The History of the German Section of the Theosophical Society 1902-1913

GA 250 — 30 October 1910, Genoa

43. Ninth General Assembly of the German Section of the Theosophical Society

Report in the “Mitteilungen für die Mitglieder der Deutschen Sektion der Theosophischen Gesellschaft (Hauptquartier Adyar), herausgegeben von Mathilde Scholl”, No. 11/1910

At around 10:45 a.m., the General Assembly is opened by the Secretary General of the German Section, Dr. Rudolf Steiner.

The first item on the agenda was to determine the voting rights of the delegates from the individual branches.

The second item on the agenda was the reading of the minutes of the previous year's general assembly. It was proposed that the reading be dispensed with because the minutes were included in detail in the “Mitteilungen”. The proposal was accepted. This was followed by the report of the secretary, Fräulein von Sivers, on the state of the membership movement over the last year.

The number of members in 1950 was around 1500, compared to 1500 the previous year; 522 new members joined, compared to 415 the previous year; 63 left or could no longer be found and were therefore deleted, 1 transferred to another section, 8 passed away.

Three new branches were established: Görlitz, Vienna and Klagenfurt. Two new centers were formed: Göttingen and Wyrow. The total number of branches is 47, and the number of centers is 3. The treasurer, Mr. Seiler, will now present the financial report.

According to the report, total income was 7546 marks
The total expenditure was 6255.61 marks
There remains a surplus of 1290.39 marks
To this, bank balance 2020.45 marks
Furniture inventory 565 marks
Results in total assets of 3875.84 marks

After the report of the auditors, Mr. Tessmar and Ms. Motzkus, the treasurer is discharged.

Report of the Secretary General [Rudolf Steiner]:

"I will try to keep the report of the Secretary General as short as possible this year, because we need the time for other things; quite a number of our dear Theosophical friends have kindly agreed to delight us with lectures during this General Assembly.

My first duty is to give you, who have gathered here either to see each other again or to meet the newcomers, a warm , and to greet you in particular on behalf of the Berlin branch of Besant, which always finds it a special pleasure to be able to welcome not only the various Theosophical friends of the German Section, but also friends from out of town.

It has often been emphasized on other occasions that such a gathering has a completely different value for us Theosophists than a gathering of perhaps any other association. Other associations find, when they come together, like-minded people who agree with them on this or that goal of their external or internal life, on this or that question, in terms of their occupation, profession, perhaps also on some ideal in life or the like. Theosophists also come together to find like-minded people, and in their like-minded people, above all, to find bearers of their shared ideals. However, it may be said that a major difference between such a theosophical gathering and the gatherings of all other associations is this.

When we look at the theosophical movement and consider what it is primarily about, we see the innermost being and striving of the human soul and not a single activity in life, not a particular ideal, not something limited in space and time, but that which arises directly from the perception that those gathered here feel and think together about that which is most precious to them in life. That is what unites us. And to sense this in the soul of another, to see it realized in friendly fellowship, that is what each of us welcomes. In this way, other members of the association come together, knowing that they will find this or that in common with those they meet; this is how theosophists come together, knowing that they may find the innermost feelings and thoughts in themselves in others as well. This is what should permeate our gathering like a magical breeze; and it is out of the consciousness that such a spiritual and meaningful bond unites us that I warmly welcome you. We are not only together as representatives of the Theosophical movement; we are not only together in some external business sense, we are together in terms of being Theosophists; and the feeling and living of Theosophical ideas together is the soul of our being together. It is from this soul of our Theosophical togetherness that I would like to speak as I address these opening greetings to you.

During the past year, our German Section has once again made significant progress in our theosophical work. And when we ask ourselves the question whether we may look back on this piece in such a way that we can really call it progress – and not only ask our feelings, but ask: Do the facts speak for the fact that our life is a progressive one – then we must see above all how everywhere within our theosophical branches an inner life is beginning to stir more and more. Today, at the ninth General Assembly, after the conclusion of our eighth theosophical year of our German Section, we can say that the inner life within the German Section has been realized in a broader way.

