The Rudolf Steiner Archive

Deutsche Post, vol. 3, no. 10

(our own report) Vienna, March 2.

The tenth budget debate under the Taaffe ministry is just beginning. What will it bring us? Severe accusations against the government from the benches of the left, complaints from those of the right emphasizing that they support this government because nothing better is available from the majority. This ministry has no fundamental support anywhere. Then the budget will be approved by a large majority and Taaffe will continue to 'rule'. He is a telling example of how the inability of a person often has something in common with genius, namely that it is often irreplaceable. Indeed, Taaffe can do something that would be difficult for a truly talented man in Austria: he can stay in his post. But these last words are not to be interpreted as if we wanted to make any concessions to the inactivity into which the German opposition is increasingly falling. The political inactivity of the Germans in Austria is simply dismal, and the role they play must, if it continues, be a miserable one. How long will it take before the Germans here become truly politically mature? The number of those who understand that it is the German idea, first and foremost, that every German must serve, and that it is nothing short of sacrilegious to make completely insignificant, subordinate issues into the figureheads of parties, is dwindling. Such a course of action would lead us completely into political quagmire and is doubly dangerous now, when a harrowing event in our royal house has significantly changed the political situation. In the late Crown Prince, we had a prince who was truly friendly to education and a fighter for truth and light in the best sense of the word. We saw from his various public addresses how powerfully he felt about unadulterated truth free from authority, and how unfeigned this feeling was can be seen from the recently published letters to his former teacher of natural sciences, Dr. Jos. Krist. One had the conviction that the Crown Prince was a powerful bulwark against any reaction. When he exposed the spiritualist fraud Bastian some time ago, he did so, as he himself said, with the specific intention of doing something against superstition in the higher circles. The hope of education was with this prince. Now he is gone, and already the fateful influences of the reactionary powers are revealing themselves before our eyes. The confessors are at the top. We are exposed to the danger of a terrible regression. It is no longer considered taboo to openly state that there is a serious flaw in the liberal education of the crown prince, and high-ranking church leaders boast that they raised their warning voice in time and in a decisive manner against the irreligious influence of modern researchers on the mind of the Austrian heir to the throne.

It was distressing to go out on the streets of Vienna in the days when the sad news from Mayerling came. Everywhere one saw signs of the deepest sympathy for the unfortunate prince. People who had never known each other addressed each other in the streets to communicate their shock. But leaving aside all these outbursts of emotion, and the loyalty and attachment of the Austrian peoples to their imperial house, and looking at the matter objectively, the death of Crown Prince Rudolf is the most serious blow that could have hit progress in Austria. We looked to the future with joy when we saw the chivalrous prince among scholars and researchers in the pursuit of science. This prospect has now died with him.

Now we are once again completely dependent on ourselves. Crown Prince Rudolf was thoroughly pro-education, but he was also no supporter of Taaffe's system of government. We must now fight our fight against reaction without such a powerful protector. This event should, however, serve as further proof to the Germans that unity alone can lead them out of the doubt in which they find themselves.

Steiner

Lucifer – Gnosis [Insert]

Dear Readers!

Unfortunately, the publication of this issue has been delayed for far too long. The reason for this is that the editor has been very busy with his many activities in the meantime. Readers will excuse the delay when they consider that the editor's diverse activities also serve the same cause to which the journal is dedicated. Hopefully the next issues will be published sooner.

Dr. Rudolf Steiner.

Organization

1. The German Section of The Theosophical Society is established on the basis of the Constitution of the “Theosophical Society” and shall comprise all Branches in Germany and the German Branches in Switzerland.

2. For the purpose of better administering their affairs, the Branches may unite in Groups.

General Assembly

3. A General Assembly of the Section shall be held annually in October. All branches and individual members shall be notified thereof by the General Secretary 28 days in advance, stating the agenda. The meeting shall be chaired by the General Secretary. The required number of voting members at each meeting is seven. These must represent at least 7 branches. Each section member can attend and speak at the meeting. The right to vote is limited to the chairmen of the branches and one representative of each branch for every 25 members of that branch. Each fraction of 25 counts as a full one. Representation by written special or general power of attorney is permissible. The chairman of each meeting has a deciding vote in the event of a tie.

4. Extraordinary meetings must be convened by the Secretary General at the majority decision of the committee or at the request of 7 branches.

5. Fourteen days before each Annual or Extraordinary General Meeting, each Branch shall send the General Secretary a list of its members signed by the Branch President or Secretary. The General Secretary shall then close and verify his register on the basis of these lists. Thereafter, all matters relating to voting rights shall be decided.

