The Rudolf Steiner Archive

Dr. Steiner then gave a moving tribute to the deceased members: Fräulein Ziggert and Mr. Wirschmidt, in whose memory the assembly rose to its feet.

It now falls to me to fulfill the special duty of remembering at this moment those dear members of our Society who have left the physical plane during this year.

We have Mrs. Agnes Schuchardt, a lady who has lived in theosophical pursuit for many years. She has been a member of the Theosophical Society for a long time, and although she was already confined to her bed when the German Section was founded, she was still very much connected in her soul to what was happening internally and externally; and many a letter she wrote to me showed how she followed what was going on with heartfelt concern.

Secondly, Franz Vrba, who joined the Theosophical Society as a member of the Prague branch and who left the physical plane after a relatively short period of membership.

Furthermore, we have two particularly poignant cases from our Munich branch. One is Otto Fluschke. The name Huschke is inextricably linked with the development of Theosophical work in Germany, and Huschke was among those who offered their help when the German Section was being founded. He was already deeply involved in the Theosophical movement and in occultism. It was always a pleasant duty for me when I came to Munich to visit the always sickly and immobile gentleman and to see what kind of occult needs and aspirations prevailed within the four walls of this gentleman. It may well be said to be particularly painful that Mr. Huschke's death occurred in the days when his daughter, Miss Huschke, also left the physical plane. They both shared everything they had in life, theosophically, as much as possible. Miss Huschke was also a dear member of the Munich Lodge, and above all, one of the most ambitious members. Otto and Flilda Fuschke lived together and left the physical plane together a few hours apart, and will continue to live together theosophically in other worlds.

The passing of our dear Mrs. Doser from the physical plane is a fifth case. Mrs. Doser was also one of the oldest members of the German Section. In a very special way, she allowed into herself all that came from the resources of the occult world movement. Everyone who knew her or came into close contact with her will have felt in their hearts the nature of this wonderful woman, who was so devoted and tender on the one hand and, on the other, filled with a deep yearning. The last period of her life was marked by a serious illness, which she bore with a wonderful dignity. But she was a person who, despite everything, had something of the blissful anticipation of living towards a new world in the depths of her consciousness. She lived her life in such a way that she faded away on the outside, as it were, but this allowed her inner spiritual life to become ever richer and richer. I am certain that those personalities who were closest to her during her life will also fully recognize these feelings as their own. A number of members made it possible for Mrs. Doser to visit the sunny south, for which she longed so much; and it was really touching to see how she could perceive the spiritual power in the physical sun. And it will remain unforgettable for me that in Capri, a few hours before her death, this soul of Frau Doser addressed a few lines to me, from which emerges the longing to overcome the yearning, the mood, the confinement of the physical plane: “I want to get out, board a ship tomorrow, - out into the wide sea!” It was a feeling that the soul was freeing itself from the physical body.

I have to mention a painful event in the death of Fritz Eyselein. Many of you who were at the Theosophical lectures know that in Fritz Eyselein a personality came among you who, so to speak, early in the development of the German Section, fell into an unfortunate state of mind that made it impossible to help her. It is neither necessary nor perhaps even tactful to go into this here, which needs only to be hinted at and which can therefore no less enable us to give our dear Fritz Eyselein the most beautiful feelings of love and friendship on the other side.

Now we have to mention a personality who bid farewell to the physical plane last year and who had been at the head of the Munich Lodge for years: Fräulein von Hofstetten. Based on her extensive life experience, she was able to take over the leadership of this lodge in an appropriate manner. This lady, who had also been in poor health for a long time, whose body had only been held together by a lively mind for a long time, also had an active striving in every direction, and she was always there when something needed to be done, even if she had just undergone an operation; And anyone who has become acquainted with the beautiful inner and outer life of Miss von Hoffstetten will give her the most beautiful love on the other side. Another member who was more interested in the Theosophical Society and passed away from the physical plane is Mrs. Fähndrich. We will also remember her with love and respect beyond the physical plane.

Now I have to mention our dear Mrs. Rozbenstein, who belonged to the Heidelberg Lodge for a short time and was taken from us after a short time by a treacherous illness. She was a beautiful, self-contained nature, deeply and earnestly devoted to our cause. We will also send her the feelings of love.

In saying this, I have remembered those who are no longer with us in the flesh, but who are always with us in spirit.

The assembly honors the memory of the persons mentioned by standing up.

In a very solemn manner, the General Secretary then named those of our dear members who had left the physical plane during the year, and linked this with a brief description of the relationship of the deceased to Theosophy, especially the three ladies from Stuttgart who had passed away: Mrs. Lina Schwarz, Mrs. Cohen and Mrs. Aldinger.

In such a case, too, we can place ourselves in the soul of the deceased, in particular, in terms of the importance of what Theosophy can offer us. We do not want to try to console the bereaved of our dear friends who have passed away with banal phrases, but we want to point out that although we are only at the beginning of our movement, the overall karma of it must gradually be balanced in the individual karma. The Theosophists must feel it their duty to support each other in certain cases. Thus the popular phrase of universal love for humanity is replaced by a true understanding of individual real love for one's neighbor. If human love does not take hold of individual cases and become active there, it remains a mere phrase. Such thoughts must arise in us when we see from time to time this or that of our dear members leave the physical plane.

