The Constitution of the General Anthroposophical Society

GA 260a — 29 May 1924, Dornach

Report on Paris

Before the lecture

Actually, today's lecture came about through a strange twist of fate. It was scheduled for tomorrow, but in the telegram I sent, the word “vendredi” was omitted, and as a result, the following words referred to “jeudi,” which was meant only for the arrival, not for the first lecture. But since the word “vendredi” was omitted from the telegram, it was quite rightly interpreted from the truncated wording of the telegram as if today were the first lecture. And so it is.

Well, my dear friends, we have just returned from Paris, and I would like to report briefly that the series of lectures and the entire meeting with our anthroposophical friends there went extremely well.

First and foremost, I have to report that Mademoiselle Sauerwein is not only working in an extraordinarily devoted, energetic, and self-sacrificing manner to shape the French anthroposophical society, but also organized this meeting in such a way that three branch lectures, three member lectures, two class lessons, a general meeting, and a more or less public lecture, which was not publicly announced but was held before an invited audience that was by no means anthroposophical. And it can be described as a success for many reasons.

Firstly, it can be emphasized with great satisfaction for the work among our French friends that the trend that has entered the anthroposophical movement through the Christmas Conference, and which already makes this movement quite esoteric today, is also felt there with great inner sympathy. And it can be concluded from such things that, as this esoteric trend in the anthroposophical movement becomes more and more apparent, the anthroposophical movement will perhaps find its true course. In Paris in particular, there has always been a great interest in occultism, and therefore, even if not everywhere, one encounters understanding for what anthroposophy has to say, but at least for minds receptive to the spiritual. And that is the second thing to be emphasized, for after all, the public lecture was attended by more than four hundred people. It is not without significance that the memory of which I have spoken again and again for ten years, that it was possible to give a lecture on anthroposophy in German with translation in Paris on May 26, 1914, has now, so to speak, flowed into the other fact that on May 26, 1924, exactly ten years later, a German lecture could be given, which this time was translated, like all the other lectures, by Dr. Jules Sauerwein. So, at least, a factual connection that will testify from a certain point of view that if anything can really have an effect on the cohesion of international sentiments, it will be anthroposophy. For it would hardly be possible to bring together an audience in Paris for such an event in another field, an audience that comprises more than four hundred people. The Anthroposophical Society did not fill the hall, because the Anthroposophical Society in France — as delightful as it is — is very small, so that it naturally made up only a tiny fraction of the audience at the public lecture.

Then, on the last day, a medical meeting was held with Dr. Auzimour, who works with us. And when we look back on all these things, something extremely satisfying emerged.

Well, my dear friends, since today's lecture actually comes more from karma than from free will — although the other lectures also come from karma — but because today's lecture I would say comes more from external karma, allow me to follow up on what I concluded with last time, but also to introduce something that essentially culminated in the third lecture in Paris.