Arlesheim (Canton Basel-Landschaft) has been showing its monumental cathedral and palaces of the former chapter of the Diocese of Basel since 1678 and the famous Hermitage since 1785. Nothing indicated after 1913 that this village and the nearby village of Dornach (Canton Solothurn) would once again make history. Dornach had already been in the spotlight in 1499.
On March 30, 1925, Rudolf Steiner died in Dornach in his studio in his Goetheanum colony. The Dutch doctor Maria Ita Wegman (1876-1943) was with him in his last hours. Wegman died in Arlesheim (Canton Basel-Landschaft). For both, it was not foreseeable at their birth that they would find their final resting place in these villages.
The border stone and the Schwinbach- Aue (stream) between the cantons Solothurn (Dornach) and Basel-Landschaft (Arlesheim), on the right, the Glashaus of the Goetheanum (Dornach)
Rudolf Steiner
Rudolf Steiner was born in 1861 in Donji Kraljevec, Croatia, then part of the Hungarian Empire within the former Austro-Hungarian dual monarchy (1848-1918). He came from a German-speaking family.
During his school years, he was fascinated by mathematics, his favourite subject, and nature. He then studied at the Technical University in Vienna (1879-1889). There, he got to know the philosophical, psychological, German-nationalist, and liberal-theological world of the Habsburg cultural melting pot of Vienna.
Otto Fröhlich (1869-1940), Rudolf Steiner, around 1892. Collection: Goetheanum
He delved into philosophy and the nature of man and developed his lifelong credo: “Es gibt keine Grenzen der Erkenntnis” (There are no limits to knowledge), aiming at ” das Ewige in uns anzuschauen” (to get to know oneself, as a matter of speaking). His idol was Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832).
Goethe was not only a poet and writer but also a natural scientist, Steiner’s favourite field of interest. Steiner read, admired, and criticised the great thinkers of his time and before, such as Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900), Johann Gottlieb Fichte (1762-1814), and Immanuel Kant (1724-1804).
Weimar
Steiner combined his interest in the spiritual development of each individual with the physical world of matter and natural sciences. Goethe was his role model, and he worked at the Goethe-Schiller Archive in Weimar from 1890 to 1897. These years shaped his thoughts on anthroposophy.
Collection: Goetheanum
It led to the publication of ‘Philosophie der Freiheit’ (Philosophy of Freedom) in 1893 after he had received his doctorate in 1891 with the dissertation Die Grundfrage der Erkenntnistheorie mit besonderer Rücksicht auf Fichtes Wissenschaftslehre. Prolegomena zur Verständigung des philosophierenden Bewusstseins mit sich selbst (The Fundamental Question of Epistemology with Special Consideration of Fichte’s Science of Knowledge. Prolegomena to the Understanding of the Philosophizing Consciousness with Itself). The publisher of the trade edition wisely created a much shorter title for it in 1892: Wahrheit und Wissenschaft (Truth and Science).
Collection: Goetheanum
Berlin
In 1899, he moved to Berlin with his wife, Anna Eunice (1853-1911). The Belle Époque, or the Fin de Siècle, encompassed a series of technical inventions, artistic developments, and industrialisation after another. He combined the physical world of the natural sciences with his esoteric and philosophical thoughts to promote individual spiritual growth.
In Berlin, he came into contact with Theosophy (divine wisdom). This movement explained the nature and development of humanity from the perspective of the higher, occult, and mystical-religious, as well as natural-philosophical approaches.
Collection: Goetheanum
The movement was internationally oriented, and many noble and wealthy citizens followed it. Due to his profound knowledge and, in particular, his talent for speaking and writing, Steiner became General Secretary of the German Theosophical Society (Theosophische Gesellschaft) in 1902.
Here, he met Marie von Sivers, who became his second wife after the death of his first wife in 1911. She was then known as Marie Steiner (1867-1948). She played a leading role in the anthroposophical movement until and after his death.
The step from theosophical thought to Freemasonry was not significant. Many leading German Theosophists were Freemasons, and in 1906, Steiner was allowed to recruit members for Freemasonry himself. According to his statements, he continued this practice until 1914, primarily as a learning institution for his “cult of knowledge.” The hierarchical organisation with its rituals did not fit into his image of man and his spiritual development as an individual.
In this respect, the theosophical movement was neither in line with his thinking nor a good fit for him. In 1913, he founded the Anthroposophical Society in Berlin with others.
Steiner gave about 6,000 lectures, wrote 30 books, and wrote hundreds of articles. Here is a very brief presentation of the principles of anthroposophy (human wisdom).