After the expiration of our seven-year period, we have other things to report, which we Theosophists always characterize differently than the outside world. Just in this past year, we have had to report the passing of some of our oldest members, some of whom were particularly committed to the Theosophical cause, to the physical plane. And when we remember these dear Theosophical members of ours, we think of them in the same way and with the same love that we regarded them as belonging to us while they were among us in the physical world. We want to say that for us Theosophists there is something that is considered a duty in the outer, non-Theosophical world, but which must be a special consecration and a special permeation with the content of the nuances of feelings and thoughts acquired in the Theosophical life for us Theosophists. This is the forwarding of love, the forwarding of our best feelings beyond the physical plane to those who have left this physical plane. We should strive to develop such feelings, strengthened by the theosophical sentiment, towards the departed. We should make ourselves capable of sending such feelings to the other worlds through our theosophical progress, so that we feel the love, truth, and good that we have encountered in such members as an ever-present presence, and so that these members themselves feel constantly present, so that we speak of them as those who continue to walk among us, and whose walk becomes more and more sacred to us for the reason that what they can send us from that world must be more valuable to them than what they could give us on the physical plane. In this active way we remember those of our dear members who left the physical plane in the past year.

In particular, we remember an elderly member who has been with us since the Section was founded. We feel a special closeness to her because the brother of this member, who is here as our dear friend Mr. Wagner, is close to us in turn.

Miss Amalie Wagner in Hamburg, who is well known to many of us, left the physical plane during the course of this year, and we will always look to what she tried to do for Theosophical life. Many of those Theosophists who were close to our dear Amalie Wagner have, in their inmost hearts, come to appreciate the work of Amalie Wagner in an extraordinary way and have shown an unlimited love for this friend. And that was only the beautiful reflection of the beautiful Theosophical striving in the soul of Amalie Wagner. And it is with reverence and sacred consecration that we commemorate an important moment in the life of Amalie Wagner. That was the moment when her sister, who had been a member of our movement with her in Hamburg, preceded her in death. At that time I was able to experience the beautiful, loving understanding with which Amalie Wagner's soul approached the event that took place with the death of her sister. There I was able to receive, so to speak, Amalie Wagner's genuine theosophical feeling of looking up to her sister. How Amalie Wagner looked up to the higher worlds to form ideas about how a person lives on in these higher worlds was the subject of much discussion in Amalie Wagner's dear, lonely living room. And now we look after her in thought, as she in turn receives from above what is offered to her and from below, from the physical plane, the feelings of love and admiration that we have for her from here. We can already see two sides of this soul today, how she lives up and down, how a person in the spiritual world lives when there is an impulse in their heart to join what passes through our movement as a soul. And so we look with devotion and love for the soul of this dear Miss Wagner, as if she were always present to us.

Another old member has left the physical plane, who is indeed known to few, but these few are those who loved this dear member very much, who, whenever they met with him, felt anew the reverence-inspiring soul of our dear friend Jargues Tschudy in Glarus, who has belonged to our German Section from the very beginning. He was met by a number of our dear members at the Swiss Theosophical Society meetings. And if I may use a word in this case that is meant very seriously, I would like to say that the soul of this personality worked in such a way that one could not help but love it. And those who often saw how this man was loved know that those who knew him will continue to send this feeling to him in the spiritual world.

Then there is another exceptionally ambitious member who, in vigorous energy, tried to penetrate into the exoteric and esoteric of Theosophy, and who only in recent years joined our German Section, has left the physical plan. Our dear friend Minuth from Riga was present at the last Stuttgart cycle; then he reappeared in Hamburg, and by then his outer physical body was already afflicted with the germ that did not allow him to live further. He was no longer able to attend the complete cycle and left the physical plane soon afterwards. We will also send up to the higher worlds those feelings that we not only had when we decided to become Theosophists, but that we have acquired during our Theosophical life.

We have seen another personality depart from the physical plane: the wife of our dear friend Sellin. You all know our dear friend Sellin from previous theosophical meetings. While he was working in Zurich, his dear wife passed over into the spiritual world. Our dear friend understands his wife's passing in the most wonderful way, and anyone who has been privileged to feel what Sellin himself feels towards the dead knows how the theosophist should feel towards the dead in the true, beautiful sense. I would have to speak words that would describe in the most vivid colors feelings that stream up vividly into the spiritual world if I wanted to convey to you some of the beautiful words that were sent from the soul of our dear friend Sellin here on the physical plane to his beloved wife. But it is better if we evoke in ourselves, so to speak, only a hint of what can be said through something so beautiful if we have not heard it ourselves. And anyone who, like me, has heard such beautiful words as those of our dear friend Sellin, which bear witness to his truly beautiful, real feelings, anyone who has experienced this himself has no desire to profane such beautiful words by speaking them. But at this moment I have the need in my soul to awaken in your own hearts an inkling of what beautiful feeling, beautiful inner experience is, towards those who have physically disappeared in the direction of the spiritual world.

