The present world-wide Anthroposophical Society was founded at Christmas 1923 on the basis of a former Anthroposophical Society which was founded earlier in 1912/13. The new Anthroposophical Society differed from the former one in having, among other things, a School of Spiritual Science as a center for its activity, and partial commonality between the board of the Anthroposophical Society and the leadership of the School.
In many countries of the world there also exist national anthroposophical societies which serve people in that country. Such national societies are independent and autonomous but have a relationship to the world-wide Anthroposophical Society.
The statutes of the world-wide Society, adopted at Christmas 1923 are:
STATUTES OF THE ANTHROPOSOPHICAL SOCIETY
1. The Anthroposophical Society is to be an association of people whose will it is to nurture the life of the soul, both in the individual and in human society, on the basis of a true knowledge of the spiritual world.
2. The persons gathered at the Goetheanum in Dornach at Christmas, 1923, both the individuals and the groups represented, form the nucleus of the Society. They are convinced that there exists in our time a genuine science of the spiritual world, elaborated for years past, and in important particulars already published; and that the civilization of today is lacking the cultivation of such a science. This cultivation is to be the task of the Anthroposophical Society. It will endeavor to fulfill this task by making the anthroposophical spiritual science cultivated at the Goetheanum in Dornach the center of its activities, together with all that results from this for brotherhood in human relationships and for the moral and religious as well as the artistic and cultural life.1
3. The persons gathered in Dornach as the nucleus of the Society recognize and endorse the view of the leadership at the Goetheanum (represented by the Vorstand [Executive Council] formed at the Foundation Meeting): 'Anthroposophy, as fostered at the Goetheanum, leads to results which can serve every human being as a stimulus to spiritual life, whatever his nation, social standing or religion. They can lead to a social life genuinely built on brotherly love.'
No special degree of academic learning is required to make them one's own and to found one's life upon them, but only an open-minded human nature. Research into these results, however, as well as competent evaluation of them, depends upon spiritual-scientific training, which is to be acquired step by step. These results are in their own way as exact as the results of genuine natural science. When they attain general recognition in the same way as these, they will bring about comparable progress in all spheres of life, not only in the spiritual but also in the practical realm.
4. The Anthroposophical Society is in no sense a secret society, but is entirely public. Anyone can become a member, without regard to nationality, social standing, religion, scientific or artistic conviction, who considers as justified the existence of an institution such as the Goetheanum in Dornach, in its capacity as a School of Spiritual Science. The Anthroposophical Society rejects any kind of sectarian activity. Party politics it considers not to be within its task.
5. The Anthroposophical Society sees the School of Spiritual Science in Dornach as a center for its activity. The School will be composed of three classes. Members of the Society will be admitted to the School on their own application after a period of membership to be determined by the leadership at the Goetheanum They enter in this way the First Class of the School of Spiritual Science. Admission to the Second or Third Classes 2 takes place when the person requesting this is deemed eligible by the leadership at the Goetheanum.
6. Every member of the Anthroposophical Society has the right to attend all lectures, performances and meetings arranged by the Society, under conditions to be announced by the Vorstand.
7. The organizing of the School of Spiritual Science is, to begin with, the responsibility of Rudolf Steiner, who will appoint his collaborators and his possible successor.
8. All publications of the Society shall be public, in the same sense as are those of other public societies.3 The publications of the School of Spiritual Science will form no exception as regards this public character; however, the leadership of the School reserves the right to deny in advance the validity of any judgment on these publications which is not based on the same training from which they have been derived. Consequently they will regard as justified no judgment which is not based on an appropriate preliminary training, as is also the common practice in the recognized scientific world. Thus the publications of the School of Spiritual Science will bear the following note: 'Printed as manuscript for members of the School of Spiritual Science, Goetheanum,......Class. No one is considered competent to judge the content, who has not acquired - through the School itself or in a manner recognized by the School as equivalent - the requisite preliminary knowledge. Other opinions will be disregarded, to the extent that the authors of such works will not enter into a discussion about them.
9. The purpose of the Anthroposophical Society will be the furtherance of spiritual research; that of the School of Spiritual Science will be this research itself. A dogmatic stand in any field whatsoever is to be excluded from the Anthroposophical Society.
10. The Anthroposophical Society shall hold a regular General Meeting at the Goetheanum each year, at which time the Vorstand shall present a full report with accounting. The agenda for this meeting shall be communicated by the Vorstand to all members, together with the invitation, six weeks before the meeting. The Vorstand may call special meetings and fix the agenda for them. Invitations to such meetings shall be sent to members three weeks in advance. Motions proposed by individual members or groups of members shall be submitted one week before the General Meeting.[**]
11. Members may join together in smaller or larger groups on any basis of locality or subject. The headquarters of the Anthroposophical Society is at the Goetheanum. From there the Vorstand shall bring to the attention of the members or groups of members what it considers to be the task of the Society. The Vorstand communicates with officials elected or appointed by the various groups. Admission of members will be the concern of the individual groups; the certificate of membership shall, however, be placed before the Vorstand in Dornach, and shall be signed by them out of their confidence in the officials of the groups. In general, every member should join a group. Only those for whom it is quite impossible to find entry to a group should apply directly to Dornach for membership.
12. Membership dues shall be fixed by the individual groups; each group shall, however, submit 15 Swiss Francs 4 for each of its members to the central leadership of the Society at the Goetheanum.
13. Each working group formulates its own statutes, but these must not be incompatible with the Statutes of the Anthroposophical Society.
14. The organ of the Society is the weekly 'Das Goetheanum', which for this purpose is provided with a supplement 5 containing the official communications of the Society. This enlarged edition of 'Das Goetheanum' will be supplied to members of the Anthroposophical Society only.
15. The Founding Vorstand will be:
President : Dr Rudolf Steiner;
Vice-President: Albert Steffen;
Recorder: Dr Ita Wegman;
Members: Marie Steiner, Dr Elisabeth Vreede;
Secretary and Treasurer: Dr Guenther Wachsmuth
Notes
1. The Anthroposophical Society is in continuity with the Society founded in 1912. It would like, however, to create an independent point of departure, in keeping with the true spirit of the present time, for the objectives established at that time.
2. These have not yet been established.
3. The conditions under which one acquires training have also been made public, and their publication will be continued.
4. At the General Meeting at Easter 1990 this was raised from 100 to 125 Swiss Francs and 300 Francs for those attached directly to Dornach.
5. For English-speaking members, the bi-monthly 'News from the Goetheanum' contains translations of official communications.
**
In the adoption of the Statutes in the morning of 28th December 1923, Rudolf Steiner inserted the following additional sentence, that for unknown reasons was not published in the printed versions of the statutes, in clause 10:
"A certain number of member, to be determined from time to time in the standing orders (Geschäftsordnung), has the right to request an Extraordinary General Meeting at any time."***
***The Christmas Conference for the Foundation of the General Anthroposophical Society, 1923/1924,
Anthroposophic Press, 1990 (GA 260).
