to us; that's what our priests are there for. So those were the prospects. Feldner now helped himself by announcing: only those who apply in writing for an invitation card in advance can come. That was good. About 30 people came. Very attentive. Very focused. Grammar school teachers, secondary school teachers, doctors. Before that I had a small conference with Feldners, a secondary school teacher and a doctor, then the lecture in the evening.

Then I froze in the Regensburg hotel, where Charles V once lived, but which is now so bad that the housekeeper had run away in the morning because he couldn't stand it. I first had to get a car from the neighborhood. Otherwise, despite Feldner's diligence, I wouldn't have made it to Stuttgart [Munich] in time.

So I arrived in Munich on Monday morning. Countess Kalckreuth and Miss Stinde picked me up from the station. Meetings during the day. The first lecture was in the evening. The two students were already at the entrance to the hall.³⁴ Very eager. Very nice. I gave the lecture, which was also in mystical language. I didn't give a discussion for once. - I wanted that evening to maintain the atmosphere that the lecture was calculated to create.

The next day there were conferences. The students also came. I talked to them for a long time and a lot. - In between, I also went to Deinhard's. In the evening there was the lecture: Does Theosophy contradict science? Then there was a long discussion. I also announced the Theosophical Student Association, which was received with unexpected interest and applause from the audience. Wednesday morning I had to see Baroness Gumppenberg; then I went to see the Rector of Munich University about student theosophy, then to see Huschke.³⁵ In the afternoon I was with Schewitsch,³⁶ She had invited a circle to her home. I had to do that, because here was the very talented natural scientist Dr. R. Francé ³⁷ and the theologian Dr. Müller.³⁸ It was one of the most interesting discussions. The whole question of natural science and theosophy was raised. Francé could only say again and again: “I can provide another scientific analogy for your argument”. Finally, he surprised the meeting by saying: “Today we are faced with scientific riddles that can only be solved in a theosophical sense. The natural scientist Friese ³⁹ said to a problem just the other day: one would like to go insane before the language that nature now speaks for us materialistic thinkers. - The few people who still form the link between our lodge and the Shevich group came to the lodge in the evening still quite moved. Kalckreuth and Stinde were not there. They hadn't even been invited. Yesterday evening was the lodge evening. I spoke first about the nature of the “Association”. Then there was a long question and answer session. The son of Countess Wachtmeister ⁴⁰ was also there. Incidentally, he was also at the lecture the previous day. Megerle ⁴¹ is in Munich and was in all the lectures.

Today, just two hours ago, the two ladies ⁴² took me to the station. Now I'm sitting here in the carriage. Knee-high snow outside. The windows are opaque. Everyone remembered you with love. The ladies, Megerle and the students love you and all send you really warm greetings. That does me so much good.

Greetings to Sister ⁴³ and the others. - I will write you other things when I can write on a tabletop rather than on a book in the air. I must now resolve not to forget the rubber shoes that Countess Kalckreuth replaced for me in Munich; yours went on to Regensburg. They didn't want to report when I got off, but continued the journey without me. May they have more affection at other feet.

Yours sincerely, Rudolf.

• 32. Minna Rissmann (d. 1945), member since May 1903, secretary at the founding of the Dürer branch in Nuremberg in 1904
• 33. Jakob and Antonie Feldner, members since October 1905, founded the Regensburg Center in 1906. A “center” was a precursor to a branch, which required 7 members to be founded.
• 34. Ludwig Kleeberg and Hans Bunge.
• 35. Otto Huschke (1846-1907), painter, member of the Munich branch since 1894.
• 36. Helene v. Schewitsch, widowed v. Racowitza, née v. Dönniges (18431911), and her husband had their own theosophical circle, which did not want to join the German section or anywhere else.
• 37. Dr. Raoul Heinrich France (1874-1943), director of a biological institute in Munich. His writing “The Sensory Life of Plants” was discussed by Rudolf Steiner in 1906 in No. 31 of Lucifer-Gnosis (now in GA 34).
• 38. Probably Dr. Josef Müller in Munich, a Catholic clergyman standing outside the narrower association of the Church, editor of the journal “Renaissance”, in which he represented a free Catholicism.
• 39. Heinrich Friese, German bee researcher
• 40. Count Axel Wachtmeister, from Sweden. His mother Constance Wachtmeister, née de Bourbel (1838-1910), was a trusted friend of H.P. Blavatsky.
• 41. Wilhelm v. Megerle, visual artist, already a member of the Lugano branch in 1902, lived in Starnberg and in Schirmensee on Lake Zurich, where Marie v. Sivers and Rudolf Steiner visited him on their trip to Lugano at Easter 1904. (See photo p. 71).
• 42. Countess Kalckreuth and Sophie Stinde
• 43. Olga v. Sivers.