The German Section consists of individual branches, and these show a lively inner life. When one looks into this life, one can only characterize in very general terms how this life has formed. And one may say that one cannot characterize it more deeply than by saying that it has become an intense one. In some branches, the inner life has even grown out of itself, as in the Berlin Besant branch and in some others, particularly the Munich and Stuttgart branches. There we, like the members of a branch of Theosophists, also cultivate Theosophical enterprises, which are not, so to speak, fanned in a rash way by the Theosophical Society itself, but which flourish from the Theosophical inner life of the branches. These are the various events that go beyond lodge life, in the so-called art and music rooms, where popular Theosophy is also partly practiced. It shows how, as everywhere, theosophical life can be kindled if we only try to speak to humanity in the right way. It would be going too far if I were to name all the members who have rendered outstanding services in a way that cannot be appreciated highly enough by us. In particular, I would like to express the wish that these activities, which take place in art and music rooms, continue and expand as much as possible. This is the best way for us to make a certain impression on our time, if we are able to have an effect on the outside world.

The next step is, of course, the development of theosophical life within the branches; and here I would have to speak for hours if I wanted to characterize how the most intensive work is done within the individual branches, in that gradually organizing this inner work in the form of courses, as is already the case in Berlin, Stuttgart, Munich, Cologne and other places, so that individual members take it upon themselves to convey theosophical truths to new members in courses. Such courses have been set up, and it is certainly permissible to express the wish that, on the one hand, this institute of courses held by members be expanded as much as possible. On the other hand, however, it may well be said that these courses should also be attended as much as possible so that members who are still new and have not yet familiarized themselves with the elementary content of Theosophy can do so. It will only be possible to make significant progress if such courses are set up for those members who have only been with us for a short time. Progress can only be made if the opportunity to learn about the wisdom of Theosophy is given again and again.

But if the content given to us from the source of the theosophical wisdom is to flow to the members again and again, then the younger members must ensure that they always catch up on what was given earlier, otherwise it would not be possible to continue in the appropriate way; and the older members would have to do without something new altogether. Perhaps I may parenthetically interject that one should not take this catching up too lightly. And the greater the reverence for the Theosophical truths, the greater is the possibility of a Theosophical movement penetrating within our culture.

The life of this Theosophical movement can also be seen further afield. I say expressly, the life: a living organism is not only alive when it draws more and more new life into itself, so to speak, but only when there is a lively exchange between the individual limbs, when the juices are exchanged between the individual limbs of the organism. And it is precisely in this respect that we can say that this has been most beautifully realized, that a kind of such material movement takes place among the individual limbs. Again and again, members from a wide variety of branches, not only from branches in Germany but also from abroad, come forward to carry out this exchange, so that with these Theosophical courses, which have become established, mutual inspiration and the mutual exchange of perceptions and feelings are generated in the most beautiful way. It is gratifying that every year we have a number of courses in front of Theosophical members abroad. I would like to mention the course in Stockholm, where a number of members of our German Section were present; and it can be said that the life that unfolded between the Stockholm friends and our members was a very lively one.

