How are the Goetheanum’s finances?
The Goetheanum’s financial situation is dependent on a number of factors: the membership, demand for the events and other ‘products’ and ‘services’ it provides and – as was evident this year – external influences such as official regulations on event organization.
Considering the broad economic shortfall arising from the pandemic, the Goetheanum is relatively well-off. And yet the artists are hard hit by the crisis. We therefore decided to start intensive rehearsals for the revival of Rudolf Steiner’s Mystery Dramas at this year’s Christmas Conference and to invest considerable funds although it is entirely unclear at this point whether or not there will be performances or even a Christmas Conference.
I will start with positive news: in the last more than eight years, we have registered a slow but steady annual increase in new members in the Anthroposophical Society (from 1,060 in 2013 to 1,405 in 2019). At the same time the number of members leaving the society or no longer considered members (because they cannot be contacted) has dropped from 1,776 in 2013 to 827 in 2019. This is good news although, with around 600 members crossing the threshold every year, the overall number of members is still going down.
How does the Goetheanumremain solvent?
Looking back to 2019 and the years before that, it has been a constant effort on the part of the finance department and the treasurer to make sure that the Goetheanum remains solvent throughout the year. The monthly expenses of around 1.2 million Swiss Francs are reliable because they are mostly made up of the salaries of the around 200 staff at the Goetheanum. What is entirely open and difficult to plan for is the income: of that the most reliable part is the quarter coming in as members’ contributions! What we can be less sure of are donations, legacies, third-party funds from foundations and the income we are hoping to generate from events and institutions. Whether and when they arrive is usually not clear until the end of the year. Without the help from some foundations and the Societies in some countries this situation would not be manageable.
Where do we see Goetheanum’s ‘success’?
The profit and loss account – as the name implies – is a numerical expression of the financial ‘success’ or possible losses at the end of the year. In my view, the real ‘success’ of an institution such as the Goetheanum lies in its spiritual and artistic productivity and that is reflected, for instance, in the present production of Johann Wolfgang Goethe‘s Faust Parts 1 & 2, in the demand for media (circulation of the weekly Das Goetheanum has risen by ten per cent), the reception of lectures and research results provided by the Sections and generally in what is radiating out from the Goetheanum for people who are interested. However, these ‘successes’ that one can clearly perceive and experience, appear mostly as ‘expenses’ in the accounts and lead consequently at first to a ‘negative’ result in terms of figures.
In 2017 the Goetheanum’s finances reached a critical point in this respect and we had to ask ourselves whether the stage and the Main Auditorium should be closed for regular operations and only opened for major conferences and congresses. However, we decided, first among the small group of advising treasurers and then also in the Goetheanum Leadership, against taking such drastic measures. Instead, the Goetheanum appointed a new Eurythmy Ensemble that, with sixty smaller and bigger performances in the past year, has shown off the Main auditorium and the stage in the best light. We also took the risk of a second Faust production and of further investments.
The Goetheanum has achieved a fruitful and increased intensity of activities and increased both its income and its expenses – even if the goal of eliminating the structural deficit has not been achieved.
The fact that we see positive figures in the annual statement is owed to extraordinary situations in 2018 and 2019: last year it was due to the sale of a property to the Gerard and Elisabeth Wagner Association, a charitable organization. (The property is now used for their comprehensive artistic estate and the painting school. The purchase was made possible thanks to a large donation they received from a former Wagner student).
How reliable is the Goetheanum’s financial situation?
The balance shows short-term liabilities opposite similarly sized liquid assets and medium-term liabilities (more than a year) opposite the corresponding securities in interests. Opposite the long-term costs for the renovation and extension of the Goetheanum (around 5.3 million Swiss Francs) we see construction notes and loans from members amounting to 6.9 million Swiss Francs. The circa 40 properties of the Goetheanum (outside the Goetheanum Campus) only appear in the balance to the extent that they are mortgaged (around seven million Swiss Francs).
This annual profit and loss account, where a third of the income is not secure, is acceptable as long as the Goetheanum remains solvent during the year. What remains is the challenge we face every year: to help balance the accounts through the activities of the Sections, the co-workers and, above all, your support.
In the times of Corona this is an extreme challenge for a cultural institution such as the Goetheanum. I would therefore ask you to give due and warm consideration to the treasurer’s annual letter that should reach you in the first days of December.
Please use the following accounts for your donations (Reference: Goetheanum Christmas Appeal):
From Switzerland and other non-Euro countries: General Anthroposophical Society, 4143 Dornach, Switzerland. Raiffeisenbank Dornach, 4143 Dornach, BIC: RAIFCH22, IBAN: CH54 8080 8001 1975 4658 2.
From Germany (with donation receipt for tax purposes) and other Euro countries: General Anthroposophical Society, 4143 Dornach, Switzerland, GLS-Gemeinschaftsbank, 44708 Bochum, Germany, BIC/Swift: GENODEM1GLS, IBAN: DE53 4306 0967 0000 9881 00.