Another personality in Stuttgart has disappeared from those close to her in the physical world: our dear friend Frenze/ recently lost his wife to the higher planes. When we see how we Theosophists begin to develop a real soul life, we need only think of our dear Mrs. Frenzel, who worked so beautifully on her soul to enter into the Theosophical life. Perhaps only those who were close to her soul, like myself, can appreciate this. And so we may send up our love to our dear friend Mrs. Frenzel.

And so we also remember another friend who left the physical plane through a tragic fate, Mrs. /Jedwig von Knebel, whose loving devotion to the Theosophical cause was noticed both when we others were in Wiesbaden and by the Wiesbadeners themselves.

But then the image of a Theosophical personality who recently left the physical plane descends upon us with a special power, with a very special vibrancy from the higher worlds, who for years devoted herself to the Theosophical cause with an intensity, an understanding and a devotion that truly cannot be described in words, and she was able to do a lot. I myself will always remember the moment after a Theosophical meeting when our dear FZilde Stockmeyer approached me for the first time to learn more about some of the things she had learned in Theosophy, which she had absorbed with all the strength she had. On the other hand, she tried – and she was allowed and able to try a great deal – to combine what she had learned in Theosophy with what external science offers in terms of truth and good. And it can be said that her extensive knowledge was also able to bear fruit externally, in that she passed the final exam shortly before her passing, to the satisfaction of the external world. Hilde Stockmeyer's knowledge can be seen as the first thing she gave us as a beautiful gift of her personal values. What Hilde Stockmeyer, the chairwoman of the Malsch lodge, was to us in the physical realm was due to her abilities and the way she processed these abilities. She was therefore called to work fruitfully, and to what Hilde Stockmeyer acquired through the development of her abilities in this way, she added something else, which, through its emanation, worked on those close to her, which could only reveal itself to us through its effect, how fruitful genuine, true, theosophical feeling can become here in human life. This is shown by the way in which father, mother, brothers and sisters and friends took their departure to the higher worlds. This is again proof of the effectiveness of theosophy in human souls in this case. It is proof of this in yet another way than was the case with the others mentioned. Personalities were everywhere around the others who had sought theosophy. Hilde Stockmeyer's parents even confessed: 'She brought us Theosophy, she was sent to us.' The people who had preceded her on the physical plane, who had given her physical life, confessed what they could feel in response to what came to them from the higher worlds in their own daughter, which they had to say: We could not help this being to existence on the physical plane, we were the tool for this. And it is one of the most beautiful feelings that has been expressed within our theosophical movement, that the parents of Hilde Stockmeyer expressed the magnitude of the gratitude and appreciation they felt for the knowledge of their daughter, the knowledge of the daughter who brought Theosophy into the home of the parents. And this glorious echo is what Hilde Stockmeyer's parents express to their daughter, who has passed into the spiritual world. But we should learn to send up to the higher worlds especially for Hilde Stockmeyer what can only be sensed in such matters. And it is clear to me that I cannot send a better feeling up into the spiritual worlds than if I were to send up the feelings of Hilde Stockmeyer's soul myself now, making myself the tool of her soul for the beautiful thing that our dear friend knew how to say out of a beautiful feeling while she was still here with us. In two little poems that were entrusted to me and that came from the pen of our dear friend, which sprang from her beautifully developed mind, she still speaks to us from the physical plane. How Hilde Stockmeyer felt about the eternal teachings of Theosophy may resonate with us from her own little poems at this moment. This is how Hilde Stockmeyer spoke when she was still alive, and this is how she may resonate for us:

Are we really all alone?
Can one never understand the other?
Can he never look into his heart?
Ease his pain?
I think that when love speaks to love,
From the heart with a loyal face,
For the sake of love, to ease the torment,
To alleviate the pain with loving words,
then I think it can't be in vain!
Are we really all alone?
Are there no bridges to every heart?
Is there no balm for all pain?
When we sink eye to eye,
not thinking of ourselves at all,
we don't even need words,
True understanding speaks without sound!
Even to the most hardened hearts
There is a way.
If you walk courageously on a shaky path
With the one thought: to be a helper,
You will soon no longer be alone!

Let us try, after their departure from our hearts, to develop feelings that are worthy of theirs, feelings that will let them follow her. And let us learn to feel as she herself felt and as she expressed it in the other little poem:

I want to be a pure source of blessing
That always flows and never must dry up,
A heart full of courage I would call my own,
That never desponds and never trembles in pain.
And love I would stream through the worlds;
That all living things shall rejoice with delight.
And thus giving I would quietly sink into the All,
Like a melody that fades away softly.

She spoke like this in life, and she died for the physical plane. It goes without saying that we should endeavor to send her something as valuable as she did, sensing her own death, speaking in her last words, the last little poem. Those who knew Hilde Stockmeyer as I did know that the death of this dear soul was:

And so I would like to quietly sink into the universe,
Like a melody that fades away.

The meeting honored the memory of the above-named individuals by rising from their seats.