Then, above all, we experienced something in the course in Vienna that may be called the outward growth of our Theosophical movement. With this course, a lively and hopefully ever-expanding theosophical life has begun in Vienna, and, as it continues, has deepened the foundations of Theosophy that have been given for years by our friends there. This has also been demonstrated externally by the establishment of the Vienna branch. This adds a link to our work that will also carry Theosophy in an easterly direction. Following the Theosophical Branch in Vienna, a similar branch was also founded in Klagenfurt. And when we consider that the Czech Section was also founded at our suggestion, we can see a gratifying outward growth of the Theosophical Movement. It would again be going too far if all that was done by our dear friends to bring this life to the East were to be characterized in detail. Therefore, only the highly gratifying fact was pointed out in general that we are developing significant beginnings in the East with the Czech Section, the Vienna branch and the Klagenfurt Lodge. The Vienna cycle showed that with the Theosophical movement, with all the imponderables, with all the indefinable things that took place, that it shows something that can be called a fine, intimate progress in human cultural striving, in the mood of feeling that is brought to bear on today's cultural activity. It is characteristic of our time how modern man feels about all cultural activity. When he feels confronted by any kind of cultural activity, the modern man asks himself: Do I understand it, or don't I understand it? If he doesn't understand it, he rejects it. This was particularly characteristic of Basel, where a feature article was written on the occasion of a Theosophical lecture, which began with the words: “What is most striking about Theosophy is its incomprehensibility.” That is the right way to describe the imponderable mood that modern man brings to a cultural activity. This is particularly evident when the word is applied to another area. Imagine someone writing a feature article about mathematics that began in the same way. He would only be characterizing his personal relationship to mathematics. Nowadays, such a relationship is taken for granted, and people think they have said something with it; but they have not said anything at all. Because if someone has not studied mathematics, he simply knows nothing about it and cannot pass judgment on it. Thus the feature writer reveals nothing more than his own attitude towards Theosophy. It would be right to stop writing about it after such a sentence. In the past, if people did not understand something, it meant that they were bored; but that is not a judgment on what was presented. But this modern sentiment is gradually changing, and today one may dare to bring difficult things within the Theosophical movement for discussion. The Vienna course was indeed a particularly difficult one, and if only people who had given such a judgment, as we have just characterized it, had been present at that time, then the Vienna course would certainly have remained barren. But it did become fruitful; and we were able to go home at that time with the beautiful feeling that even from the unspeakable things beautiful flowers grew towards us.

This became apparent later at the Hamburg course. It is always difficult to discuss things that, so to speak, require a certain nuance of feeling for the understanding of everything that is given from the source of Theosophy. In principle, all this is certainly understandable to the scrutinizing reason and logic. But it would certainly take us a long time, and we would have to organize long courses if all these things were to be verified with logic. And in a way it is certainly not to be dismissed when healthy feeling develops in relation to what is offered. There are souls that are more mature than they realize, that bring something from the subconscious that they themselves are unaware of. And then those things that are highest are easiest to test by logic, and those that relate to practical personal life are most difficult. It is much more difficult to find convincing evidence when someone is looking for a connection between an obvious passion and an illness. This can be examined through logic. But it is a long way from what can be established through spiritual research to the convincing logical judgment. Then the subconscious reception comes into play, which manifests itself in the healthy sense of truth. This senses the truth, which could admittedly be proved, but can also be accepted even before the proof. Such a reception must be particularly presupposed in such courses. This will be able to happen more and more, and has just happened particularly in the courses mentioned. And one is taught how really another nuance of feeling and another spiritual nuance - as they did not previously exist in the physical world - now show up.

If we were allowed to point out a kind of new attempt within our theosophical movement, then perhaps I may also speak to you in this brief way about some of the progress we have made in our inner work this year. This leads us to Kristiania, where it was possible to speak about the processes in the life of the earth. There the spirits of the people could be called the souls of the people; it was possible to speak about racial development and its course. This course could only be built on the characterized prerequisites. This also provided the opportunity to present something inward to our members in an outward way.

This also happened in Munich, where we were allowed to dare something like first attempts, which was a direct transfer of esoteric things into exoteric artistic ways.

But then, as a consequence, we were also allowed to make the attempt to look at the writings that are available to us through the prehistoric wisdom of humanity in a broader light. This happened in the courses that made very special demands on the listeners. This was allowed to happen in the Munich and Bern courses.

It has been said of the Bern course that things were discussed there that only have their value in the moment in which they are spoken. This is, of course, intentional and justified. One could experience in these two courses, the Munich and the Bern, that there was something in them that cannot be reproduced in writing. In this, we have indeed made a certain amount of progress.

I have already spoken much more than I had intended, so I ask you to take this as a report of the inner activity and movement of our cause, and to kindly excuse me from thanking all of our members who have participated in this inner work. That these thanks are heartfelt by all of us can be taken for granted.