6. In all cases requiring a general vote of the Section, as provided in $23 of the Constitution of the “Theosophical Society” or as determined by the Executive Committee, the Secretary General shall issue a ballot paper to each member of the Section. The question shall be decided by a majority of votes cast.

Branches of the Section

7. Each branch or group of branches shall draw up its own by-laws and conduct its own business without interference from the Executive Board or the Secretary General, provided that the bylaws of the Society or the Section are not violated. No Section member may vote in more than one branch for Section purposes.

Executive Board

8. The administration of all business is in the hands of an executive board, which is responsible to the annually convened general assembly. The executive board consists of the general secretary, the treasurer and at least twelve members. Two of them, as well as the Secretary General and the Treasurer, should live in the same area as the Section headquarters or in the neighborhood. The Executive Board is elected every three years at the General Assembly. If a board member resigns before the end of his term of office, or if his position is otherwise terminated, the board can appoint another member of the Section to the position.

9. The Secretary General is the executive officer of the Executive Board: He is in charge of the current business of the Section. He is responsible for the supervision of the archives and all documents at the Section's headquarters.

10. The treasurer is responsible for the section's funds. Two auditors, to be elected annually, shall examine the accuracy of the accounting at the end of the fiscal year or at other times at the request of the executive board and report to the general assembly or the executive board.

Accounting

11. The financial year of the Section ends on August 31. The annual accounts, drawn up by the Treasurer and audited by the auditors, shall be sent to each branch by the Secretary General 14 days before the Annual General Meeting.

Register

12. The names of all persons admitted to the section shall be entered in a register by the Secretary General. Each branch shall send the application for membership, adopted by the branch, dated and certified by the branch chairman or secretary, to the Secretary General immediately after admission, together with the section contribution. The former shall be sent to the Secretary General, the contribution to the Treasurer, whereupon the latter shall send the diploma to the branch or person concerned. No official other than the Secretary General may hand over such diplomas.

13. The chairmen of the branches are entitled to inspect the membership registers; other section members at the discretion of the Secretary General or the board.

Membership

14. Members of the Society who do not wish to join a branch can belong to the section as individual members and pay a one-time admission fee of 5 marks.

Section contributions

15. Each branch is to send in at least 3 marks annually for each of its members if it is unable to contribute larger sums to the section treasury. It is left to the branches to recommend to their members the free self-assessment and to determine the minimum rate of their annual contributions. In addition to their members, the branches may also accept “friends” (comrades) of the Society into their ranks. They do not receive diplomas, are not entitled to vote and no contribution is payable for them.

16. All funds received for the section are to be transferred to the treasurer and, with the approval of the executive committee, used in the interest of “The Theosophical Society”.

17. A fee of 10 marks is to be enclosed with every application for the issuance of a foundation charter for a branch.

18. Annual dues are payable in advance. Members who have not paid their annual dues can be removed from the membership list after due notification.

19. The executive council has the right to waive dues in special cases.

Signed Dr. Rudolf Steiner
General Secretary
Berlin W, Motzstraße 17.

Dear Sir and dear Brother!

President Olcott requests that I send him a detailed statistical report on the situation of the German section immediately. I therefore ask you to report to me as soon as possible on the following:

1. What are the names of the members of your branch?
2. What writings have been published by these members since October 1, 1901?
3. Who are the functionaries of your branch?

