Chronicle of the History of the School Proceedings
1919
November 3 — Parents' evening at the Waldorf School: At the suggestion of the parents and with the support of Emil Molt, the question of establishing a Sunday celebration for children who attend free religious education is discussed.
Christmas season — Conversation in Stuttgart: Friedrich Oehlschlegel and Herbert Hahn inform Rudolf Steiner about the parents' evening on November 3. Rudolf Steiner speaks for the first time about a ritual for the Sunday celebration: “It must be a ritual.”
Rudolf Steiner hands over the text of the Sunday ceremony and the verse to be spoken by the person conducting the ceremony at the beginning of the ceremony to Oehlschlegel and Hahn, who make a copy.
1920
February 1 — First Sunday service at the Waldorf School in Stuttgart, led by Herbert Hahn.
February 29 — Rudolf Steiner attends a Sunday service for the first time.
March 6 — Conference with Rudolf Steiner: "... The Sunday services are only for those children who participate in free religious instruction. They offer a substitute for those who have no ritual, for the children and their parents. The Sunday service should conclude with music, with something special played on an instrument. Invited guests may only attend as observers when I am present ..."
March 14 — Conference with Rudolf Steiner: “The four upper classes can be combined from the free religious instruction for the celebration ...”
June 14 — Conference with Rudolf Steiner. The preparatory lessons for the youth celebration and the participation of parents, etc., in the Sunday service are discussed, as well as the relationship between the school and the Sunday service: “The Sunday service is something that belongs within the framework of the school...”
November 22 — Conference with Rudolf Steiner, in which he responds to a question from Herbert Hahn: “Then I must remember that you would like to have a kind of ritual for the Christmas service.”
Christmas season — Herbert Hahn receives the text for the Christmas service from Rudolf Steiner.
December 25 — First Christmas service, held by Herbert Hahn.
1921
March 20 — First youth celebration
June 12–16 — First theology course in Stuttgart. At Rudolf Steiner's request, the Waldorf School's religion teachers also took part: Leonie Mirbach, Herbert Hahn, Ernst Uehli, and Wilhelm Ruhtenberg. The music teacher Paul Baumann, who later also became a religion teacher, was responsible for the musical accompaniment of the services. Published as Volume I of “Lectures and Courses on Christian Religious Activity,” GA 342.
June 14 — In the morning, Rudolf Steiner speaks at length about the actions: “And so it should be that we accompany important points in life with such ritualistic actions...” In the afternoon, following a question from Paul Baumann about music in worship, Rudolf Steiner gives a detailed account of the human organism, music, and worship: “And while, for example, the non-musical, the light aspect of the cult is designed to teach us a sense of the world, the musical aspect is designed to deepen our sense of self to the divine...”
September 11 — Conference with Rudolf Steiner: “From September 26 to October 10, the (second) course for theologians will take place in Domnach. Hahn, Uehli, Ruhtenberg, and Mirbach will travel there...”
September 26 to October 10 — Second course for theologians. The teachers mentioned in the conference on September 11 (see above) took part. Leonie Mirbach is noted on the registration list, but her name is missing from the list of participants. Published as Vol. II of “Lectures and Courses on Christian Religious Activity,” GA 343.
October 4 — Morning: Lecture on religious education at the Waldorf School and school activities within the framework of the 2nd Theologians' Course.
November 16 — Conference with Rudolf Steiner: The question of a special Sunday activity for teachers only is discussed: "Of course, something very beautiful can come of it. I can well form the mental image that a unified struggle is possible. The mode would not be so easy to find. Who should do it?" - Other topics discussed: cult and sacrificial rituals, as well as esotericism in the anthroposophical movement. - On the Sunday ritual: “Isn't the Sunday ritual for children in itself an esoteric matter for the individual human being who is present, regardless of whether he is a child or not? ...”
