Georg Glöckler
Every year on 23 August the Sun is close to Regulus, the brightest star in the constellation of Leo, the heart of the zodiac. On that day in 1933 Georg Glöckler was born. It is a constellation of spiritual love, and yet, the year of his birth meant that his youth was spent in a time of great darkness.
Master of individual support
In 1947 he arrived at the Uhlandshöhe Waldorf School in Stuttgart (de) where his friendship with Manfred Klett began and where his class teacher Wolfgang Dessecker kindled his love of mathematics. After his physics and maths studies, Georg Glöckler worked for eighteen years as a Waldorf teacher in Marburg (DE). «He was a master of individual support,» is how Rolf Herzog described his approach to teaching.
A marriage may produce either physical or spiritual children, Jörgen Smit once said. There can hardly be a union in the anthroposophical field that has done so much for spiritual posterity as that of Georg Glöckler and Michaela Kügelgen whose paths through life converged at this time.
In 1979 Georg changed to the Institute for Waldorf Education in Witten/Annen (de) in order to build up the Maths teacher training there. Ten years later he succeeded Georg Unger as leader of the Section for Mathematics and Astronomy at the Goetheanum. Leaving the Waldorf environment was difficult for him, but now he was working with Michaela Glöckler and Manfred Klett in the faculty of the School of Spiritual Science. Rudolf Steiner once spoke to Elisabeth Vreede about the importance of adult education. Georg Glöckler put this advice into practice by organizing annual interdisciplinary cosmological conferences.
Ideal-realism
Georg Glöckler was an ideal realist: He saw the living essence in the figures and forms, in the idea of Projective Geometry, for instance, or in the planetary rhythms, as «the will of Christ all around us». His courses on the senses and anthroposophical anthropology have inspired a generation of Waldorf teachers.
He led the Section up until 2003, while his friendship with Manfred Klett and his involvement in the agricultural school on the biodynamic Dottenfelder Hof in Bad Vilbel (DE) continued. As did his worldwide travels. He visited South America 79 times and gave hundreds of lectures and seminars, brought inspiration and built bridges between countries and people.
On 1 February, in the middle of a conversation, Georg suffered a suspected heart attack. This was unexpected because his cancer had stabilized.
Years ago, I walked across a cemetery with Georg Glöckler when his gaze fell on an inscription. «Rest in peace», he read, adding with a chuckle, «As if! That’s when the work really starts.»
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Brazil
Sense of humour
For almost 40 years Georg Glöckler came regularly to Brazil – crossing the ocean dozens of times! He enriched our various institutions and study groups, not only with his understanding of mathematics but also with his profound, authentic anthroposophical knowledge. He taught in teacher education as well as on the medical training with Michaela Glöckler and Jürgen Schürholz, and he was actively involved in the Idriart Festival and the Bothmer Gym training. In addition, he gave many lectures at conferences and in the branches of the Anthroposophical Society in Brazil. We benefitted from his vast knowledge so many times and he was always ready to consider our wishes and needs, with a sense of humour and a light touch.
Derblai Sebben, Sonia Setzer and Ute Craemer, general secretaries of the Anthroposophical Society in Brazil