Our Dead

GA 261 — 18 November 1915, Berlin

Eulogy on the Death of Sophie Stinde

For those who have passed through the gates of death as a result of the difficult events of the war, we repeat our words today:

Spirits of their souls, watchful guardians,
your wings may bring
our souls' imploring love
to the human beings of the spheres who have placed their trust in you.
So that, united with your power,
our plea may helpfully shine
on the souls it lovingly seeks!

And the spirit that has passed through the mystery of Golgotha for the good of the earth and the progress of the earth, that has taken on the suffering of mankind as a divine being in its infinite wisdom for the good of the earth, for the good of mankind and for the progress and freedom of mankind, may it be with you and your difficult duties.

It is my sad duty to inform you, my dear friends, that our dear friend, the leader of the Munich branch, Miss Sophie Stinde, is among those whom we must now count among the people of the spheres. She left the physical plane last night. There is no way to talk about this extraordinarily difficult and significant loss for our Society in the first few moments. I just want to say a few words about this painful and significant event at the beginning of today's reflections with you.

Miss Stinde is one of those who is well known in the widest circles of our friends. She is one of those who have taken our cause to the very bottom of their hearts and fully identified with it. In 1904, I was able to give the first intimate lectures on our cause that I had to give in Munich at her and her friend, Countess Pauline Kalckreuth's house. And it may be said that from that first time that Fräulein Stinde approached us, she not only devoted her entire personality to our cause, but also her entire working capacity, which was also so valuable, so excellent, and so deeply committed. She left behind what had previously been an artistic profession – Miss Sophie Stinde was a landscape painter – in order to devote herself entirely and solely to the service of our cause with all her strength. And she has worked intensively for this cause in a rare objective, completely impersonal way, in both the narrower and the broader circles since that time. For Munich she was the soul of all our work. And she was such a soul that one could say that through the inner qualities of her being she provided the very best guarantee that our cause could develop in the very best way in this place, in Munich. As you know, the performances of the mystery plays and everything associated with them for Munich had imposed a huge workload on the personalities working for us there in the early years – for quite a number of years. Miss Stinde and her friend devoted themselves to this work with the utmost intensity and, above all, with the greatest understanding, born entirely out of the innermost essence of our cause, out of a will that can only itself be born out of this inner essence of our cause. And perhaps one may also hint that the intensive work that Miss Stinde did really consumed her vitality in the last years very strongly. So that one really has to admit: this valuable vitality, perhaps consumed a little too quickly in the last years, was dedicated to our cause in the most beautiful, most deeply satisfying way. And there is probably no one among those who knew Miss Stinde better who could ever completely shake off the impression that this personality in particular was one of our very best workers.

It is certain that some of Miss Stinde's work was misunderstood here and there, and it is to be hoped that even those of our friends and supporters who have misunderstood Miss Stinde's work through prejudice will subsequently fully recognize the sun-like power that emanated from this personality. And those of our wider circle who were able to observe what Fräulein Stinde did for our cause will, along with all those who were closer to her, keep her in their most loyal memory. We can be sure of her, especially when we emphasize the word, which in these days has often had to be said in connection with the departure from the physical plane of some of our friends. It is precisely in view of Miss Stinde – with all the trials and tribulations and the opposition that our cause has faced in the world – that this word can be emphasized: We, who profess our loyalty and honesty to the spiritual worlds, count those who have only changed the form of their existence, but who, despite having gone through the portal of death, are united with us as souls, among our most important and significant co-workers. The veils that still often surround those who are embodied in the physical body gradually fall away, and the souls of our dear departed are certainly among us. And we need precisely such help. We need such help, which is no longer contested from the physical plane, such help, which also no longer has to take into account the obstacles of the physical plane. And if we have the deepest, most earnest belief in the progress of our cause in world culture, then it is also for this reason that we are fully aware that those who once belonged to us are our best forces, even when they work among us from the spiritual world by spiritual means. Sometimes the confidence we need in our cause will have to be confirmed by the fact that we know: We thank our dead friends for being in our midst, and that we, united with their strength, can accomplish the work for the spiritual culture of the world that is incumbent upon us.

In this sense, I only wanted to touch on this painful event with a few words today, and I just want to tell you that the cremation will take place next Monday at 1 p.m. in Ulm.