The Sacred and Profane (Intercultural) Roots of Waldorf Education

In my contribution I would try to explain that Steiner did not create the idea of ‘Waldorfschule‘ in 1919 as an hermetic, inalterable entity, but rather as an ongoing and dynamic project to which some of his more experienced teachers, namely Robert Killian, were able to contribute substantially. 

Killian, who joined ‘Waldorfschule‘ Uhlandshöhe in 1920, had previously taught at state schools in Alsace and at ‘Landerziehungsheim‘ Haubinda, founded by Hermann Lietz. Hence, many pedagogical concepts, which from the 1890s onwards were initially put into practice at German ‘Landerziehungsheime,‘ could later be found at Uhlandshöhe and other schools, transfered by dedicated teachers like Killian. 

Moreover, I try to argue that these concepts were not merely transplanted by individual teachers, but rather adapted to the specific needs of a school, drawing on the strong current of reform education and contemporary educational trends. E.g., ‘Epochenunterricht‘ was, arguably, introduced first at Berthold Otto’s ‘Hauslehrerschule‘ before it caught on at Haubinda mainly for organizational reasons, until it was geared to students’ needs at Odenwaldschule and, at long last, experienced a spiritual transformation within the Waldorf movement.

This transfer of knowledge worked, in fact, both ways. During the Third Reich, after most Steiner schools had been closed, Waldorf teachers like Robert Killian, Karl Ege or even René Maikowski found a means to survive working at ‘Landerziehungsheime‘ bringing valuable spiritual insights to otherwise fairly profane institutions. In the case of Odenwaldschule personal ties even strengthened the transfer of knowledge. Robert Killian would strongly support headmaster Heinrich Sachs, not only during the Second World War, but also in 1945/6 following the latter’s controversial removal by the US military administration. And after Sachs’ untimely death in 1946, his wife Elisabeth would meet Karl Ege again, while founding a Camphill community in Hillsdale, NY. 

Finally, I would like to draw attention to the fact that educators, and especially Waldorf teachers, have – hopefully – never acted as uncreative automata, but rather as agents of change. Thus, it certainly seems instructive to henceforth take a closer look at their biographies (and their estates), in order to gain more valuable insights into the dynamic processes within many educational institutions and concepts.