Above all, it is my duty to remember an old member of the German Section and the Cologne branch, our dear Miss Flippenmeyer, who, with an ever-increasing warmth for our theosophical thoughts, combined an extraordinarily great activity for the broadest world interests. Those who knew her well were as much drawn to her beautiful, good, theosophical heart as they were to her world interests. Miss Hippenmeyer did not pursue these interests in a philistine way, but undertook extensive journeys that could be called world tours. If you consider only the external, purely technical difficulties of these trips for a single traveling lady, and Miss Hippenmeyer was still a frail lady, then that is something to be admired. She was extremely active in our theosophical cause in a very likeable way, and it was painful for all those who knew her to hear that she left the physical plane in Java during one of her great journeys.

Furthermore, I have to mention an extraordinarily active co-worker, who also belonged to the Cologne Lodge, our dear friend Ludwig Lindemann. I still have the impression I had when I saw Ludwig Lindemann for the first time, who vividly presented his tendencies to me. Since then, it has grown from day to day, despite the fact that the greatest obstacle for him was present, namely a severe illness. Nevertheless, he has had no other thought than to stake his entire existence on the spread of theosophical thought. And when he had to go to Italy for the sake of his health, he worked there to cultivate the theosophical idea. There he founded the small centers that we have in Milan and Palermo. He knew how to establish the most intense and heartfelt Theosophical life in these places. Ludwig Lindemann was loved by all who knew him, with the kind of love that can arise from the self-evidence of spiritual connection with a person. Lindemann pursued his great theosophical interests intensely, and I could see when I visited him in the last few weeks before his death how a deep, heartfelt, theosophical enthusiasm emerged from his decaying body. So it was a deep satisfaction for me to see how our Milanese friends felt deeply connected to our dear friends Lindemann. When I was in Milan, I was shown the room that had been prepared for Lindemann, where he could have lived if he had been able to come to Italy again. At the time, I was firmly convinced that he could have continued to work for a few more years if it had been possible for him to come to Italy again; everything was prepared for him there; karma wanted it differently. But we look after him, as Theosophists look after the one who has left the scene of his life and work in the physical world in our sense, in that we feel just as faithfully and warmly connected to him as we did when he was still with us on the physical plane.

I must also mention a third personality who has left the physical plane, perhaps unexpectedly quickly for many; it is our dear section member Dr. Max Asch. In the course of his very eventful life, he had to endure many things that could make it difficult for a person to join a purely spiritual movement. But in the end he found his way to us in such a way that he, the doctor, found the best remedy for his suffering in the cultivation of theosophical reading and thought. He repeatedly assured me that no other belief could give the doctor any other remedy in his soul than that which could come spiritually from theosophical books, that he felt the theosophical teaching flowing like a balm into his pain-torn body. He continued to cultivate Theosophy in this way until the hour of his death. And it was a difficult renunciation for me when, after our friend had passed away, his daughter wrote to me asking me to say a few words at his grave, but I could not fulfill this wish because that day marked the beginning of my lecture series in Prague, and it was therefore impossible for me to pay this last service to my theosophical friend on the physical plane. You may rest assured that the words I should have spoken at his grave were sent to him in the world he had entered at that time.

Furthermore, I would like to mention a friend from Berlin, a member of our Besant branch, who, after various endeavors, finally found himself in our movement as if in a harbor. He is our dear friend Ernst Pitschner, who had been afflicted with the seeds of decay for a long time, stayed with us and was united with us in the most intense way in our theosophical work until his death. It was a strange karma that after a few weeks his wife followed him into the supersensible worlds.

Furthermore, I would like to remember our dear member Christian Dieterle from Stuttgart. He has worked hard but extremely diligently to find his way into theosophical life and in the last few months was a man who thought in the most intense theosophical way.

Then we want to commemorate an older Theosophist who was snatched from the Mühlhausen branch, Josef Keller. It is one of those cases where, despite having only met a person once in life, one must immediately recognize a deep state of mind and heart in him. In his last months, Keller asked to be among the most fervently convinced Theosophists, and all who knew him will remember him fondly and faithfully.

Furthermore, I have to mention a man who, confined to his bed by a serious illness, was introduced to Theosophy through the mediation of a person dear to us, Kar Gresterding.

I have to mention our dear friend Edmund Rebstein, who was taken from us at a relatively young age after a short illness, and who those who knew him well have come to hold in the highest esteem.

I have a similar story to tell about Frau Major Göring, who worked with our branch for many years.

The list of our deceased this time is so long that what I would like to say would take up too much time.

I still have to mention our members Erwin Baumberger from Zurich, Georg Stephan from Breslau, Mrs. Fanny Russenberger from St. Gallen, Johannes Rademann from Leipzig, Kar! Schwarze from Leipzig, Wilhelm Eckle from Karlsruhe, Georg Flamann from Hannover, Wilhelmine Mössner from Stuttgart I, Walter Krug from Cologne, Mrs. Sölbermann from Heidelberg, Mrs. Zind/ from Munich I.