20

To Marie von Sivers in Berlin
Monday, January 9, 1905

Munich, January 9, 1905

Dearest Marie! I send you my most faithful thoughts of love and affection. I do this not only when I find time to express this to you in writing. You know and know how closely we are connected. It is certain that many opposing forces will still rise up against our spiritual bond; such things must be faced calmly.

Once you find complete peace, my darling, then the waves may crash around the rock on which we stand. If the rock is built on the ground of truth, then nothing can make it, and thus us, shake.

Thank you for your dear letters. They bring something so loving to the work. Stuttgart No. 1 and the two public lectures in Munich are over. This afternoon I still have Schewitsch, in the evening the student assembly; then tomorrow Stuttgart. — I hope that so far everything has gone well. May it continue that way. Dr. Paulus really puts you through your paces; Kalckreuth and Stinde are real models when it comes to doing favors for friends.

I have informed Kalckreuth and Stinde of your “signposting mission” ¹. Such things are quite characteristic of our age. And we can learn a lot from them. That the people of Leipzig are doing this is simply part of their karma; they can't help themselves. Such things depend on a person's inner self, and we really shouldn't be strict judges in such matters. But the outer side is precisely what we are supposed to judge. This must be the basis of our learning. Above all, we must learn from it for our own behavior. We live in an age in which people like the Leipzig Theosophists can form an opinion: something like this works in our time. Such are the instincts of our fellow human beings, and we want to take them into account. If the Leipzigers were even Theosophists, the karma of our age could not be reflected in them in this way. But they are not Theosophists. We should admit that to ourselves with all compassion. That is why the demoralizing, unholy, and ill-democratic aspects of our age are reflected in them in this way. They are the victims of these main characteristics of the present time. My dearest, take this as belonging to today's esoteric hour (it is Monday morning) what I am now telling you. All the materialism of our age will once again be most blatantly reflected in the minds of the so-called Theosophists. Because the theosophical attitude itself is so elevated, those who are not completely taken in by it will become the worst materialists. We will have to experience much worse things from the theosophists than from those who have not been touched by the theosophical doctrine. The theosophical doctrine, when taken up as dogma rather than as a way of life, can lead straight into materialistic abysses. We just have to understand that. Take a look at Keightley. He is well on his way to becoming one of the worst victims of Theosophy. Without Theosophy, he would have become a simple, untalented, but probably well-behaved scholar. Through Theosophy, he becomes a haughty, envious, nagging nerd. These are considerations that the occultist must constantly bear in mind if he is to think of spreading the great wisdom of the holy masters to the public. That is his great responsibility. This is what the brothers, who want to remain conservative in occultism and continue to cultivate the method of secrecy, always hold against us. And not a day goes by without the Masters clearly sounding the warning: “Be careful, consider the immaturity of your age. You have children before you, and it is your destiny that you must communicate the high secret teachings to children. Be aware that through your words you educate villains. ² I can only tell you that if the Master had not been able to convince me,³ that despite all this, 'Theosophy is necessary for our age: I would also have written only philosophical books in 1901 and spoken in literary and philosophical terms.

My dear, stay strong with me: as long as we are connected with the great Lodge ⁴Nothing can really happen to us, no matter what appears to happen. But only through our strength can we receive the help of the exalted masters. You know that I speak this as soberly and clearly as the most mundane things in life. “Remain strong and clear,” the masters say every day.

