Images of Occult Seals and Columns

GA 284 — 15 January 1911, Stuttgart

The Inauguration of the Stuttgart Building

Address by the architect Carl Schmid-Curtius

As the builder of this house, it is my privilege to address the first words of greeting and welcome to you at today's house dedication.

The abundance of feelings that move me at the handover of this building, our new Theosophical home, should above all find expression in my heartfelt thanks to all those who, with their advice and support, have actually made this building possible. Once I have thus fulfilled the noblest duty of someone who has accomplished a work with the help of others, I may summarize my many wishes for this house, in which Theosophy is to be taught for many generations to come, that I say: In these rooms, the occult motifs have been arranged according to a fundamental idea under higher guidance and approval; we know that everything that surrounds us here is the expression of a spiritual. May these forms all serve to promote Theosophical work and may this building always be dedicated to the spirit in which it was built!

I hereby hand over the keys of the house to the building association of the Stuttgart branch association, and express my heartfelt thanks for their loyal support. I also wish them all the best and much success in their work in these beautiful rooms.

Address by the chairman of the Stuttgart branch association's building association, Jost del Monte

On behalf of the building association, I take over the key of this house.

If you, my dear Mr. Schmid, have addressed words of thanks to all those who have helped you to accomplish this work, we are well aware that these thanks must go above all to the one whose profound knowledge alone made it possible to develop the ideas embodied in these rooms, and each of us shares your sentiments with all our hearts. And as far as these thanks are directed at us, let me tell you that we have regarded it as a very special favor to be allowed to participate in this work. We leave it to our dear guests to judge the extent to which the work has been successful; but let me add one thing: working together with you in harmony has given us great satisfaction, and we fully appreciate the amount of dedicated work this work has required of the builder. We thank you very much and are pleased to be able to say this to you from this point.

Furthermore, we would like to thank all those who have generously contributed to this undertaking, and in particular we would like to mention one of our members who, with a large, fundamental donation, has made it possible to fulfill our long-held wish.

And finally, on behalf of the building association, let me express our joy at being able to celebrate the inauguration of the house together with so many friends from outside. We thank you for your interest in our celebration and warmly welcome you. We have been able to create a stronghold for theosophical life through our loyal cooperation; this house is now complete, and the building association has thus fulfilled its primary task. I now hand over the key to this house to the Stuttgart branches, which may become a place of loyal work for them.

Address by the Chairman of the Association of Stuttgart Branches Adolf Arenson

On behalf of the Association of Stuttgart Branches, I take possession of the key to this house.

It has been designed and built in accordance with spiritual rhythms and spiritual laws that have been transmitted to us by our esteemed teacher.

The forms and designs that confront us, the signs and images that give the room its character, are drawn from those spheres that underlie our earthly one; we should always be mindful of this, and the work we do in this house should strive to achieve harmony with our surroundings. The symbols that look down on us – they shall become inner life through our work.

Sacred is the space in its arrangement - in its holiness it shall be animated by our work. It shall become a home for the Highest, which has become ours through high spiritual powers. And we want to protect with all our strength the good that has been entrusted to us. We solemnly swear this.

In this spirit, we ask our esteemed leader to consecrate the place of our future work.

Consecration speech by Rudolf Steiner

All of us gathered here today feel the significance and consecration of this moment. And perhaps at this hour many a heart here will ask itself what the greater significance and the greater consecration lies in, whether in the fact that we have before us, and whose importance for the theosophical life in our circles we cannot sufficiently feel, or whether in the symbolic meaning, in the symbolic importance of what we are allowed to begin here today. The most beautiful and solemn words at this moment are undoubtedly those that resonate quietly in the hearts of those gathered here, and it is hardly my duty to express these unspoken words that now fill our hearts. We feel the significance of the fact that from now on, for the first time, the spirit that has been maintained for years within our Central European Theosophical Society can be realized in a space that, wherever we we turn our eyes, surrounds us with signs and features of what is so intimately connected with all that we strive for as an impulse for our knowledge, which should lead us into the supersensible worlds. And basically, the full weight of this moment can be summed up in a few words: for the first time we are surrounded by a home, by a space that is ours. A concept can easily be associated with such words, but it must be a distant one. Such a word can be associated with the concept of selfishness; but the word cannot and must not be understood by us in this sense, but solely and exclusively in the sense that we now have a space around us that belongs in an intimate and personal way to what we strive for in the spiritual worlds; and if we allow the weight of these words to weigh on our soul, then the all-embracing feeling of gratitude to all those who have made it possible for us to stand today before such a fact will spring up.