Collection: Goetheanum
Anthroposophy
Anthroposophy is a philosophical and spiritual system or worldview. It strives to connect the spiritual (spiritual, intuitive, intellectual, and analytical abilities) in each individual (the existence of a spiritual world) with the unlimited possibilities of the spiritual cosmos and the laws of nature (there are no limits to knowledge). He saw freedom of thought, one’s perception, and independent judgment as prerequisites for the optimal spiritual development of the individual amidst physical existence and the laws of nature in daily life.
Rudolf Steiner Schule in St. Gall
Until his death, he developed practical applications for his philosophy, such as the Hochschule (university) in Dornach, the eurythmic dance movement, free schools (Steiner schools) or Waldorf schools in Germany, anthroposophical healing methods, curative education, biodynamic agriculture, literature, architecture, art, and various other fields.
In addition, he wrote many books, essays, and articles on philosophy, spirituality, agriculture, geology, theology, sculpture, social issues, economics, painting, and architecture.
The eurythmic dance
The new art of movement (dance), eurythmy, and Steiner’s mystery dramas aimed to express the inner self of the individual. The mystery dramas were plays for this eurythmic dance. They were based on an interpretation of the gospel. Steiner explained this concept in his Das Christentum als mystische Tatsache (Christianity as a Mystical Fact, 1902). In this view, the gospel was not a historical fact, but rather a reflection of Jesus’ individual spiritual development. The Catholic Church could not appreciate this interpretation.
Eurythmic dance, around 1923. Collection: Goetheanum
Nevertheless, in August 1913, the fourth mystery ‘Der Seelen Erwachen’ drama was successfully performed in Munich. A well-known poet called it: “The Steiner mystery heralds a new stage, a new epoch of art.” Steiner was a child of his time. New ideas were also entering art (notably Picasso), politics (the rise of socialism, Marxism, and anarchism), psychotherapy (Freud), and biology (for example, Darwinism).
Dornach
The success of the new Anthroposophical Society (Antroposofische Gesellschaft) and its wealthy members was so great that the construction of an anthroposophical colony began to take concrete shape. Financing was not a problem, and the first design, Johannesbau, was planned in Munich.
Collection: Goetheanum
However, the local government in (Catholic) Munich rejected the plan. An alternative was offered in Dornach. Emil Grosheintz (1867-1946), a dentist in Dornach and anthroposophist, offered a piece of land for the Johannesbau and plots for studios and houses of members of the Anthroposophical Society.
Steiner was not only impressed by this offer but also by the landscape and the location on a hill. Construction began at the end of 1913, but the First World War (1914-1918) started in August 1914, and the complex was not completed until 1920 under the name Goetheanum.
First works on the wooden Johannesbau (after 1918 Goetheanum) in 1914. Collection: Goetheanum
The most important thing is that Steiner and the Anthroposophical Society laid the foundation for a new beginning after 1918. The Steiner or Waldorf schools were the first concrete result in 1919. Waldorf is named after the Waldorf Astoria cigarette factory in Stuttgart.
Rudolf Steiner and a model of the Johannesbau. Collection: Goetheanum
The director commissioned Steiner in 1919 to apply his anthroposophical philosophy to a new teaching method for his children. The first Waldorf school, founded on Steiner’s educational and upbringing ideas, was a great success, and many schools followed in Europe and other continents. Following the First World War and the failure of traditional teaching methods, it was the ideal time for renewal. Dada (1916-1922) was the artistic reaction to the First World War in Zurich.
Collection: Klinik Arlesheim
Maria Ita Wegman
Maria Ita Wegman is only briefly discussed here, as the concrete collaboration with Steiner was limited to the last years of his life. The Ita Wegman Institute in Arlesheim and the three-volume bibliography J.E. Zeylmans van Emmichoven, Wer war Ita Wegman (Goetheanum-Verlag Dornach) provide detailed information about her life and work.
Maria Ita Wegman. Collection: Klinik Arlesheim
Maria Ita Wegman and Steiner had known each other since 1902 but only worked together from 1920 onwards. Wegman was born in West Java in the former Dutch East Indies. She studied medicine in Zurich and settled as a doctor in 1911. Her first independent anthroposophical practice was in Basel.
Basel
Arlesheim
From 1920 onwards, Steiner and Wegman developed anthroposophical medicine and founded the Anthroposophical Clinic in Arlesheim in 1921. Wegman was its head. From 1924, she was also the head of the university’s medical department, which was founded by Steiner in Dornach. The clinic in Arlesheim still exists under the name Ita Wegman Clinic or Clinic Arlesheim, alongside the Ita Wegman Ambulatorium in Basel.
