Rudolf Steiner was born in 1861 in Austria-Hungary, son of Johann Steiner, a telegraph operator, and Franziska Blie.  The family moved while he was a boy, ending up in the Austrian Alps where Steiner attended village schools.

When Steiner was nine years old, he saw the spirit of an aunt who had died in a distant town before the family was informed of her passing.  By the age of 15, Steiner believed he had a obtained a complete understanding of time which he considered necessary for clairvoyance. Later, he compared understanding the human spirit to mathematics. “I confirmed for myself by means of geometry the feeling that I must speak of a world ‘which is not seen.’”

In 1879, the Steiners moved to Inzerdorf and Rudolf attended the Vienna Institute of Technology. He enrolled in science, literature, and philosophy courses, but never graduated. Despite that, he became the natural science editor for the Kürschner edition of Goethe’s works in 1882. In 1891, Steiner received a PhD at the University of Rostok. His dissertation was published as Truth and Knowledge: Prelude to a Philosophy of Freedom. Two years later, he published The Philosophy of Spiritual Activity which suggested a way for humans to become spiritually free beings. Steiner worked on Goethe’s philosophies until 1896, authoring two books about his own thoughts.

Steiner moved to Berlin and became part owner of the literary journal Magazin für Literatur. He married Anna Eunicke in 1899, but the couple separated several years later. By that time, Steiner was a regular speaker at the Theosophical Society. In 1901 he began to write about spiritual topics. He became head of the society’s new German section in 1902, but never actually joined. It was through the society that Steiner met Maria von Sivers, who became his second wife in 1914.

By 1904, Steiner was writing about his own understanding of spiritual themes in essays and books. He applied his training in the sciences to produce rigorous, verifiable presentations. He believed that anyone with the right training could experience the spiritual world. He developed an original approach to the subject and replaced Madame Blavatsky’s terminology on spiritual science with his own. By 1910, his writing included thoughts on karma, reincarnation, and the evolution of humanity. He believed anyone could transcend their own nature.

The German section of the Theosophical Society grew quickly and eventually broke off to form a new group, the Anthroposophical Society. By 1923, Steiner was showing signs of frailness and illness. He continued to travel and lecture widely, sometimes giving as many as four lectures daily. His last address was given in September, 1924 and he died in March, 1925

Additional Reading:

Davy, Adams and Merry (1993) A Man Before Others: Rudolf Steiner Remembered. Rudolf Steiner Press.

Lissau, Rudi (2000) Rudolf Steiner: Life, Work, Inner Path and Social Initiatives. Hawthorne Press.

Seddon, Richard (2004) Rudolf Steiner. North Atlantic Books.