• 1. Theosophischer Wegweiser, Monatsschrift, Organ der Hartmann-Böhme-Gesellschaft, Leipzig; Herausgeber Arthur Weber, Leipzig.
• 2. - Cf. on this the chapter “The Splitting of the Personality during the Training of the Spirit” in “How to Know Higher Worlds”, GA 10.
• 3. This must have been in the period between the conversation with Marie v. Sivers in the fall of 1901 (see p.36) and his joining the T.G. in January 1902; for he wrote in August 1902 in the draft of a circular letter to the German branches: “I did not join earlier than I knew that the spiritual forces I had to serve were present in the T.S."
• 4. Rudolf Steiner here means the community of “teachers” or “masters of wisdom and of the harmony of feelings”; for more details see “On the history and content of the first section of the Esoteric School” (GA 264).

23

To Marie von Sivers in Berlin
Tuesday, 14 March 1905

Munich, March 14, 1905

Dearest Marie!

I think of you with love and faithfulness and thank you for your lovely greeting, which I received yesterday. I can't write much to you, because there is a lot to do here. But you know that I am with you in spirit. In Nuremberg, things went quite well again. Strangely enough, two people from Stuttgart were in Nuremberg: Pfundt ⁸ and del Monte. ⁹ Speiser, who was recently discussed here, also appeared on the scene there. In Regensburg, of course, only a few emerge from the ultramontane darkness. So the public lectures were here on Sunday and Monday. I have already gone into the “esoteric” quite a bit here. It was well attended. Deinhard was at both lectures.

Here, too, there would soon have been a very small crisis. ¹⁰ wanted to resign. I tried to make it plausible to her that this would not be good. She will probably stay.

You write to me so lovingly about the lectures of the previous week. Yes, you see, in my lectures I will have to free myself more and more from the seven-part division, as it was used in the beginning, especially by Sinnett's esoteric Buddhism ^{Alfred Percy Sinnett, “Esoteric Buddhism,” 1883, German “Die esoterische Lehre oder Geheimbuddhismus,” 1884.}. The threefold division of my “Theosophy” is the only possible one for the purposes of really penetrating into things. The division into seven parts, without this reduction to three, only leads astray. This is what oriental mystics, as well as western mystics, have objected to in the schematisms of Sinnett from the very beginning. That is why not much practical work has come out of this division into seven parts. You see: I speak in the communications of the Akasha Chronicle ^{Series of Essays on World Evolution in the journal “Lucifer-Gnosis” from July 1904. Reprinted in “From the Akasha Chronicle”, GA 11.} from the point where I go beyond the middle of the Lemurians, no longer of sub-“races”. And that corresponds exactly to the view. Strictly speaking, the concept of sub-races only has a meaning between the middle of the Lemurian and the end of our cycle (5th root race). Then this concept loses its meaning in relation to the view. Likewise, the concept of root races continues to lose its meaning, has it again for certain circumstances of the lunarian and solaric evolution and no longer before.

There are only 16 real human races: 5 Lemurian, 5 Atlantean, 5 Aryan, and 1 post-Aryan. Anything that occurs before or after that is something other than a “race.” And so much of what needs to be corrected is merely the result of ideas that apply to Earth being extended to the entire planetary army. From this arose that unfortunate schematism which mechanically applies earthly conditions to all planets. One could not have built on the theosophical movement at the beginning if one had not gone through the eternal multiplication by 7. But gradually this mechanical multiplication must be replaced by the living spiritual reality.

All my love,

• 8. Friedrich Pfundt, railway secretary, member in Stuttgart before 1902.
• 9. José del Monte (1875-1950), industrialist, member since November 1903. Co-founder of Kommende Tag AG, Stuttgart, in connection with which he placed his cardboard factory with 700 workers.
• 10. Rosa v. Hofstetten (1836-1908), had been chair of the Munich branch, which was re-established in May 1904, until she resigned in 1906 due to illness to Countess Kalckreuth.