However, if we want to go back to the first sources of this possibility, we have to go back years, we have to look back on the dedicated theosophical work that has been done here in this place for years, and we have to remember the beautiful way in which the most diverse most diverse theosophical impulses have interacted here in this place, how mystical-inner and theosophical-intellectual striving have been lovingly combined here for years, and how harmoniously people with of the most diverse temperaments and working methods, but who were all able to harmonize their working methods, temperaments and characters because the deepest impulse lived in them, which we can express as theosophical love, as a theosophical feeling and striving for peace. We would have to reach far into what has been achieved here on the horizon of our theosophical life if we wanted to characterize everything that has finally been condensed into one impulse. So we can say: born here out of diligent, energetic work in the theosophical field was an understanding of the needs of real theosophical life.

This has captured the heart of one of our dear friends, who was able to turn an idea into reality, which must surely always live in all our hearts. Therefore, our thanks must go to the person who made the basic donation for this building, which was conceived in the noble theosophical spirit and can be entered in the memory of the theosophical development. Thus, relatively early in our theosophical striving, a home for our 'Theosophy' was created here, showing a reflection of our thinking and feeling in every detail. The impulse given by our dear friend is, first of all, an invitation to work in a dignified manner in the home that has been given to us. Thus, we feel, as we have done from the very beginning, that not only what lies before our eyes, what affects our senses, is theosophically ours, but we feel at this moment that space is also, in a sense, morally ours; and we feel this space permeated by theosophical love and theosophical willingness to make sacrifices, the love of those who have worked here for years, devotedly and self-sacrificingly, to give the impulse of theosophical understanding, and the love of the one who first made this room possible. And we may say that we also feel the exemplary nature of this present moment in many respects. It has often been emphasized how Theosophy must find its way into all branches and activities of the human spirit, of the soul life and of the outer life.

Just as everything comes from the spirit, so should all human activity be imbued and inspired by the spirit, and so we must regard it as a fact to be recognized in the true sense as a theosophical result, that we have found in our own midst the man who with what our theosophical spirit is. And you all undoubtedly feel at this moment that our dear Mr. Schmid, who has executed this building, has combined his best theosophical feeling and thinking with what the outside world has given him as his artistic ability. We can feel happy with him about this fact. What do we feel when we take a look at everything that surrounds us! Above all, we feel that not only the skill of a master builder, but also the heart of a theosophical master builder has worked here. As true as it is that we stand in awe of the way our friend Schmid implements what 'Theosophy is' in his art, it must also be true that we are full of gratitude for all the love that he was able to put into this building. I think it has also been a task for you, my dear Mr. Schmid, which filled your heart with joy, with the kind of joy that belongs to the realm of spiritual feeling and that arises when a person is allowed to let his ability to work, his creative urge, his skill flow into the forces of spiritual life. But we consider it a favorable karma of our theosophical movement that we have found precisely this master builder, who — as I, perhaps more than anyone outside Stuttgart, can assure you — has shown a wonderful devotion and understanding for what architecture in this case can offer to spiritual life. And we may be glad if a similar relationship can be achieved in the future.

And now let us, who have come together from the most diverse regions to celebrate this hour with our friends here, remember not only the general, sacrificial and dedicated work that has been done, but also the more specific work that has had to be done in recent years. Just think back to nine and a half months ago, when we were able to lay the foundation stone for this building, and consider all the selfless work that had to be done beforehand. Consider further what had to be done by our friends in Stuttgart, by the inner circle of the Society, which today took possession of this building, so that we can be united within this theosophical new structure. It would be impossible to describe this laborious and devoted work. But one thing in particular should be emphasized about this work. Let me mention a fundamental aspect of such theosophical work! You are all undoubtedly filled with joy and heartfelt satisfaction at how our Theosophical Society has grown; but on such an occasion we should not forget that, although it is the greatest happiness in the sense that one can speak of it here, that it has grown so much, with the growth the difficulties in the management of the affairs of this very Society are also growing considerably.