I still consider it my duty to remember at this point the departure from the physical plane of a personality who was well known in all theosophical circles, who was snatched from us by a painful death, who has done a lot of work, and whom we remember with love as much as the others. I am talking about Mrs. Flelene von Schewitsch. You know her books, so I do not need to characterize her in more detail. I must emphasize that I always accepted her invitation when she asked me during my stays in Munich to give a lecture in her circle as well. I would just like to hint that for me this whole life presents itself as something deeply tragic; and I may well say that Mrs. von Schewitsch has shown me extraordinary trust, and that I am justified in saying: this life had a deep tragedy. I was also granted a glimpse into this heart, and please understand that when I say tragic, I mean what most of you would understand by tragic in my lectures. We are fulfilling a duty of warmth to express outwardly how we are connected in thought with the dead by rising from our seats.

What I would like is that at least in a single act, many a dark ray that could shine in later might not shine in; that is, in view of the difficulties of our negotiations, we should this time remember right at the beginning those who, since we last gathered here, when our dear Theosophical friends left the physical plane.

I need not, of course, after years of talking about the feelings and sensations in such cases, particularly emphasize today that for the truly sensitive Theosophist, a person's transition from one plan to another is just a change of form of existence, and that since we feel connected by bonds which are not bound to one plan, these bonds to our dear Theosophical friends will remain the same even if they are obliged to change one plan for another. Thus those who have passed away from us will have loving friends in us, and we will have loving friends in them, as we turn our thoughts wherever we can to those who were so often privileged to visit while they were still working with us on the physical plane.

First and foremost, I have to mention a member who worked with us theosophically for many years, so that her kind and loving heart brought her intimate friends from all over, Mrs. Mia Holm, who left us last summer after a painful illness. Those who have had the opportunity to be touched by the beautiful poetic talent of Mia Holm know very well how significant it was to have this personality in our midst, and how we have every reason to remember this personality forever and ever, as far as we feel connected to her. There are many among us who loved Mia Holm dearly, who also had a deep love for her poetic talent, for her entire lovable personality.

Secondly, allow me to mention not only a long-standing member of our Theosophical work, but also, so to speak, the oldest Theosophist we ever had, our dear Mrs. Bontemps in Leipzig. She belonged to our way of thinking and feeling so completely with all her heart that even the most ordinary things that came from her lips felt imbued with Theosophical sentiment and warmth when one spoke with her. And those who got to know Mrs. Bontemps well appreciate her good heart, her in so many ways great and comprehensive character, her theosophical attitude that so easily and justifiably wins people's hearts. It was deeply satisfying for me to be able to say many a word to her in the last days when she was still on the physical plane, when she could no longer leave her sickbed. And just as many a word that I was able to speak with her in her healthier days will remain unforgettable to me, so too will the conversations that I was allowed to have with her at her last sickbed.

I have to mention Miss Klara Brand, who ended her life on the physical plane this summer due to a regrettable accident. I emphasize expressly, because misunderstandings have spread in many ways, that in the case of Miss Brand it is a matter of a completely natural death, caused by a state of weakness that brought about the misfortune of her unfortunate fall; it is nothing other than a completely natural death. We remember her as she clung to the theosophical cause for many years in spite of many difficulties, and how this theosophical cause made that out of her soul which she wanted to be here.

I have many loyal and dear friends to remember, both those I gained just before her death and those who have been with us for many years. If I were to say everything that is on my mind here, it would be a very long speech out of what is only of value if we all start our thoughts about our departed friends with a loving sentiment.

Thus I have to commemorate a long-standing member, Mr. Leo Ellrich from the Leipzig Lodge.

Thus to commemorate a particularly poignant death, because we are not only painfully touched in this case by the fact that the deceased has left the physical plane, but has also left behind the deeply grieving husband, who is our dear member. When we consider the beautiful way in which Dr. Rösel, who belonged to the Bielefeld Lodge, found her way into the Theosophical movement, how she strove to enter it, when we remember that, then we most certainly empathize with our dear friend Dr. Rösel, who is such a loyal and beloved member.

I have to remember two friends from Basel who were very much appreciated and loved in their immediate circle, the two members Goz7lieb Hiltbold and Wilhelm Vockroth. They were loyal, loving, self-sacrificing Theosophical co-workers.

I also have to remember the man who passed away not only because of physical suffering, our friend Hugo Bolze in Eisenach. Most of our friends know Hugo Bolze; he really had a lot to suffer, and we were devoted to him in loyalty and love and will remain so. After seven years of very painful illness, this disease had to lead to death. We stand before him so that we will surely send him the best, most loving thoughts.

We also have to remember a dear friend, Mr. Hans Schellbach, who, after seeking healing in a southern Theosophical colony, could not be saved in the physical life. Suffice it to say that he remained true to his Theosophical beliefs until his last breath, just as he had always demonstrated them in life. That they were a healing medicine for him, that he was so attached to Theosophy that it gave him the strength to sustain him in the happiest as well as in the most sorrowful moments of life.

