The Fateful Year of 1923

GA 259 — 14 September 1923, Stuttgart

Introduction to Man in the Past, Present and Future, Lecture I

See GA 228

Allow me to begin today's lecture with a few words of introduction. I would like to express my warmest thanks for the wonderful welcome that Dr. Steiner and I received at the beginning of this conference. It was only natural that we should have come to this conference, knowing that those who organized it, our friends in Stuttgart, had great hopes for this gathering of anthroposophical friends and continue to do so. The conference began auspiciously; we were introduced to the development of the anthroposophical movement in a heart-winning way, and this afternoon, many important things that have emerged from the anthroposophical movement were pointed out. However, some of the things that have been mentioned in the history of the anthroposophical movement will have to be corrected here and there; not so much in the discussion of what happened earlier, but in the characterization of what – at least it had to be understood that way or at the beginning of the anthroposophical movement – is said not to have existed. Some of the comments made in this regard will indeed have to be corrected later.

And it would then be desirable for the minutes, if such a document is produced from this meeting in these expensive times, to be edited with particular care.

I would not want to fail to express the hope here that after the extraordinarily auspicious beginning, the further conference will proceed in a quite fruitful way for the development of the German Anthroposophical Society. It is indeed necessary that much of what our Stuttgart friends have hoped for be fulfilled at this conference. And so, in this brief introduction, let me express the wish that, when the actual discussion of the substantive content of this conference begins tomorrow, this discussion may prove to be quite favorable for the further course of the anthroposophical cause in Germany.

I cannot help but take this opportunity, because opportunities for such things do not always arise and every one should be seized when it presents itself. I cannot help but take this opportunity, in these introductory words, to point out something that is directly related to the inner content of the anthroposophical movement in a broader sense, especially at this time. Many things have been mentioned that the anthroposophical movement has achieved. And precisely in view of the situation in which we find ourselves, where there are so few opportunities to attract attention to what comes out of the womb of this anthroposophical movement, it should not be neglected that, in these days, the anthroposophical movement also has something very important to point out with regard to the research that is being done within it. If our work were as well received in the world as that in the field of external science, we could again point out how research results of the very highest order have emerged from the bosom of the anthroposophical movement. It is well known how the medical dispute between homoeopaths and allopaths has been waged over a long period of time, how all manner of arguments have been put forward against the use of the smallest entities of substances, and how, to this day, no one has been able to produce exact, authoritative experiments that show beyond doubt that entities, when suitably diluted, enter into a metamorphosis of activity that is now something quite different from their material-substantial mode of action. Now, at our Biological Research Institute, we have succeeded, thanks to the dedicated work of Mrs. Kolisko, in scientifically determining the results of the effectiveness of the smallest entities in a flawless manner up to 1 in a trillion. You see, these are things that arise from anthroposophical work. And we in our Society must not pass by such things indifferently, but it is part of the attainment of a comprehensive consciousness for a society to know what is actually going on within its own horizon, within its own body. For one cannot really imagine that anyone can have a true awareness of his overall state of health if, for example, he is unaware of the processes of nutrition that are taking place within him – I do not mean in a scientific sense, but in the sense that one feels hunger and thirst. Therefore, I wanted to take this opportunity to point out that in the writing that emerged from the Biological Research Institute, written by Mrs. Kolisko, and which can now be purchased, something has come into the world again that should actually be pointed out today. So we can already say that within the anthroposophical community today, something is happening that is worthy of being brought to the general consciousness of the Anthroposophical Society. Because of this, a strengthening and invigoration of this consciousness will certainly be able to emerge. I don't know if I have anticipated anything that someone who wanted to talk about the matter wanted to say; but I did want to take the opportunity of this introduction and also to express my warmest greetings to the biological part of our anthroposophical research on this day, when I am speaking for the first time during these days.