After the expiration of our seven-year period, we also have other things to report, which we Theosophists always characterize differently than the outside world. We have just in this past year to report that some of our oldest members, some of whom were particularly committed to the Theosophical cause, have left the physical plane. And when we remember these dear theosophical members, we think of them in the same way and with the same love that we regarded them as belonging to us while they were among us in the physical world. We want to say that for us Theosophists there is something that is considered a duty in the outer, non-theosophical world, but which must be a special consecration and a special permeation with the content of the nuances of feeling and thought acquired in the theosophical life for us Theosophists. This is the forwarding of love, the forwarding of our best feelings beyond the physical plane, to those who have left this physical plane. We should endeavor to develop such feelings, strengthened by the theosophical sentiment, for the departed. We should make ourselves capable of sending such feelings into the other worlds through our theosophical progress, so that we may constantly feel the love, truth, and good that has come to us in the case of such members as an ever-present quality, and so that these members themselves may constantly feel present so that we speak of them as those who continue to walk among us, and whose walk becomes more and more sacred to us for the reason that what they can send us from that world must be more valuable to them than what they could give us on the physical plane. In this active way we remember those of our dear members who left the physical plane in the past year.

In particular, we remember an elderly member who has been with us since the Section was founded. We feel a special closeness to her because the brother of this member, who is here as our dear friend Mr. Wagner, is close to us in turn.

Miss Amalie Wagner of Hamburg, who is well known to many of us, left the physical plane during the course of this year, and we will always look to what she tried to do for Theosophical life. Many of those Theosophists who were close to our dear Amalie Wagner have, in their innermost hearts, come to appreciate the work of Amalie Wagner in an extraordinary way and have an unlimited love for this friend. And that was only the beautiful reflection of the beautiful theosophical striving in the soul of Amalie Wagner. And in reverence and sacred consecration, we commemorate an important moment in the life of Amalie Wagner. That was the moment when her sister, who was a member of our movement with her in Hamburg, preceded her in death. At that time I was able to experience the beautiful, loving understanding with which Amalie Wagner's soul approached the event that took place when her sister passed away. I was able to receive Amalie Wagner's look up to her sister, so to speak, held in a genuine theosophical sentiment. How Amalie Wagner looked up to the higher worlds to form an idea of how a person lives on in these higher worlds, was much talked about in the dear, lonely living room of Amalie Wagner. And now we look after her in thought, as she in turn now receives from above what is coming to her and from below, from the physical plane, the feelings of love and devotion that we have for her from here. We can already see two sides to this soul today, how she lives up and down, how a person in the spiritual world lives when there was an impulse in her heart to join what passes through our movement as a soul. And so we look in devotion and love to the soul of this dear Miss Wagner as if she were always present to us.

Another old member has left the physical plane, who is indeed known to few, but these few are those who loved this dear member very much, who, whenever they met with him, felt anew the reverence-inspiring soul of our dear friend Jacques Tschudy in Glarus, who has belonged to our German Section from the very beginning. He has been met by a number of our dear members at the Swiss Theosophical meetings. And if I may use a word in this case that is meant very seriously, I would like to say that the soul of this personality worked in such a way that one could not help but love him. And those who often saw how this man was loved know that those who knew him will continue to send this feeling to him in the spiritual world.

Then there is another exceptionally ambitious member who, in vigorous energy, tried to penetrate into the exoteric and esoteric of Theosophy, and who only in the last few years joined our German Section, has left the physical plan. Our dear friend Minuth from Riga was present at the last Stuttgart cycle; then he reappeared in Hamburg, and by then his outer physical body was already afflicted with the germ that did not allow him to continue living. He was no longer able to attend the full cycle and soon after left the physical plane as well. We will also send him the feelings that we not only had when we decided to become Theosophists, but that we have acquired during our Theosophical life, to the higher worlds.