I must also mention a friend whose death, in a certain respect, had something extraordinarily tragic about it. He was a close friend of a man who was close to circles associated with Theosophy, Mr. Georg Banernfeind. It would be out of place here to speak about the details of our friend's life. It should only be said that 'Theosophy can lead us to understand every kind of seeking, every kind of spiritual experience, and that we will also understand this man's last death path.

Furthermore, I have to mention a man who had a great deal of theosophy in his attitude, but whom few got to know, Mr. Meakin, who left the physical plane in October last year after working with us more and more intensely for a long time.

Miss Erwin-Blöcker, Mrs. Major Herbst, Mrs. Marty, I also have to mention you. Even though you were less prominent in our movement, we are no less called upon to feel united with you beyond the grave. We know, my dear Theosophical friends, how indissoluble our bond remains with those who have left the physical plane through death, and we know that they have entered another sphere of life. So let this moment of union be the starting point for you to feel connected to these friends who have passed away in the sense just expressed, and that you will continue to feel connected to them in the future. Let us express these loving thoughts and feelings that we send to our deceased friends by rising from our seats.

Before I attempt to continue my dear friends' train of thought with a few words, I would like to dedicate the word to those friends who have left the physical plane since we last gathered here and who, as members of our movement that is so close to our hearts, are now looking down on our activities from the spiritual worlds. I would like to take this opportunity to emphasize once again that those who have passed away from the physical plane will continue to be considered our members in the most beautiful sense of the word, and that we feel as united with them as we did when we were still able to greet them on this or that occasion on the physical plane.

First of all, we would like to remember an old theosophical personality, old in the sense that she was connected with what we call true, genuine theosophical life for the longest time of most of our ranks, Baroness E. von Hoffmann. She belongs to those who have imbued their entire being and active will with what we call the theosophical attitude. Many have come to appreciate the deeply loving heart of this woman, if only because they have felt infinite strength flowing from this heart in times of suffering and adversity. Although little of this became known to the outside world, Mrs. von Hoffmann was a loyal and devoted helper to many. And we may consider it a particularly valuable thing that she, who had been involved in theosophical development for a long time, was finally in our midst. And with her dear daughter, who is in our midst, we will keep the memory of this dear, loyal, helpful woman, which we want to be united with her in the spiritual world.

I also have to remember some old members who left us for the physical plane just this year. I have to remember our dear old friend Edmund Eggert in Düsseldorf. If some of us perhaps know the great inner difficulties that our friend had to struggle with, the heroic strength with which he became involved in what we call our spiritual current, then those who knew the good, dear man will certainly join me in making unceasing efforts to continue to be loyal friends of our dear Eggert in the spiritual worlds. And those of the dear friends who hear this, which I speak from a troubled heart, will faithfully send their thoughts to the one who has passed from the physical plane.

I also have to mention a dear, loyal member, a member who always gave us heartfelt, sincere joy when we were able to see her in our midst time and again, our dear Mrs. van Dam-Nieuwenhuisen from Nymwegen, who left the physical plane during the last period and who certainly was one of the most beloved personalities among those who were her close friends, who worked faithfully for our cause since we knew her, who especially worked hard for an appropriate representation of our cause among our Dutch dear friends.

I would also like to mention a loyal, if perhaps quieter member who always gave me great joy when I was able to see her in the circle of our dear Nuremberg friends: Fräulein Sophie Ifftner. She was highly esteemed by our Nuremberg friends, who will ensure that the way is paved for us to always find her when we seek her in spiritual worlds.

I must also mention another faithful friend, Miss Frieda Kurze, who has been active within the circle of our worldview for many years. She has been tragically recalled from the physical plane to the spiritual worlds. We are among those to whom she has become dear and precious, and who are and want to remain with her in thought.

I would like to remember our Julius Bittmann, who was torn from the physical plane by his dear family and by us, until his last difficult days he had the firm point of reference of his inner life, despite difficult external circumstances, in what we call Theosophy. It was a deep joy for me that I could once more be at his side on the evening before the death of our dear Bittmann, and I am sure that those of our friends who were closer to this man will not fail to form the path here as well, on which the theosophical thoughts unite us with the friend in the spiritual world.

I must also mention Jakob Knott in Munich, who was a man who, after many different struggles in life, finally found his firm support and his definite point of reference in 'Theosophy', so that his friends will be his mediators in the same way.

I must also mention another friend who left the physical plane during this time, who found his way from Holland to us, Mr. Eduard Zalbin, whom we, sadly mourned by his wife and children, saw depart from the physical plane through a swift death. Shortly before this occurred, Zalbin was still at our last general assembly, and his departure from the physical plane had to be pointed out there.

I must also mention an old friend of the Stuttgart Lodge, who had organized her innermost life in such a way that she associated everything she thought with Theosophy. She will now be surrounded by the loyal thoughts of all those who knew her.

I must also mention Miss Oda Waller, who we felt was connected to our cause with her whole soul, for a long time. She was one of those souls who was so devoted to this cause, as a human soul can be on earth; so devoted that we not only parted from this soul with deep sorrow for her departure from the physical plane – a sorrow that does not need to be particularly emphasized in this case, because all those who knew Miss Oda Waller felt it with the deepest sympathy – but we also looked up to her in the spiritual world with the brightest of hopes, with those hopes that are justified in the case of such a faithful soul who, like Oda Waller, has firmly established in her heart to remain connected to the theosophical cause for all time. There will be more than a few who, united with their dear sister Mieta Waller, will be in heartfelt connection with our dear Miss Oda Waller.