In faith
Your most humble
Dr. Rudolf Steiner

The Vâhan, Vol. 5, No. 1

On July 3, 4, and 5, the thirteenth annual meeting of the British Section of the “Theosophical Society” was held in London. The General Secretaries of the British, Dutch, French, Italian and German sections met to discuss how the annual meetings of the “Association of European Sections” should be organized in the future. One of these sections will invite the representatives of the others to visit it each year; the section extending the invitation and the location of the meeting will be decided upon for the following year. The details in this regard were discussed in a preliminary meeting on July 3. It was agreed that at the annual meeting, the general secretaries would give reports on the progress of the Theosophical movement in their countries and that common matters would be discussed. The closer contact of the members of the Theosophical movement in the various countries will be sought at these meetings, so that the great international principle of the Theosophical movement will become more and more effective. At the same time, it was decided to collect the reports on the movement given by the General Secretaries in an annual publication entitled “Mitteilungen”. Van Manen of the Dutch Section was elected editor of these “Mitteilungen”. After the kind invitation for next year from the General Secretary of the Dutch Section, it was decided to accept this invitation and to determine Amsterdam as the location for the next annual meeting. On the evening of July 4, the General Secretaries of the above-mentioned Sections gave speeches in which they pointed out the progress of the Theosophical Movement in the individual countries. Dr. Rudolf Steiner, the General Secretary of the German Section, was able to point to less success due to the short existence of our section; he spoke of the special tasks that the German national spirit presents to the Theosophical movement and of the hopes and prospects that we may have if we make the seeds of Theosophy fruitful in German intellectual life. Both the preliminary discussion and the meeting itself were personally led by the president of the Theosophical Society, who was present in London. This was also the case for the meetings of the British Section itself, which held a business meeting on July 4 and organized addresses on July 5. From the business meeting, it should be emphasized that representatives of foreign sections, including Dr. Rudolf Steiner from our German section, gave welcoming speeches and that Bertram Keightley, the former general secretary of this section, was re-elected, but in such a way that Mrs. Hooper was appointed to independently manage the affairs as deputy general secretary for the duration of his stay in India.

The meeting on July 5 was opened by President H. S. Olcott with an address in which he spoke about the founding, the goals and tasks of the Theosophical movement, and in which he pointed out in particular that no dogma was to be promoted by the “Theosophical Society,” that unity was to be sought in the various creeds, so that the element of brotherly love in the broadest sense would be instilled into humanity by the society. Bertram Keightley spoke about the “Coming Psychic Wave”. He pointed out the interest that is currently being shown from a wide variety of quarters in certain psychic phenomena and powers. But this interest is mostly directed towards the personal, as for example in “Christian Science”. The theosophical movement, on the other hand, emphasizes the impersonal, the selfless; under its influence, the “psychic wave of the present” alone can take on a promising character for the future. - Finally, G. Mead discussed the “Christ Mystery in Earliest Christianity”. He emphasized that, in his opinion, the universal human character of Christ born in the soul had greater significance for the early days of Christianity than the facts that a later period placed at the starting point of Christianity.

Dr. Steiner.

Re: the article “Plotinus' Ideal of the Sage” by Dr. O. Kiefer, in: Lucifer-Gnosis, no. 13, June 1904.

In the next issue, there will be some remarks about the author's comments regarding Plotinus's world view in this and the previous issue. These can also be viewed from a completely different perspective. Rudolf Steiner

Dear friends,

We hereby invite you to attend an extraordinary general assembly of the Besant branch of the Theosophical Society at 7 p.m. on Friday the 30th of this month.

This will be a preliminary meeting for the General Assembly of the German Section and for the election of four delegates to the same. For the latter, we propose Messrs. Kiem and Selling, and Mesdames von Sivers and Mücke. We ask those friends who cannot attend to please indicate to us by postcard whether they agree with the above names.

Full Members:

I hereby take the liberty of inviting you to this year's general assembly. It will take place in Berlin (Wilmersdorf Motzstraße 17), on Saturday and Sunday, October 29 and 30, 1904.

The agenda is as follows:

I. Saturday 3 p.m.: Board meeting.

Berlin Wilmersdorf Motzstraße 17

6 p.m.: Free get-together of the assembled members. Berlin Wilmersdorf Motzstraße 17

II. Sunday A.) 10 a.m.: General assembly.

Berlin Wilmersdorf Motzstraße 17.

1. Welcome of the members present by the chairman. 2. Reports of the secretary general and the other officials of the board and the branches. 3. election for resigned board members. 4. Motions and other business.

B.) 4 p.m.: Lecture and discussion meeting.

(The exact agenda for this item will be announced later).

With theosophical greetings,
Dr. Rudolf Steiner
General Secretary of the German Section of the T.S.

Berlin, October 15, 1904

I hereby take the liberty of inviting you to the general assembly of the Berlin branch. It will take place on Sunday, October 23, at 3 p.m. at Motzstraße 17.

With theosophical greetings
Dr. Rudolf Steiner
1st Chairman.

Marie von Sivers
2nd Chairwoman.

To the members of the Berlin branch of the Theosophical Society.

I kindly request that you kindly appear at 5 p.m. on Sunday, February 5, at 17 Motzstr. for an extraordinary general meeting.

Agenda.

1. The first and second chairmen make available to the “Berlin branch” all their functions related to the “Berlin branch” in an emergency application.

2. Dr. Steiner's report on the reasons for and consequences of this step.

With theosophical greetings,
Dr. Rudolf Steiner
currently 1st Chairman.