We have seen another personality depart from the physical plane; the wife of our dear friend Sellin. You all know our dear friend Sellin from earlier theosophical meetings. While he was working in Zurich, his dear wife passed away. Our dear friend understands his wife's passing in the most wonderful way, and anyone who has been privileged to feel what Sellin himself feels towards the dead knows how a true theosophist should feel in a true and beautiful way towards the dead. I would have to use words that would paint the most vivid colors to describe the feelings that surge up to the spiritual world, if I wanted to convey some of the beautiful words that were sent from the soul of our dear friend Sellin here on the physical plane to his beloved wife. But it is better if we merely evoke in ourselves an inkling of what can be expressed in such beautiful words, if we have not heard it ourselves. And those who, like me, have heard such beautiful words as those of our dear friend Sellin, which bear witness to his truly beautiful, real feelings, who have experienced this themselves, have the need not to profane such beautiful words by speaking them. But at this moment I have the need in my soul to awaken in your own heart a presentiment of what beautiful feeling, beautiful inner experience is for those who have physically disappeared in the direction of the spiritual world.

Another personality in Stuttgart has disappeared from those close to her in the physical world; our dear friend [Frentzel] recently lost his wife to the higher plans. When we see how we Theosophists begin to develop a real soul life, we need only think of our dear Mrs. Frentzel, who worked so beautifully on her soul to enter into the Theosophical life. Perhaps only those who were close to her soul, like myself, can appreciate this. And so we may send up what we have learned to our dear friend Mrs. Frentzel.

And so we also remember another friend who left the physical plane through a tragic fate, Mrs. Hedwig von Knebel, whose loving devotion to the Theosophical cause was noticed both when we were in Wiesbaden and by the Wiesbadeners themselves.

But then the image of a Theosophical personality who left the physical plane recently descends upon us with a special power, with a very special vibrancy from the higher worlds, who has devoted herself to the Theosophical cause with an intensity, an understanding and a devotion that truly cannot be described in words, with all she could do - and she could do a lot. I will never forget the moment after a Theosophical meeting when our dear Hilde Stockmeyer approached me for the first time to learn more about some of the things she had learned in Theosophy, which she had absorbed with all her strength. On the other hand, she tried – and she was allowed and able to try a great deal – to combine what she had learned in Theosophy with what external science offers in terms of truth and good. And it can be said that her extensive knowledge was also able to bear fruit externally, in that she passed the final exam shortly before her passing, to the satisfaction of the external world. Hilde Stockmeyer's knowledge can be seen as the first thing she brought us as a beautiful gift of her personal values. What Hilde Stockmeyer, the chairwoman of the Malsch lodge, was to us in the physical realm was due to her abilities and the way she processed these abilities. She was therefore called to work fruitfully, and to what Hilde Stockmeyer acquired through the development of her abilities in this way, she added something else, which, through its emanation, worked on those close to her, which could only reveal itself to us through its effect, how fruitful genuine, true theosophical feeling can become here in human life. This is shown by the way in which father, mother, brothers and sisters and friends accepted her departure to the higher worlds. This is in turn proof of the effectiveness of Theosophy in human souls in this case. It is proof of this in yet another way than was the case with the others mentioned. Personalities were everywhere around the others who had sought Theosophy. In the case of Hilde Stockmeyer, even her parents confessed: 'She brought us Theosophy, she was sent to us. The people who had preceded her on the physical plane, who had given her physical life, confessed what they could feel in response to what came to them from the higher worlds in their own daughter, of which they had to say: 'We could not help this to come into existence on the physical plane, we were the instrument for it. And it is one of the most beautiful feelings that has been expressed within our theosophical movement, that the parents of Hilde Stockmeyer expressed the magnitude of their gratitude and appreciation for the knowledge of their daughter, the knowledge of the daughter who brought theosophy into the home of the parents. And this is the glorious response of Hilde Stockmeyer's parents to their daughter, who has passed into the spiritual world. But we should learn to send up to the higher worlds especially for Hilde Stockmeyer what can only be sensed in such matters. And it is clear to me that I cannot send a better feeling up into the spiritual worlds than if I were to send up the feelings of Hilde Stockmeyer's soul myself now, making myself the tool of her soul for the beautiful things that our dear friend was able to say out of a beautiful feeling while she was still here with us. In two little poems that were entrusted to me and that came from the pen of our dear friend, which originated from her beautiful mind, she still speaks to us from the physical plane. How Hilde Stockmeyer felt about the eternal teachings of Theosophy may resound to us from her own little poems at this moment. Thus spoke Hilde Stockmeyer when she was still alive, and thus may what she herself said continue to resonate for us:

