The Fateful Year of 1923

GA 259 — 14 May 1923, Dornach

Circular to the Branch Leaders of the Anthroposophical Society in Switzerland

Dear Friends,

We are sending you a report of the General Assembly of April 22,¹, which you may supplement from your own impressions, and ask you to bring it to the attention of your branch members and then discuss the situation of the Society thoroughly. As you know, Dr. Steiner has told us that he may have to withdraw if the Society no longer seems to him to be a suitable way of furthering anthroposophy.

This report also shows you how enormous Dr. Steiner's work is and how little help the Society can provide. Can we do better in fulfilling our task?

No resolutions were reached at the last General Assembly. It must therefore be continued. This will happen at the beginning of June. The exact date will be announced after Steiner's return from Norway. Before that, a meeting of delegates should take place, in which the branch leaders and other co-workers should participate. We will let you know the date of the meeting..2 There is no circular letter regarding this. The meeting of the delegates took place on June 9th and the general meeting on June 10th in Dornach.

Two things should happen first: 1. Dr. Steiner should be asked by as many people as possible to rebuild the Goetheanum. Then, the Society should address a petition to the authorities asking whether and when the insurance money will be paid out, and whether it is possible to build at all.

This resolution must be drafted as soon as possible, provided Dr. Steiner has no objections.

We ask you to also be prepared to address the tasks of the Society and its consolidation with the same proposals, so that the next General Assembly will be more successful.

With best regards

Albert Steffen