“The word ‘hopeless’ was not part of her vocabulary”

The physician Ita Wegman was fully committed to taking on responsibility for sick people – therapeutically, socially and spiritually. On the occasion of her 150th birthday on 22 February 2026 a conference and a series of lectures were offered to honour the work of this important co-founder of Anthroposophic Medicine at the Goetheanum.

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“Resignation did not exist for Ita Wegman,” is how Madeleine van Deventer described her colleague, adding that “the word ‘hopeless’ is not part of her vocabulary.” Ita Wegman’s own motto was “I am for going ahead.”

To this day she has remained a role model for professionals in medicine, therapy and nursing, particularly because current medical practice is under pressure from official guidelines, while patients wish for transparent and empathetic conversations to help them make informed decisions. Anthroposophic Medicine, Supportive Education and Social Therapy also strive to consider the whole human being and promote each person’s individual development.

Ita Wegman (1876–1943) worked towards this goal with determination. She studied medicine and gained her doctorate in Zurich. As a GP and gynaecologist, she provided a foundation for Anthroposophic Medicine – with her practical work as a physician, by founding the Clinical-Therapeutic Institute in Arlesheim, Switzerland in 1921 (now: Arlesheim Hospital) and by co-founding Weleda. In 1924 she started the Sonnenhof home for children with support needs, also in Arlesheim.

In addition she set up further training opportunities in anthroposophic medicine and pharmacology for medical and nursing professionals and established new forms of treatment such as painting and music therapy, which she made part of the daily hospital routine. Ita Wegman was the first leader, from 1924 to 1935, of the Medical Section at the School of Spiritual Science at the Goetheanum. In ‘Fundamentals of Therapy’, the book she co-authored with Rudolf Steiner, she presented the principle of recognizing, developing and applying therapeutic steps for each individual patient based on a spiritual-scientific understanding of human nature and illness.

Ita Wegman aimed to enable every person to become aware of their unlimited potential in self-efficacy and moral courage. She was herself a courageous woman and citizen, autonomous and with a profound sense of community. She recognized the dangers of National Socialism in Germany early on and contributed to saving the lives of many children with support needs.

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