A hundred years ago the First Goetheanum was destroyed by fire
2022 Christmas Conference
The Building Impulse, Burning and Future of the First Goetheanum
from 27. December 2022 to 01. January 2023
Invitation
Dear conference members,
On 31 December 2022, New Year’s Eve, we will commemorate the fire that destroyed the Goetheanum a hundred years ago. The building erected after the laying of the foundation stone on 20 September 1913 first made Anthroposophy visible in artistic forms.
This, in addition to the social threefolding activities after World War I and the development of the spheres of actively applied Anthroposophy up until 1922, provoked growing criticism and opposition, culminating in the destruction of the First Goetheanum in the New Year’s night of 1922/1923 following an arson attack. At the 2022 Christmas Conference, which will be in three parts, we would like to look back to that momentous occurrence. From 27 to 30 December, we will focus on the immortal creative impulse that gave rise to the artistic forms of the First Goetheanum. The afternoon and evening of 30 December will be devoted to a commemorative event with representatives of the local public and political life. The fire itself with its historical and spiritual dimensions will be our central theme on 31 December. On New Year’s Day 2023, we shall look ahead to future impulses arising from the work of the Sections of the School of Spiritual Science. We would like to spend the New Year’s Night with you, with artistic and contemplative activities, commemorating and looking forward to the future. We look forward to welcoming you at the Goetheanum and to commemorating this momentous event together.
Peter Selg, Justus Wittich, Christiane Haid, Stefan Hasler, Ueli Hurter, Matthias Girke and Mattias Rang
Artistic Courses and Work Groups
1. Marie Steiner and Ita Wegman – their destiny in the two Goetheanum buildings
Armin Husemann DE
2. Goetheanism at the Goetheanum – learning to think visually with the forms of the first building
Alexander Schaumann DE / EN
3. The building’s west-east axis in the light of the global situation – then and now
Jochen Breme DE
4. The path through the Goetheanum as an image of the path of inner development
Pieter van der Ree DE
5. The world becomes a temple – eurythmic deepening of the last lecture given in the First Goetheanum
Nicolas Prestifilippo DE
6. Can forms speak out of the spiritual world? Drawing and modelling in Rudolf Steiner’s footsteps from 1907 to 1925
Christine Cologna DE
7. The resurrection of the lost building in the 19 lessons of the School of Spiritual Science (for Class members)
Susanne Breme-Richard and Christian Breme DE
8. Painting: How do the qualities of the doublecupola building and the painted motifs in the large and small cupola of the First Goetheanum differ?
Esther Gerster DE / EN
9. Eurythmy of the colours and the Window Words
Martje Brandsma DE / EN
10. The double-cupola motif of the First Goetheanum – exercises in modelling and eurythmy
Barbara Schnetzler und Silke Sponheuer DE / EN
11. Speech work on the Foundation Stone Meditation
Babette Hasler DE
12. Goethe and the Goetheanum, presentation and modelling
Christian Hitsch und Christiane Haid DE