I have to mention our friend Georg Kollnberger from Munich. Those who knew him will be our intermediaries as we reflect on him with our feelings and emotions.

I have to commemorate a dear friend in Bonn who left the physical plane not so long ago, Miss Marie von Schmid. Those who knew her feel deeply how intimately Miss von Schmid's soul was connected with the spiritual life. Those who felt a close bond with Miss von Schmid have lost a great deal: a soul so open to spiritual life, and at the same time a nature that was shy and withdrawn from the outer world. It is such a pleasure to meet such a nature in life. Precisely because she came out of herself so rarely, one got to know her so little. Those who knew her know what I mean by these words.

We must remember a member who was unfortunately snatched from us all too soon in terms of his physical strength, a man who was happy to put his physical strength at the service of our cause, but who will remain an important member of our organization even in the form in which he is now connected to us, Mr. Oro Flamme in Hannover.

I have to commemorate the personality who found herself in the circle of our Nordic friends in our midst, and who, after a long, heroically endured illness, despite the most careful and loving care, ultimately had to leave the physical plane after all, Fräulein Manch. Perhaps those who were closest to her will understand what I would also like to express about this soul when we consider how she, I would say, clung to the theosophical cause with inner strength and thus passed through the gateway of death.

I would also like to mention a friend who is also known to our friends in Berlin, who recently left the physical plane after a long and difficult illness, Mrs. Augusta Berg from Kristiania. She was full of the longing to implement in practical life on the physical plane what shone so beautifully for her heart and soul. We are sure that she will now continue her work in other places, in a way that we also assume for our dear friend Flamme from Hanover.

All those who have passed away, as well as those who have become less well known in the circles of our members, we remember in this solemn hour: Mr. Brizio Aluigi from Milan, Mrs. Julie Neumann from Dresden, Mrs. Emmy Etwein from Cologne, Mrs. E. Harrold from Manchester, and we affirm that we want to be in touch with them in the sense described - with these dear deceased members, who have only changed the form of their way of life for us, that we want to surround them with the powers and thoughts with which we are accustomed to contacting those friends who have left the physical plane. We affirm this volition and remembrance by rising from our seats.

My dear friends!

It is with a deeply moved heart that I am allowed to be among you for a while and to speak to you in these solemn hours. But our first thought is for those dear friends who were so often united with us here and who are now called to the field where the fates of individuals and nations are so powerfully at stake in the fighting. And so we remember our friends in loyal love in this hour and send our thoughts to them, our thoughts, which may have power inherent in them, so that they can strengthen themselves on the field where they now stand – as a sign of this, we rise from our seats for a moment!

Spirits of your souls, watchers in action,
May your wings bring
Our souls' imploring love
To earth-dwellers trusting in your keeping,
That, united with your power,
Our plea may help to radiate
the souls it seeks in love!

And we want to call out to our friends, that the Christ, of whom so much has been said here, may be with them, strengthening them, reigning over them in the field where the destinies of individuals and nations are now being decided.

For those who have passed through the gates of death as a result of the difficult events of the war, we repeat our words today:

Spirits of their souls, watchful guardians,
your wings may bring
our souls' imploring love
to the human beings of the spheres who have placed their trust in you.
So that, united with your power,
our plea may helpfully shine
on the souls it lovingly seeks!

And the spirit that has passed through the mystery of Golgotha for the good of the earth and the progress of the earth, that has taken on the suffering of mankind as a divine being in its infinite wisdom for the good of the earth, for the good of mankind and for the progress and freedom of mankind, may it be with you and your difficult duties.

It is my sad duty to inform you, my dear friends, that our dear friend, the leader of the Munich branch, Miss Sophie Stinde, is among those whom we must now count among the people of the spheres. She left the physical plane last night. There is no way to talk about this extraordinarily difficult and significant loss for our Society in the first few moments. I just want to say a few words about this painful and significant event at the beginning of today's reflections with you.

Miss Stinde is one of those who is well known in the widest circles of our friends. She is one of those who have taken our cause to the very bottom of their hearts and fully identified with it. In 1904, I was able to give the first intimate lectures on our cause that I had to give in Munich at her and her friend, Countess Pauline Kalckreuth's house. And it may be said that from that first time that Fräulein Stinde approached us, she not only devoted her entire personality to our cause, but also her entire working capacity, which was also so valuable, so excellent, and so deeply committed. She left behind what had previously been an artistic profession – Miss Sophie Stinde was a landscape painter – in order to devote herself entirely and solely to the service of our cause with all her strength. And she has worked intensively for this cause in a rare objective, completely impersonal way, in both the narrower and the broader circles since that time. For Munich she was the soul of all our work. And she was such a soul that one could say that through the inner qualities of her being she provided the very best guarantee that our cause could develop in the very best way in this place, in Munich. As you know, the performances of the mystery plays and everything associated with them for Munich had imposed a huge workload on the personalities working for us there in the early years – for quite a number of years. Miss Stinde and her friend devoted themselves to this work with the utmost intensity and, above all, with the greatest understanding, born entirely out of the innermost essence of our cause, out of a will that can only itself be born out of this inner essence of our cause. And perhaps one may also hint that the intensive work that Miss Stinde did really consumed her vitality in the last years very strongly. So that one really has to admit: this valuable vitality, perhaps consumed a little too quickly in the last years, was dedicated to our cause in the most beautiful, most deeply satisfying way. And there is probably no one among those who knew Miss Stinde better who could ever completely shake off the impression that this personality in particular was one of our very best workers.