Things such as those that are now appearing before us, full of significance and laden with meaning, must be accomplished by people who, at the time of their creation, can put their whole hearts into the work. This makes it necessary to speak of the fundamental nerve of such a matter at this moment. The more our Society grows, the more it seems as if such work should be placed in the hands of all theosophists. That cannot be! That is impossible! But something else is possible: that the genuine work on such a project should be carried out in an exemplary manner, almost pedagogically, for all those who profess to be our followers. What will be the best in social terms if our movement is to realize in numerous fruits what it has as a germ? It will not be voting and majority decisions, but the trust that one person can place in another personally and individually; that trust that consists in letting the small groups that have to carry out one or the other work work without hindrance. Then they can work as we have worked here. Let us not disturb those who, sacrificing their hearts, are attached to what should promote our great goal, and let us give them complete freedom to work, let us not surround them with the obstacles of know-it-alls who cannot possibly be there! And when the small circle here has been working quietly for years, demanding that trust, then we may say: If we may judge from the fruit on the germ, then what is in any case in line with the theosophical work has proven itself here in the most brilliant way. The work that we see today is, in the fullest sense, a glorious vindication of the trust that we had in the faithful work of this small building association that has been at work here. With understanding and trust, we express our gratitude for the exemplary work of this building association.

When you leave this room today or tomorrow, take this feeling with you: how different it is to be able to devote ourselves to theosophical thoughts in such an environment than in an environment that we encounter when we have to work elsewhere. Let us feel in this moment how the word can expand for us: This space is ours. What does this mean in yet another sense? What was said at the laying of the foundation stone can be repeated in a modified way: “We have built a temple for the Spirit we serve.” How differently we can feel connected to this spirit within such a building! And we then understand the longing for images of the beautiful, magnificent model that has been given to us here. Perhaps more than any words that could otherwise be spoken, this room itself can speak to those who are able to create afterimages; it speaks in a clearly audible way of the necessity to be surrounded by that which is our spirit's temple. And if there has been talk in Munich of another, similar building, only to be executed on a larger scale, then consider as a beautiful intensification of all these words, which can only be spoken with the mouth, what this room is able to say to you. When we enter it with understanding, dwell in it, and leave it to return to it again and again, does it not emphasize the necessity of such buildings in other places as well?

If we allow our feelings free rein for a moment, we cannot but say that human karma works in the strangest ways. We could be filled with emotion that this building of ours could be placed in this region of this country. Let us remember how much of the intellectual life of Central Europe has sprung precisely from these regions. Think of how, in a quiet, earnest, intimate way, a 18th-century spirit wrote the fervent worship of the spirit that reigns and weaves through all worlds in a friend's book with three words: “One in All.” The unfortunate ZZölderlin, from a sense of the spirit in the universe, wrote the words to his philosophical friend in this very area: “One in All.” The word that was written out of deep feeling in this area has often been repeated. It was written in the family register of a man whose philosophical spirit filled all of Germany and, in fact, the whole of the educated world.

Let us also remember how intellectual life in the 18th and 19th centuries took its starting point from this very area. Theosophy, which could only have existed at that time, originated in this very area. Within the Swabian region, there were theosophical centers in the 18th century from which many colonies originated, some of which are still active today. Let us remember that it was a son of this area who came to an 18th-century seer in Thuringia, Oetinger, who represented the theosophy that was possible at that time. Through his own temperament, he found that seer personality of Central Germany who bore a name that has local significance here. Let us remember that from the vision of the 'Thuringian peoples, the theosophy of this region drew rich sources of seership. Let us remember that the great philosophers were sent to us from the same spiritual substance of this region, let us remember that the one who has become so popular within the spiritual life and who spoke the beautiful word: “Thought is an immeasurable realm, and the word is a winged tool.”

If we bear in mind that we wish to be servants of the spirit through the word in this building, which in symbols and forms is intended to be an expression of the spirit we serve, then in a somewhat modified form, transposed into our theosophical thoughts, a word that long, long ago moved and uplifted countless hearts, which had gathered together everything they had left to build a temple for the Spirit they served. And the one who was allowed to serve with his person in the construction of this temple spoke words that we may translate into our language:

"O Spirit of the Universe, You who proclaim yourself to our true self-awareness, You have graciously kept the word You gave us when You saw our work, as it has been done for years by Your servants; and it is becoming apparent today in this hour. Although the furthest reaches of the spirit are not able to grasp You, great Spirit of the Universe, You who permeate all Your works with Your thoughts, You who want to dwell in the words that may sound from our lips; how much less can these temple walls, which we have built for You, grasp You. But behold, Spirit of the Universe, You who make Yourself known in our true self-awareness, upon our will to understand, upon our yearning for knowledge of Your servants! Behold, Spirit of the Universe, Pervader of every ego, look down upon us, and let Your eyes be open over this structure, where You have decided to dwell! Hear our feelings, which urge us, through our work of letting Your spirit flow into the spaces we have dedicated to You, to show ourselves worthy of You!"

