Digital voting

The Annual General Meeting was held digitally on 27 March with around 270 members attending on the German and around 110 on the English channel.

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In 2021, the General Anthroposophical Society held its AGM for the first time as a digital event. The format was due to official regulations aimed at limiting the spreading of Sars-CoV-2.

At 13:00 CET, Justus Wittich from the Executive Council welcomed members around the world live from the Schreinerei at the Goetheanum.

Ueli Hurter, who is also an Executive Council member, spoke on the Goetheanum’s activities in response to the Coronavirus pandemic. An initial lecture series had examined the causes and context of the pandemic from multiple perspectives. A new series of presentations, entitled Life and Society in Transformation will develop proposals for the social life.

Affirming what is different

Constanza Kaliks spoke about the goals of a cosmopolitan society. Such a society needed to affirm what was different and be able and willing to ‘allow for’ its existence.

Working actively against racism has been a main concern within the Anthroposophical Society around the world, for human dignity is at the heart of anthroposophy. What was important was to find the inner strength of the middle, to be able to reflect and act out of the situation – out of a certainty of heart. (On 7 July 2020, the Executive Council at the Goetheanum published the declaration Human Orientation of the Anthroposophical Society on goetheanum.org and the Goetheanum Leadership submitted the position paper Anthroposophy and Racism to the AGM for information.)

Justus Wittich spoke of the public image of anthroposophy, pointing out that the German media continue to draw a connection between protests against Coronavirus interventions and anthroposophists.

From the work of the Executive Council and the Goetheanum Leadership Matthias Girke brought the question of the esoteric foundation of profession, with special attention being given to how one can continue to gain new impulses and forces.

As a place of culture, the Goetheanum aims to preserve cultural goods and to make them visible on its campus. Stefan Hasler reported from the Campus Group about the relocation of the model of the first Goetheanum (Rudolf Feuerstack) from a workshop environment to an exhibition site. As head of Performing Arts at the Goetheanum, Stefan Hasler also pointed out that the Goetheanum Stage could not be used yet and that there would therefore not be any performances of the Goetheanum Eurythmy Ensemble for the time being. Using film as a medium had made it possible to provide insights into the work on Rudolf Steiner’s Mystery Dramas at the Goetheanum (Anthroposophy Worldwide 4/2021).

Growing through real encounters

The pandemic highlighted the work of the Sections of the School of Spiritual Science that includes in-person encounters in a shared space. This is not only about mutual perception that allows people, especially but not only of the younger generation, to grow. If it is not possible to have such meetings, one needs to ask how the same qualities can be achieved in other ways.

The pandemic makes us aware of our relationship to the environment and to nature. This relationship is different depending on whether we see nature as an object or as a living being. It is important to understand the human senses and the role they play in perceiving the world.

The way we see ourselves also affects our relationship with the world. This takes us back to the foundations underlying the work of the School of Spiritual Science. Fostering artistic activities is another important aspect. Freedom in our own attachments and granting freedom to others will connect us with the Anthroposophical Society’s cosmopolitan orientation.

The treasurer’s main concerns in 2020 were the financial implications of the Coronavirus epidemic for the Goetheanum. On the one hand, income was lost because no events, particularly no major events, could take place due to the government-imposed closure; on the other hand additional financial support was received in the form of donations and legacies.

Voting

A point of order proposing to move the statutory part to the extraordinary general meeting scheduled for 11 September 2021 was rejected: 56 voted in favour of the proposal, 255 against and 37 abstained.

The 2020 financial statement was accepted with 318 votes in favour, ten against and 22 abstentions. 302 members were in favour of discharging the Executive Council, 15 voted against and 22 abstained.

The auditors were appointed with 307 votes in favour, 3 against and 32 abstentions.

For the commemoration of the members who have passed away, the life and work of two were representatively honoured: that of the physician Giancarlo Buccheri by Georg Soldner (Medical Section leadership) and that of the actor and author Wilfried Hammacher by Stefan Hasler.

Constanza Kaliks concluded the AGM with good wishes and in the awareness that members from 45 countries had attended the meeting.

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