It is certain that some of Miss Stinde's work was misunderstood here and there, and it is to be hoped that even those of our friends and supporters who have misunderstood Miss Stinde's work through prejudice will subsequently fully recognize the sun-like power that emanated from this personality. And those of our wider circle who were able to observe what Fräulein Stinde did for our cause will, along with all those who were closer to her, keep her in their most loyal memory. We can be sure of her, especially when we emphasize the word, which in these days has often had to be said in connection with the departure from the physical plane of some of our friends. It is precisely in view of Miss Stinde – with all the trials and tribulations and the opposition that our cause has faced in the world – that this word can be emphasized: We, who profess our loyalty and honesty to the spiritual worlds, count those who have only changed the form of their existence, but who, despite having gone through the portal of death, are united with us as souls, among our most important and significant co-workers. The veils that still often surround those who are embodied in the physical body gradually fall away, and the souls of our dear departed are certainly among us. And we need precisely such help. We need such help, which is no longer contested from the physical plane, such help, which also no longer has to take into account the obstacles of the physical plane. And if we have the deepest, most earnest belief in the progress of our cause in world culture, then it is also for this reason that we are fully aware that those who once belonged to us are our best forces, even when they work among us from the spiritual world by spiritual means. Sometimes the confidence we need in our cause will have to be confirmed by the fact that we know: We thank our dead friends for being in our midst, and that we, united with their strength, can accomplish the work for the spiritual culture of the world that is incumbent upon us.

In this sense, I only wanted to touch on this painful event with a few words today, and I just want to tell you that the cremation will take place next Monday at 1 p.m. in Ulm.

My dear friends!

Before we begin our reflections, I have to tell you that our dear friend, Miss Anna Riebensahm, passed through the gateway of death last night.

You almost all know Miss Riebensahm, who was such a lovable personality. You have participated in our intellectual endeavors here with her. And there were certainly many among you who sympathetically shared the dear, heartfelt spiritual striving of Miss Riebensahm, for we may say that in terms of the quiet, heartfelt interweaving with the spiritual world that we seek, Miss Riebensahm's soul was one of those who truly spiritual striving.

In this incarnation, Miss Riebensahm had to struggle with a physical body that not only put severe obstacles in the way of her outer life, but often also of her striving soul. With an inwardly brave soul of patience, this personality has made her way through the world. With a strong spirit, she found her way to the spiritual current that we are seeking, and with the warmest intimacy she was connected to the impulses that we are trying to grasp within our spiritual current, and which she grasped with us in her quiet but no less energetic way.

She has become dear and precious to us, as she has sought in recent years to follow the paths we have laid out, at the side of one of our oldest members, our dear Ms. Motzkus, who has shared with her joy and sorrow, but also the purpose of her endeavors.

For those privileged to witness it, it was a wonderful, exemplary spiritual communion between these two members of our community, between the one who has been connected with our spiritual life for a long time and knows everything that is striven for within our spiritual life, who knows this our spiritual life as the own powers of her soul – and it was beautiful and glorious to behold how the one who came into this spiritual life later joined her, and how the two souls then walked the path together.

And now we stand with pain at the gate of death, as the soul of our dear Miss Riebensahm has prepared herself for a different form of human existence. We think with sadness of how she had to end her earthly life due to an external accident. But we also think of how such an earthly life, which had many difficulties due to the external embodiment here between birth and death, will have changed these difficulties on the path of spiritual striving, which now continues for her. And we remember the soul of our Miss Riebensahm as a soul that continues to strive with us, to which we always want to look up in love and loyalty.

I only have to say, my dear friends, that on Friday at 11 o'clock in the local crematorium the cremation will be.

In Memoriam Anna Riebensahm

Still-earnest soul, you step
From a difficult earthly path
Into a bright spiritual path;
From the loyal hearts of friends
Take the farewell greeting of life,
Which the souls speak to you,
who in their musings were allowed to call you theirs.

Noble and strong soul, you created
in your firm earthly will
light for your eternal spiritual being;
accept the morning greeting of life
that the souls speak to you,
Who, in the new spiritual being, Through gentle strength of soul.

So may your strong gentleness of soul
Weave the powerful spiritual bond
That unites our souls with Thine,
As in spiritual lands afar
We seek Thee, thinking,
Thou still, earnest human soul,
Thou noble, strong human spirit.