Between Occultism and Nazism: Anthroposophy and the Politics of Race in the Fascist Era

421 Pages·2014·3.749 MB·English

by  Peter Staudenmaier

Between Occultism and Nazism
Aries Book Series
Texts and Studies in Western Esotericism
Editor
Marco Pasi
Editorial Board
Jean-Pierre Brach
Andreas Kilcher
Wouter J. Hanegraaff
Advisory Board
Alison Coudert – Antoine Faivre – Olav Hammer
Monika Neugebauer-Wölk – Mark Sedgwick – Jan Snoek
György Szőnyi – Garry Trompf
VOLUME 17
The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/arbs
Between Occultism and Nazism
Anthroposophy and the Politics of Race
in the Fascist Era
By
Peter Staudenmaier
LEIDEN | BOSTON
Cover illustration: Illustration by Hugo Reinhold Karl Johann Höppener (Fidus).
Staudenmaier, Peter, 1965–
Between occultism and Nazism : anthroposophy and the politics of race in the fascist era / By Peter
Staudenmaier.
pages cm. — (Aries book series. Texts and studies in Western esotericism, ISSN 1871-1405 ; volume 17)
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-90-04-26407-6 (hardback : alkaline paper) — ISBN 978-90-04-27015-2 (e-book) 1. National
socialism and occultism. 2. Germany—Politics and government—1933–1945. 3. Fascism and culture—
Italy. 4. Italy—Politics and government—1922–1945. 5. Anthroposophy. 6. Steiner, Rudolf, 1861–1925—
Influence. 7. Racism. I. Title.
DD256.5.S7514 2014
299’.935094309043—dc23
2014000258
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ISSN 1871 1405
ISBN 978 90 04 26407 6 (hardback)
ISBN 978 90 04 27015 2 (e-book)
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Contents
Acknowledgements  vi
Introduction: Spiritual Science and the Modern Occult Revival  1
1 Germany’s Savior: Rudolf Steiner on Race and Redemption  25
2 The Politics of the Unpolitical: German Anthroposophy in Theory and
Practice Before 1933  64
3 Accommodation, Collaboration, Persecution: Anthroposophy in the
Shadow of National Socialism, 1933–1945  101
4 The German Essence Shall Heal the World: Ideological Affinities
between Anthroposophy and Nazism  146
5 Education for the National Community? Waldorf Schools in the
Third Reich  179
6 The Nazi Campaign against Occultism  214
7 The Spirit of the Race and the Soul of the Nation: Anthroposophy and
the Rise of Fascism in Italy  248
8 Spiritual Racism in Power: Italian Anthroposophists and the Fascist
Racial Laws, 1938–1945  284
Conclusion: Occultism and Nazism in Historical Perspective  319
Sources and Bibliography  328
Index  407
Acknowledgements
Many people contributed to this project. The forbearance of my dissertation commit-
tee allowed me to sustain an extended research program and an even more extended
text. I am especially grateful to my advisor, Dominick LaCapra, for his intellectual gen-
erosity and unfailing support, and to Isabel Hull for her close reading and incisive cri-
tiques of my work. Michael Steinberg and Patrizia McBride provided crucial insights
and correctives. Participants in Cornell University’s European history colloquium
offered perceptive comments on many chapters; thanks to Ryan Plumley, Marie
Muschalek, Michelle Moyd, Heidi Voskuhl, Robert Travers, Duane Corpis, Holly Case,
Camille Robcis, and Oren Falk. Alison Efford read later drafts with a discerning eye.
I owe special thanks to Emma Kuby, Taran Kang, and Franz Hofer for their friendship
and spirited argument.
For vital encouragement and critical response I am grateful to Uwe Puschner, Eric
Kurlander, Steve Aschheim, Richard Drake, Jim Marten, Vicki Caron, Aaron Sachs,
Tobin Miller Shearer, Cheryl Shearer, Steve Edwards, Julie Edwards, Suman Seth, Peter
Uwe Hohendahl, David Bathrick, Federico Finchelstein, Jim Steakley, Claudia Card,
David Sorkin, Jost Hermand, Andreas Daum, Georg Iggers, Paul Lauren, Suzanne
Marchand, Doris Bergen, Celia Applegate, David Blackbourn, Gayle Rubin, Carolyn
Merchant, Ashwin Manthripragada, Karen Priestman, Brooke Lehman, Chaia Heller,
Alan Goodman, Cindy Milstein, Bianca Bockman, Chuck Morse, Ian Grimmer, Dan
Chodorkoff, Murray Bookchin, Janet Biehl, Matt Hern, Sundrop Carter, Blair Taylor,
Darini Nicholas, Danny Postel, Lauren Fox, Chip Berlet, Liz DiNovella, Sharmila
Rudrappa, Metta McGarvey, Laurie Zimmerman, and Sabina Knight. My colleagues at
the University of Montana and Marquette University have been models of academic
conviviality.
Friends in Europe played an important role in this project. I am indebted to Peter
Zegers and Peter Bierl for their willingness to share materials and ideas. Mirella Olivari
made my research in Italy possible, and I am very grateful for her support. Marco Pasi
read the manuscript and Wouter Hanegraaff provided important advice. My thanks go
to Stephan Braun, Debbie Braun, Christoph Braun, Susanne Fries, Rob Augmann,
Martina Benz, Eirik Eiglad, Veronika Lipphardt, Ansgar Martins, and Aurélie Choné.
I owe an unusually significant debt to Helmut Zander, whose ongoing engagement
with my work has extended well beyond the standard expectations of collegiality and
friendship.
Historians depend on archivists and librarians for the research we conduct. I extend
my gratitude to the staff of the Bundesarchiv in Berlin and Koblenz, the Archivio
Centrale dello Stato in Rome, the Staatsbibliothek Berlin, the Biblioteca Nazionale
Centrale in Rome, the New York Public Library, and the libraries of the University of
acknowledgements vii
Wisconsin, Cornell University, and Marquette University. The study was funded in part
through a Luigi Einaudi Fellowship for Research in Europe, Humboldt University in
Berlin, a Bowmar research fellowship, a travel grant from the Cornell University
Graduate School, a German Historical Institute Summer Research Seminar, a Faculty
Development Award from Marquette University, and a Franklin Research Grant from
the American Philosophical Society.
In addition to generous scholarly assistance, I am very fortunate to have a loving
family. I thank my late mother, Kathy Staudenmaier, and my father, Bill Staudenmaier,
as well as all of my sisters and brothers for their support. I owe special thanks to my
brother Michael Staudenmaier for more than two decades of intellectual companion-
ship. My uncle, John Staudenmaier, has offered invaluable encouragement. I am also
grateful to friends and colleagues from Rainbow Bookstore Cooperative, Ofek Shalom
Cooperative, Madison Community Cooperative, and the Institute for Social Ecology, as
well as the extended families of Punita and Ravi, Laurie and Renee, Eliana and Meytal,
Mike and Anne, Susie and Kelly, and so many others. My most important debt of all is
to my partner Geeta Raval, my first and last reader, who has watched this project
develop from the very beginning and has sustained me throughout. I dedicate the book
to her.