Are we really all alone?
Can one never understand the other?
Can he never look into his heart?
Ease his pain?
I think that when love speaks to love, From the heart with a loyal face, For the sake of love, to ease the torment, With loving words to ease the pain, Then I think it can't be in vain! Are we really all alone? Are there no bridges to every heart? Is there no balm for all pain?
When we sink eye to eye,
Not thinking of ourselves at all,
There is no need for words,
True understanding speaks without sound!
Even to the most hardened of hearts
There is a way.
If you walk courageously on a shaky path
With the one thought of being a helper
You will soon no longer be alone!

Let us try, after she has left, to develop such feelings in our hearts that we can send after her, feelings that are worthy of her own beautiful feelings. And let us learn to feel as she herself felt and as she expressed it in the other little poem:

I would be a pure source of blessing, That always flows and never must dry up, A heart full of courage I would call my own, That never desponds and never trembles in pain, And I would pour love through the worlds; That all living things should rejoice with joy. And so, giving, I would quietly sink into the universe, like a melody that fades away softly.

She spoke in life, and she died for the physical plane. It goes without saying that we should endeavor to send her something equally valuable as she, sensing her own death, spoke in her last words, the last little poem. Those who knew Hilde Stockmeyer as I did know that the death of this dear soul was:

And so I would give up and quietly sink away,
Like a melody that fades away softly.

The assembly honored the memory of the aforementioned persons by standing up from their seats.

Third item: Motions from the floor:

The first motion to be read is the motion of van Leer, Düsseldorf.

Proposal van Leer: The proponent refers to the appointment of members of the board who hold their office for life. This proposal has been made and adopted in order to bring continuity to the theosophical work of the section. It provides a safeguard against any tendentious efforts that would seek to break with the acquired property by bringing in new members. The idea should be further developed through this proposal, so that in the future two people cannot arbitrarily introduce as many members as they like into the society; rather, the signature of the lodge's chairman should also be required for each person wishing to join a lodge, in order to prevent the destruction of what has been built up over the years by tendentious influx.

Dr. Steiner notes that at yesterday's board meeting, the board decided to propose to the General Assembly that the admission certificate of new members should not only bear the signatures of two sponsors, but also the signature of the chairman of the relevant branch, and that in future the admission certificate for section members must be countersigned by the chairman of the German section. In this way, the situation that gave rise to the motion would be appropriately prevented.

Pastor Wendt says that if two thousand new people join the society, the old members could simply found a new society.

Dr. Steiner replies that this case should be prevented, that a society should not be forced to found itself anew.

Mrs. von Sonklar notes that every member has the right to propose new members, and that these two thousand people could also be converted.

Dr. Steiner: “The point is to ensure that the other case cannot occur, that two thousand new members who could be converted are not admitted. They would, of course, be accepted with the greatest satisfaction. It cannot be assumed that the newly admitted members will have the slightest objection. The motion can have no other effect than to deprive two thousand new members of the opportunity to destroy the Theosophical work done so far.

At the request of Mr. Tessmar, the debate is closed and the vote taken. The motion is carried.

The second motion was proposed by Horst von Henning in Weimar, in which the proposal is made to erect the central building of the German Theosophists in Weimar, as planned for Munich.

In response to this motion, Dr. Steiner said: “A motion that is framed in the form in which it is introduced cannot be a motion, it can only be an appeal, and can only be addressed to the meeting as such. It is not, in fact, an undertaking of the Theosophical Society, but a theosophical matter that is being undertaken officially by a number of theosophists in private. As you know, a number of our Theosophical friends have decided to build a house of their own for events like the ones we had in Munich last year and the year before. I just want to say that the intention is to build such a house as a kind of central building in Munich. And hopefully everyone who is able to will contribute their mite, from ten pfennigs to a million. That will hopefully be one consequence of the Munich works. Another consequence lies in the appeal.