December 30 — Lecture in Dornach as part of a public “Christmas course for teachers”: The cultic element that approaches human beings in the image is really something that, from the point of view of perception, penetrates into the mind, into religious feeling." In: The Healthy Development of the Human Being, GA 303, p. 154.
1922
June 22 — Conference with Rudolf Steiner: On prayer and connecting with the mood of the Sunday service in religious education. On the number of actions, the furnishings of the room (long curtains), and the Gospel texts. — On the Mass in the Catholic Church: “The Mass is truly magnificent...”
September 20 — As part of the lectures given at the founding of the Christian Community, Rudolf Steiner speaks here, among other things, about the relationship between the communities of the Christian Community and the Waldorf school teachers. Published in Vol. III of “Lectures and Courses on Christian Religious Activity,” GA 344.
October 7 — Maria Röschl receives a translation of John 17:1-8, 24, 26 (the so-called High Priestly Prayer) for Rudolf Steiner's Youth Celebration and makes a copy.
October 28 — Conference with Rudolf Steiner: The question of the inner and outer prerequisites for the activity of the religious teacher and the person who guides action is discussed.
December 5 — Conference with Rudolf Steiner; on the suitability of teachers to conduct a cult; on the youth celebration: no separate confirmation classes. — The design of the activity room and the music. — Sincerity and simplicity as the basic mood for the cult.> December 9 — Discussion between Rudolf Steiner and the teachers of free religious education: About the distribution of activities among the individual religious education teachers. - In response to the question “Couldn't something be done after the youth celebration?” — which had been addressed to the religious education teachers by the student Johanna Wohlrab — Rudolf Steiner replied: “We will consider that further. It is not the Mass that we can do. I do not want to transplant the Mass into this. We can do something similar to the Mass ...”
1923
January 17 — Conference with Rudolf Steiner: “It will be a sacrificial celebration for Sunday, which we will establish soon...”
January 31 — Conference with Rudolf Steiner: A question was asked about the room for the Sunday activity. “The point is that I will give another ceremony, and the picture will also be based on that...”
March 8 — Conference with Rudolf Steiner: About participation in the ceremonies: “We can only leave it up to the children whether they want to come or not...” — About the relationship to the Christian Community. When asked whether the 9th grade should also participate in the sacrifice ceremony alongside the 10th and 11th grades, Rudolf Steiner replied: “They can also participate.”
March 13 — Rudolf Steiner hands over the text of the sacrifice ceremony to Maria Röschl, Herbert Hahn, and Karl Schubert. On the cover, Rudolf Steiner had noted: “Sacrifice ceremony. Please return the manuscript to me when I am next in Stuttgart.”
March 25 — First sacrifice ceremony, held by Maria Röschl, Herbert Hahn, and Karl Schubert.
March 30 — First sacrifice ceremony, held only for teachers.
August 15 — Lecture in Ilkley, England, as part of a “Holiday Conference” organized by the “Educational Union for the Realization of Spiritual Values”: “A ritual act, which is very similar to the sacrifice of the Mass, but entirely appropriate to the corresponding age, is also connected with this religious life based on free religious education in the Waldorf School.” Published in: Contemporary Spiritual Life and Education, GA 307, p. 208.
1924
February 5 — Conference with Rudolf Steiner: Discussion on whether the activities should be supplemented with regard to the cycle of the year.
June 19 — Conference with Rudolf Steiner: Questions were discussed regarding the compatibility of free Christian religious education with the religious education of the Christian Community and the Sunday service in the school and in the Christian Community: “There cannot really be any discrepancy between the two in terms of content ...” - About the youth celebration, the Sunday service, and confirmation in the Christian Community.
August 20 — Questions answered during a “Pedagogical Course for Teachers of the New School to be Founded in London with Waldorf Education” held in Torquay, England: On the curriculum for religious education, school ceremonies, and worship: “It serves exceptionally well to deepen religious feeling and is experienced by the children as extremely solemn.” — Published in: The Art of Education Based on the Understanding of Human Nature, GA 311, p. 142.