26

To Marie von Sivers in Berlin
Tuesday, April 11, 1905

On the train to Munich. April 11, 1905

My darling. It could be that I won't be able to write for a long time in Munich either, so I wanted to send you my warmest greetings from the train. It's sweet when you write often. You accompany me with your blessing. And your blessing belongs to our work.

As you know from Arenson's report, things went well in Stuttgart. The two lodges ¹⁵ For the time being, they get along with each other as well as could be the case if they were one. Stuttgart now has four branches in total. In addition to our two, there is one founded by Böhme ¹⁶ and one Tingley ¹⁷ (Blissful). The members – at least some – of the Böhme branch were very sympathetic to my lectures and the main organizer, a Mr. Bach, even gave me a gift in a box at the end. I don't yet know what it is because I haven't yet found time to 'open' it.

The train is just stopping in Ansbach.

In Hanover, the visit was mediocre, but not bad considering the circumstances. The whole sorry affair of Hübbe-Schleiden (like a cloud of haze) is overshadowed by a corrosive mind that is as far from any intuition as the brain of a German professor of Greek art is from an understanding of the Greek genius. The man speaks a language that is so un-Theosophical and is so deeply to be pitied, like a prisoner who mistakes his dungeon for the world. He puts endless effort into squeezing water out of a completely dried-up sponge. Actually, his entire wisdom consists of combining today's school wisdom with a few scraps of learned “ancient wisdom” ¹⁸ in a very schematic form. He had large models made of the so-called “primary atom”, which almost fill half a room, and yet they are nothing more than reproductions of a picture that appears on the title page of Annie Besant's “Ancient Wisdom”. During my last visit to Munich, Deinhard showed me photographic images of these models like a precious treasure.

My darling: everything is relative. And there is still a way upwards from this Hübbe-Deinhard wisdom to the smug mysticism of the “Stuttgart adept” A. Oppel. And Oppel is not entirely wrong to consider Deinhard “stupid” from his own point of view. That's what he said the other day. And yet Oppel is a “curious man”. You have to look at all these relativities very objectively. Because even if a frog is not yet an ox, it is still bigger than a fly.

In Hamburg, Hubo still hasn't overcome his inner-outer restlessness. He basically wants everyone to be happy, but criticizes everything and complains about everything. Sunday I spoke to the people of the lodge about the meaning of the days of the week and about the seven Roman kings, to vividly show the eminently practical, life-intervening meaning of Theosophy. Yesterday, at “Goethe's Gospel,” there was a basically not bad visit.

That you put my name on the title page of “Children of Lucifer” ¹⁹ seems to me to be too much, since the ten small pages are not enough to be given special attention. But for now, we will leave things as they are in line with your intentions.

This time, Deinhard will not be in Munich during my stay. He is going to the Congress of Psychologists in Rome to see if the respectable official psychologists will condescend to make some “metaphysical” (recte: spiritualistic) observations. It is so pitiful to see how these people greedily dig for treasure and are happy when they find earthworms.

The train is now stopping in Gunzenhausen. Hilly forest land and a gloomy mood can be seen outside. It has even started to rain.

Yesterday you delivered a message for me again.²⁰ I am so glad that it has come to this and that you are sitting in my place during my absence. That is how it should be. We will continue to make progress in this way.

Do your meditation as well as you can. The splendor that must fall on the intellectual grasp of the occult things does indeed come from it. Even if you don't notice it. The meditation formulas and concentration exercises that you now have are the key to much. They have been shaped by the great adepts since ancient times, and whoever brings them to life in their soul with patience draws from them the truth of seven worlds. The secrets of the knowing are laid in them. And whoever is able to apply them correctly has the opportunity to strip away the veils of the three lower world forms and gradually mature to the state of the “swan.” You need not worry about imperfections in meditation; but always strive to do everything in your power.

For now, warmest greetings from yours

Rudolf.

In a few minutes the train will be in Treuchtlingen.