I have made you familiar with the content of this appeal. It cannot be treated as a proposal because it does not concern the German Section. The German Section is not a legal entity, and only those who donate the money will build this central building.

The second point is the factual one. First of all, the appeal does not take into account the fact that we had intended from the very beginning to regard this as a purely internal matter for the Theosophists, which is why only those artists who are Theosophists were appointed. So what is emphasized in the motion is out of the question: that a city like Weimar has a large number of theatrical talent or excellent painters. What matters is to organize the matter in the city where most of the artists are Theosophists. Then, of course, choosing any other place than Munich would immediately contradict everything associated with the development of this idea. I would like to emphasize that it does not matter whether I am against it or not, but one must always take the real circumstances into account. In principle, something can be right, but in reality it is only right if one also takes the historical circumstances into account.

Someone in the meeting asks why Berlin was not considered. Dr. Steiner replies: “For the same reason that Berlin was not chosen when we wanted to host the congress of the European sections. The reason is that such a thing requires such a colossal amount of work from the members that those who are not involved have no idea at all. But the members in Berlin are busy with the affairs of the German Section all year round, and practical circumstances have simply shown that the Berlin members would collapse if they had to do this work as well. Something like this could only be done in Berlin if the members were released from the leadership of the German Section. But because this leadership will best remain in Berlin, it is natural that another city has been considered for this matter. I am certainly very sympathetic to Henning's proposal, but when you consider the real circumstances, you have to say that it just isn't possible. But there is also an inner reason for this, which corresponds to an occult law; and that is that those places that have already had a heyday are not actually fruitful for later epochs. The appeal specifically chose Weimar because the heyday of German intellectual life had already developed there. In Weimar, archival work can only develop in the present. Societies are being founded there to commemorate and elaborate on what has already existed. That would already speak against Weimar, the greatness that emanates from Weimar would resist our plan, and we would not be able to get up."

Fräulein Stinde adds: “The address to which the funds for the construction can be sent is: To the care of Miss Marie von Sivers and Miss Sophie Stinde, Deutsche Bank, Munich.”

The third motion, from Frau von Sonklar, Berlin, concerns the regular publication of the “Mitteilungen” four times a year and the expansion of the same.

Fräulein von Sivers notes that a regular, quarterly publication of the “Mitteilungen” was never decided, but that they should only appear when sufficient material had been received from the branches. The “Mitteilungen” should only deal with the internal affairs of the German Section. Incidentally, it could generally be observed that the less one reports about it, the more work is done. For those members who are unable to attend the courses, there is now a wealth of study material available in the form of the duplicated lecture cycles.

Mr. Scharlau expresses financial concerns about publishing the “Mitteilungen” four times. In response, Ms. von Sonklar proposes turning the “Mitteilungen” into a magazine in order to cover the costs through subscriptions.

Mr. Tessmar objects to Ms. Sonklar's proposal and suggests that the “Mitteilungen” continue to be published as needed as before. This proposal is accepted by the assembly.

After a short debate, Mr. Walther proposes that Ms. Sonklar's proposal to expand the “Mitteilungen” be rejected. Ms. Sonklar's proposal is rejected by vote.

There are no further proposals.

Dr. Steiner proposes an emergency motion by the Executive Board to postpone the General Assembly until the end of the year.

After a long and lively debate, Mr. Arenson proposes that November be considered for the next year's General Assembly for the time being. This proposal is accepted.

Dr. Steiner then read out a welcome telegram from the Italian Section and also announced that the Congress of the European Sections of the Theosophical Society would take place in Genoa from September 18, 1911.

Fourth item: reports from the various branches. Two reports have been submitted; in view of the late hour, it is decided not to read them out and to publish the reports in the next “Mitteilungen”.

There is no material for the fifth item, Miscellaneous. Dr. Steiner then closes the business part and announces that the theosophical part of the General Assembly will begin at 5 p.m.