The Constitution of the General Anthroposophical Society

GA 260a — 6 April 1924, Dornach

Report on Prague

Before the lecture

Yesterday evening I gave my last lecture in Prague. Travel connections are now somewhat more difficult than they used to be, so I arrived in Dornach a few minutes later than planned. The anthroposophical event in Prague unfolded in what I can safely say was a very pleasant manner, and it gives me deep satisfaction to see how what was brought into the anthroposophical movement by the Christmas Conference in terms of a different mood, a different underlying tone, and also a completely different esoteric life is finding an echo — as one can say quite objectively — that what now resonates with people is indeed being received in a different, essentially different mood and with a significantly increased receptivity.

In Prague, I had to give a number of public lectures, a number of lectures within the Anthroposophical Society, two lectures of the first class of the School of Spiritual Science, and then these events were followed by the corresponding eurythmy performances. On March 28, the first public lecture was given: "The Exploration of the Spiritual World from Anthroposophy. " That was on Friday. The following Saturday was the first lecture for members, followed by the second lecture for members on Sunday. On Sunday there was also a meeting of the members of the Anthroposophical Society in Czechoslovakia. The purpose of this meeting was to draw up something like a statute for the national society of Czechoslovakia. The conditions in Czechoslovakia are really quite different from those that are more familiar in Western Europe.

Here, we take it for granted, as it were, that everyone will be accommodated in terms of language, that everyone will speak as they are able or unable to speak, that what is said will be translated if there is a need for it: in short, we in the West do not regard the linguistic element as particularly difficult. This changes immediately when conditions such as those in Czechoslovakia arise. In the former Austrian crown land of Bohemia, Germans and Czechs face each other. This naturally raised the question: What should the language of assembly be in a society that was to be the Czechoslovakian Anthroposophical Society, in which both nationalities work together, as is natural within the Anthroposophical Society?

When we first arrived, the statute contained the following passage: The languages of assembly are German and Czech in equal measure. It was rightly objected that this was an infringement of the rights of Slovakia, because Slovaks do not understand Czech or German. And so, in Czechoslovakia, no other solution could really be found than to follow as closely as possible the general practice required, I would say, by anthroposophical thinking. At my suggestion, the passage was then adopted as follows: Everyone speaks in the language they are proficient in or which is customary for them, which suits their habits — whether that is Czech or German or Slovak or French or English is not specified — and, depending on the need, the relevant information is translated.

You see, something that is self-evident here had to be forged into a paragraph there. But it was good that way. And there were other things that still had to be settled between the two nationalities. Now, however, I believe that everything that needed to be settled in this regard has been arranged to the general satisfaction of our German friends, as well as our Czech and Slovak friends in Czechoslovakia.

On Tuesday, I gave my second public lecture: “Moral Life through Anthroposophy.” — On Wednesday, I gave a lecture on eurythmic art, which included rehearsals of eurythmic performances for illustration. On Thursday, I gave another public lecture: Contemporary Science and Anthroposophy. This lecture was preceded by an hour of the first class of the School of Spiritual Science. On Friday, I spoke about education and teaching based on a true understanding of human nature. On Saturday, yesterday, I first had a lesson with the first class of the School of Spiritual Science, and then gave the last lecture for our Czechoslovakian friends. All of this was followed by eurythmy. On Sunday, March 30, there was the first eurythmy matinee; on Wednesday, as I said, there were eurythmic interludes in my lecture on eurythmic art, and today, when I was no longer there because I wanted to be here at least tonight, there was a second eurythmy performance at the Czech National Theater with an international program.

So, my dear friends, I did manage to give eleven lectures during the nine days I spent in Prague. But that is not what I would particularly like to mention. Rather, I would like to mention that the general impression was that, compared to last year's events, everything that was included in these eleven lectures was received with a more receptive mind.

Let us hope, my dear friends, that this can continue, that the inner impulse that has entered the anthroposophical movement since the Dornach Christmas conference can indeed continue to have an effect and be felt and sensed as it continues to work.