• 15. The founding charter for the Stuttgart II branch, Kerning branch, is dated February 19, 1905, with Prof. Oscar Boltz as chairman. In September 1905, the Stuttgart III branch was added, which was founded specifically to study the works of Rudolf Steiner, with Hans Weißhaar as chairman and Adolf Arenson as secretary. In 1907, Stuttgart I expired and Stuttgart III took its place.
• 16. Edwin Böhme, Secretary General of the Leipzig Society.
• 17. Katherine Tingley (1852-1929), American Theosophist, “successor” to William Q. Judge in the leadership of the “Theosophical Society in America” that had become independent of Adyar.
• 18. “The Ancient Wisdom” (1897), German translation by Mathilde Scholl 1898,
• 19. Drama by Edouard Schurg; Le Theätre de l'Ame (tere serie); Les Enfants de Lucifer (Drame antique), Paris 1900; authorized translation by Marie v. Sivers, Leipzig 1905, Dornach 1955.
• 20. The meetings of the members of the Berlin branch took place every Monday.

35

To Marie von Sivers in Berlin
Sunday, November 12, 1905, from Munich

My darling! I will just pop the following in the post box myself so that you will receive it tomorrow. Then I will ask Countess Kalckreuth to send the book to you today, so that you will receive it tomorrow.

I think I did well in Munich.

It is now 6 o'clock in the morning before departure and I send you all my warm and loving feelings from Munich.

The rest of the “News” ⁴⁴ I will send this today.

Please accept my warmest regards and, when I come, be a very, very healthy mouse, yours, Rudolf.

Munich, November 12

• 44. “The following” probably refers to the part of the “News” the rest of which is to follow in the evening. “News” refers to the Scholl-Mitteilungen, which were approved at the 1905 general assembly and published until 1914. As can be clearly seen from the letters, the manuscripts for these were reviewed and corrected by Rudolf Steiner.

52a

Rudolf Steiner to Edouard Schuré
Thursday, December 20, 1906

Munich, December 20, 1906 Dearest Friend!

Since our happy days in Barr, I have been constantly on the road. Please do not look for any other explanation for the fact that you are only receiving this letter today. First of all, let me tell you how deeply those happy days filled me with satisfaction. The reading of the parts of your projected work was an event for me, to which I attach the most glorious hopes. The world and life view, from which a new spiritualization of our culture must be expected, is cast in a form, and appears at such a height of vision and in such an artistic way that it must, if the way out of the present into the future is to be found. This book will be a highly esteemed gift for our time. You know from the messages of Miss v. Sivers and from my own, what a treasure I see in your works. They seem to me much more important than those that have directly emerged from the so-called theosophical movement. And I must find the wisdom revealed to me by the exalted masters of the Rosicrucian movement much more beautifully expressed in these works than in those of the Theosophical movement, because in the latter it often appears as if in refracted rays, whereas in your works it is shown purely in its truth through the noble and artistic form. That is why my participation in Miss von Sivers' careful translation of “The Great Initiates” was so satisfying to me. This book is now also finished, and it will give many German readers something significant.

I am pleased that the exercises written down in Barr are of some use to you. They are, after all, in line with Rosicrucian wisdom. And if I may ask you for something, it is this: not to lose patience if the time of a perceptible effect is a little delayed. The path is a safe one, but it requires a lot of patience. In a short time, when the right moment comes, I will certainly write the continuation of it. - At first, one experiences the effect only through very intimate processes of the soul life. And it actually requires great and at the same time subtle inner attention to sense how the manifestations from another world are adjusting. These are, so to speak, only noticeable between the other events of the inner life.

Only now, since Barr's beautiful days, am I getting some air. Miss v. Sivers and I are using a few days off to work quietly in Venice. I wanted to write to you, dearest friend, from the first stop on our journey, here in Munich. The Countess Bartowska ⁴⁶ shall receive the promised letter from Venice.

