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

GA 250 — Berlin

16. The Annual Meeting of the Theosophical Society

Report, presumably by Rudolf Steiner in “Lucifer – Gnosis” no. 19/1904.

The German Section of the Theosophical Society (Adyar headquarters) held its annual meeting on October 29 and 30. The German branches were represented partly by personal delegates (Berlin, Charlottenburg, Cologne, Weimar, Leipzig, Hamburg, Munich, Stuttgart), and partly (Düsseldorf, Dresden, Hannover, Nuremberg) by appointed proxies. Newly elected to the board were: Fräulein Stinde (Munich), Mr. Arenson (Cannstatt) and Mr. Seiler (Berlin). The number of members has increased from 130 to 261 since October 1, 1903. One particular point of discussion was the association's conduct towards the “theosophical” associations of Germany, which have not yet realized that it is impossible for divisions and antagonisms to prevail in a society based on the principle of brotherhood. Since these societies were all formed on the basis of the main society established in Adyar, they alone are responsible for the divisions, and not the main society. It was now decided to act objectively in accordance with the principle of brotherhood towards these societies, but not to participate in any way in their organizations, whatever their nature. The proposal adopted by the General Assembly reads: “The General Assembly of the German Section of the Theosophical Society of October 30, 1904, resolves not to participate in any undertaking originating from other so-called Theosophical Societies and considers it the duty of each branch to act in the same way. Any participation can therefore only be a private one by individual members.”

The following are currently members of the board of the German Section of the Theosophical Society: Dr. Rudolf Steiner (General Secretary), Marie von Sivers (Berlin Motzstr. 17, Secretary), Julius Engel (Charlottenburg), Richard Bresch (Leipzig), Bernhard Hubo (Hamburg), Helene Lübke (We , Sophie Stinde (Munich), Ludwig Deinhard (Munich), Adolf Arenson (Cannstatt-Stuttgart), Mathilde Scholl (Cologne), Franz Seiler (Berlin), Günther Wagner (Lugano), Adolf Kolbe (Hamburg).

On October 29th there was a free discussion among the members. On October 30th, from four o'clock on, lectures took place: I. Mr. Richard Bresch (Leipzig) spoke stimulatingly about: “Should we teach theosophy to young people?” II. Dr. Rudolf Steiner gave a lecture “On the Nature of Clairvoyance”.