I had to resort to the words of the Old Testament, to the words of Solomon, to express what we ourselves, out of the spirit of human development that has progressed with the world, have to address like a prayer to the spirit of the universe, which dwells in all hearts that strive for true self-knowledge. If we can develop something in us of the devoted feelings that have been invoked in all times by the spirit of a community towards a building, then let us create this feeling in our hearts! As we continue to work in this room, we will see how differently our work can be done than in an otherwise indifferent space.

What, above all, is possible here? There is one thing we need that we can summarize in a single word: concentration of mind, seclusion of soul, while we devote ourselves to theosophical knowledge. We can feel what the voice of the universe itself can tell us if we tune into the spring mood. Even if it is autumn outside, we have spring in this room. Then we can understand from the language of the world spirit in nature how justified it is to seek contemplation and collection. If those who say, “Why do you shut yourselves away with your work, don't carry it out as a labor of love?” should come, then we will not answer, but let us let the great world spirit answer, which speaks from the works of nature itself. How much depends on what happens in spring! What is necessary for the salvation of the plant world that sprouts out of the earth in spring? That the seeds are taken from the full sunlight of outer activity; but in order to flourish, they must enter into the darkness, into the seclusion in which they enter in autumn. Thus, these spiritual seeds of life must be carried into the quiet home of meditation, of knowledge, of love and of peace, in order to work there quietly like the seed in the bosom of the earth; and only then can they be effectively carried out into the full sunshine of life. Such places are necessary for the interaction of human development, and insofar as we ourselves want to be bearers of the best seeds of our cultural life, it is necessary that what can be won from outside, what can only be cultivated and flourish here, be brought into the hiddenness.

Thus it is a wonderful fulfillment of karma that our first Theosophical house has been built on this very ground, like a tribute of the new spiritual life to the old. When the spirit we serve has received this shell, we ourselves feel integrated into the organism of the whole human spiritual life and know that we have a contemporary work in the highest and most sacred sense. It is contemporary because this work is connected to the spiritual current that flows from the source of spiritual life after the karma of all humanity in the present.

Therefore, we can admit it today: we feel that we have been allowed to serve those whom we regard as the source of our work, but also of our opportunity to work, with this work. We were allowed to serve the Masters of Wisdom and of the Harmony of Feelings, in whom lie the sources of our occult knowledge, with our outer work as well, and because we are allowed to feel this, we are also allowed to feel that they help us in our work. May their spirit prevail in this room, which has arisen out of theosophical devotion, which the masters of wisdom and of the harmony of feelings will honor by allowing the forces of the invisible worlds to flow into it, which we need to strengthen and invigorate what our souls themselves are capable of. I visualize the Masters of Wisdom and of the Harmony of Feelings looking down with favor upon this hour and especially upon the feelings that live in our hearts, which are the best when we pledge ourselves to fulfill the work of the Masters in this room that we have built for them. The spirits who have been connected with Theosophy in its best form, as long as it has existed, will send their help into this room; so speaks the feeling that they may do so, but so also speaks a prayer that may be addressed to them in a silent way. When the Masters of Wisdom and Harmony of Feeling, whom we invoke, work in a place where we strive for knowledge, for harmonization, for a foothold in our lives, then this work thrives.

May these good spirits of the theosophical movement bestow their blessings on me when I write out of all your hearts at this hour, not with physical words but only with spiritual words, something like a motto over the door of this house, which is to be written in our hearts , so that we need no physical eyes when we read it upon entering this house, and which we keep in our hearts when we are in this house, when we leave this house, taking with us the longing to gather again and again to cultivate Theosophy. Written over the door shall be:

Those who enter bring love to this home, those who stay inside seek knowledge in this place, those who leave take peace with them from this house.