It would be a beautiful event at the Munich Congress if your “Eleusinia” could be performed. The difficulties are, after all, great. And I will make every effort. A worthy composer is currently hard to find in Germany. But we will see. It would certainly be nice if a translation in verse could be achieved. But as far as I can see from today's conditions in Germany, that will not be possible. The level at which the whole thing must stand could easily suffer. Therefore, I believe that a dignified prose will be better. Regarding the Demeter scene, about which Miss v. Sivers wrote to you, I will take the liberty of making suggestions in a subsequent letter. I can see before me the way in which this scene actually took place in the later Eleusinian Mysteries. The whole event was steeped in a wonderful symbolic holiness. Only now can I begin to seriously address the preparations for the congress. Therefore, I will only now be able to come up with my suggestions. Of course, the main idea must be to perform your magnificent creation only when we can do so worthily. My point of view as composer will be to find someone who can respond to your great intentions.

I commend myself to your esteemed wife; to you personally I send my warmest Christmas greetings and remain in devoted admiration, Rudolf Steiner.

Until January 2: Hotel de l'Europe, Venezia (Venice)—

• 46. The Polish Countess Batowska, an old friend of Schuré, was acquainted with H.P. Blavatsky. Rudolf Steiner met her in Paris in May 1906. She died on January 30, 1911.

62

To Marie von Sivers in Berlin
Friday, December 6, 1907, from Munich

My darling!

Warmest greetings to you both. In Nuremberg and here everything went well. The two lectures “Disease Delusion” and “Health Fever” ⁴⁰ seem to have a certain clarifying effect on the theosophical field. - And we will need clarification. This is shown by the case of Wolfram, which is truly symptomatic. Wolfram finds it regrettable that now, in addition to Vollrath, Zawadzki ⁴¹ a journal (together with a certain Fiedler). And then she came up with a “brilliant” idea: “Lucifer” should appear regularly, and to that end she suggested that I cede me the editorship and publication of “Lucifer.” This should be done “quite quickly.” Now there was something again where one had to be “rude, rude, rude”. I did so telegraphically, because she demanded a telegraphic answer. The telegram was correspondingly so. And now I have received her letter in reply: “You reject my suggestion in a way that could not be more brusque. What I suggested is nonsense.” Then comes a wistful note, and further: “And when I wonder why you - who are otherwise kindness itself towards those who lack understanding - are now treating me so harshly in the same way, I tell myself that you will certainly have your reasons for doing so. And because I realize that, I have never doubted for a moment that you mean well by me as an educator – – –”.

Darling, rudeness itself is good when it is used for the sake of the other. The lesson has helped for the time being. But of course the Leipzig nonsense doesn't end there. And in many respects it would be better if we didn't have to consume this “Leipzig lingo” at all. The color of the people from Leipzig — even the tungsten — sticks to people for a long time even after they come to us. And better off are the Leipzig societies, ⁴² than we are with members who have the idiotic methods of the Leipzig practice.

That Unger ⁴³ in Berlin, is dear to me. The following occurred in F.M.: Miss ⁴⁴ and Countess Fugger.⁴⁵

Tomorrow morning I am traveling to Stuttgart.

Once again, my warmest regards, Rdlf. Munich, December 6, 1907

• 40. Two public Munich lectures on December 3 and 5, 1907, new in: “The Knowledge of the Soul and the Spirit“, GA 56.
• 41. Casimir Zawadzki, Leipzig, joined in July 1906, resigned in 1908/09, published a journal from 1908-12, first with the Fiedler publishing house, then with Vollrath, and supported his articles with plagiarized passages from the works of Rudolf Steiner and Annie Besant. Cf. Mathilde Scholl, “Literarisches Parasitentum, Plagiate und falsche Zitate”, Berlin 1914.
• 42. the Hartmann-Böhme Society based in Leipzig.
• 43. Dr. Ing. h.c. Carl Unger (1878-1929), industrialist, son-in-law of Adolf Arenson, member in Stuttgart since 1903, 1913-23 on the central council of the Anthroposophical Society (with Marie v. Sivers and Michael Bauer), and in many other positions in the anthroposophical movement. On his way to give his lecture “What is Anthroposophy?” in Nuremberg on January 4, 1929, he was shot by a mentally ill person.
• 44. Clara Michels (1880-1944), a member in Munich from May 1907, later a teacher at the Waldorf School.
• 45. mélie Fugger von Glött, née v. Thewalt (1858-1915), in Traunstein/Bavaria, member since January 1905.