She was also involved in developing cooperation between doctors and therapists to optimise patient care. She is also one of the co-founders of the Swiss multinational Weleda, which emerged from the Laboratorium am Goetheanum (Laboratory at the Goetheanum) for anthroposophical medicines and healing arts.
After Steiner and Wegman’s deaths, their projects continued. In areas such as agriculture, medicine, economics, education, spiritual care, architecture, (visual) arts, and worldview, anthroposophy remains a global inspiring source with Dornach and Arlesheim as centres. The epicentre of the pharmaceutical industry in Basel can be seen from these places.
The cantons Solothurn (Dornach and the Goetheanum on the right), Basel-Stadt (and the Roche-towers on the left), and Basel-Landschaft (and Arlesheim and Dom in the centre).
Goetheanum
The first version of today’s Goetheanum burned down on December 31, 1922. It was a wooden building with two domes on a concrete foundation on the hill of Dornach. The building was named after Wolfgang von Goethe, the natural scientist admired by Steiner.
After the fire. Collection: Goetheanum
The architecture, stained glass windows, frescoes, symbolism, colours, decoration, and furnishings were all in the spirit of anthroposophy. The Goetheanum website and the model in the exhibition room next to the Goetheanum provide a detailed explanation. This is also necessary because, at that time, only the inner circle understood the meaning, which artists and workers (mostly volunteers) often did not:
“The unusual forms, the images of human history in the dome paintings, the strange drawings (stars, angels, demons) in the stained glass windows: We were supposed to help build something like this. Wouldn’t it be right to understand what is depicted here?”
Arson was the cause of the fire on December 31, 1922. However, Steiner did not want an investigation. Pope Benedict XV (1854-1922) banned the anthroposophical movement in 1919. In Catholic Dornach (the Diocese of Basel has resided in Solothurn since 1828) and in Catholic Arlesheim, Steiner also encountered much resistance.
For Steiner, however, the catastrophic fire did not mean the end of his life’s work but rather the momentum for a new beginning. A good omen was also the preservation of his monumental wooden sculpture of the Menschheitsrepräsentant (The Representative of Humanity), which he created together with the English artist Edith Maryon (1872-1924). At the time of the fire, the sculpture was still in the adjacent studio.
In December 1923, Steiner founded a new Anthroposophical Society and the “School of Spiritual Science at the Goetheanum.” The school had departments for fine arts, speaking and musical arts, a medical section, a mathematical and astronomical section, and visual arts.
At the same time, he designed the new Goetheanum out of concrete, but again fully aligned with anthroposophical thought, with an innovation: The building adapts to the geological environment with its rock formations. Another architect built a monumental church out of concrete in Basel!
Rudolf Steiner died in this studio.
Rudolf Steiner died in his studio a hundred years ago while construction work on the new Goetheanum had already begun. Completion took decades, but today, a monument stands surrounded by buildings of the old Goetheanum and many villas of the former Goetheanum colony.
It is a large, domed concrete building that reflects the spirit of the times very well. Modern, Art Deco, organic shapes and colours, surrealism, with lots of symbolism, paintings, anthroposophic colours and sculpture with the evolution of mankind and the personal (spiritual) development of people are the motifs.
The main entrance (west) and two saved sculptures from the fire (1922)
Conclusion
The Anthroposophical Society, founded by Steiner, has about 50,000 members worldwide and national branches. The Goetheanum is no longer a colony, but today a campus with a university (Freie Hochschule), medical and biodynamic gardens, and the educational, cultural, spiritual, and business centre of the organisation, offering diverse activities.
In the vicinity of the Goetheanum, about 180 other houses were built in the same style after 1928. The Goetheanum is still in use as a space for the International Anthroposophical Centre, teaching, (art), lectures and performances of music and drama.
The Steiner schools (free schools or Waldorf schools) are established educational institutions. Steiner’s life’s work remains a worldwide source of inspiration for many people in their daily lives.
(Source: Goetheanum; David Marc Hoffmann, Rudolf Steiner. His Life and Work, Basel 2025)
Impressions of the studio and the Villa’s
Glashaus
Heizhaus
Haus Duldeck
The Gardens
Bienen Pavillon (Bees Pavilion)
Präparate-Pavillon (Preparations Pavilion), designed by Yaike Dunselman, is intended to make the work with biodynamic preparations tangible and visible
Impressions of the Ita Wegman-Klinik in Arlesheim