introduction
Spiritual Science and the Modern Occult Revival
This is a study of an unusual movement in an unusual time. It follows the
changing fortunes of an idiosyncratic but influential group of spiritual seek-
ers through the wayward terrain of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. The move-
ment known as anthroposophy was founded by Rudolf Steiner, a devotee of
the occult, in the early years of the twentieth century. Today anthroposophy
is esteemed for its efforts on behalf of alternative education, holistic health
care, organic farming and natural foods, environmental consciousness, and
innovative forms of spiritual expression. At the root of anthroposophy lies an
elaborate esoteric philosophy based on Steiner’s teachings. His plentiful books
and lectures, which can seem inscrutable to outside observers, form the core
of the anthroposophist worldview to this day. Steiner grew up in Austria and
died in Switzerland, imparting an international character to his movement
while grounding it firmly in German cultural values. In contemporary Europe
anthroposophy is recognized as “the most successful form of ‘alternative’ reli-
gion” to arise in the last century.1
In much of the English-speaking world, however, the term anthroposophy
and the name Rudolf Steiner remain unfamiliar. Even those acquainted with
anthroposophy’s public face—through experience with Waldorf schools, bio-
dynamic farming, Camphill communities, Weleda or Demeter products—are
sometimes surprised to learn of the esoteric doctrines on which these insti-
tutions are built. If the external trappings of anthroposophy are not always
identifiable, its occult underpinnings are still less well known. Latter-day
anthroposophists are often apprehensive about ‘occult’ vocabulary, though
Steiner and the founding generation of the movement used it freely. For
Steiner’s present followers the practical application of anthroposophical prin-
ciples is more important than their historical pedigree, and anthroposophists
have earned respect for their contributions to pedagogical reform, their com-
mitment to ecological sustainability, and their work with developmentally dis-
abled children, among other fields. Anthroposophy’s creative impact ranges
from literature and architecture to art and agriculture, from the New Age
1 Stefanie von Schnurbein and Justus Ulbricht, eds., Völkische Religion und Krisen der Moderne:
Entwürfe “arteigener” Glaubenssysteme seit der Jahrhundertwende (Würzburg: Königshausen &
Neumann, 2001), 38.
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