Dornach: Goetheanum

1925 – 1928

Design: Rudolf Steiner

Rüttiweg 45, Dornach, Switzerland

Rudolf Steiner and the development of anthroposophical architecture

In the early years of his career, Rudolf Steiner, the founder of anthroposophy, was primarily active as an epistemologist and cultural philosopher.

He studied mathematics, physics, and chemistry in Vienna and edited Goethe’s scientific writings in Weimar from 1882 to 1897.

Steiner developed Goethe’s method of cognition, which led to his discovery of the primordial plant and theory of metamorphosis. This development resulted in the founding of the Anthroposophical Society in 1923.

Theosophical Society

He had already begun to publish his spiritual research results by the turn of the century, primarily within the Theosophical Society. He had been the general secretary of the German section since 1902.

In 1907, the Theosophical Society held its annual international congress in a rented meeting hall in Munich.

Steiner designed the space with draperies, columns painted on boards with capitals, and circular paintings depicting the seals described in the Book of Revelation.

This temporary room design was both a vision and an inspiration for future Anthroposophist buildings.

Munich

In Munich, dramas by Edouard Schuré were performed at the 1907 congress. In the following years, from 1910 to 1913, Rudolf Steiner wrote and directed four mystery dramas himself.

As it became increasingly difficult to rent suitable venues for the performances and annual congresses, the Society planned to build its own theater complex.

Initially, they planned to build the Goetheanum in Munich-Schwabing, but the project never came to fruition.

Dornach

Steiner was finally provided with a suitable plot of land in Dornach, near Basel. Here, the Anthroposophical Society—which had separated from the Theosophical Society in the meantime—built the First Goetheanum.

The laying of the foundation stone took place on September 20, 1913.

Simultaneously, the heating house with an electrical center, the glass grinding shop, and Haus Duldeck were built alongside the First Goetheanum, whose substructure was made of reinforced concrete and whose superstructure was constructed with a wooden skeleton.

As construction on the Goetheanum began in the fall of 1913, more and more anthroposophists began settling in Dornach, necessitating the creation of living spaces.

Anthroposophical Colony Association

In January 1914, the Anthroposophical Colony Association was founded in Dornach. Its purpose was to establish residential buildings that would be harmoniously related to the Goetheanum in their architectural design and grouped around it.

The association was responsible for allocating the plots on the hill and assessing the artistic quality of the architectural designs.

The Dornach hill was intended to serve as a model of design and as an experimental center for the growing anthroposophical movement worldwide.

Steiner used the annex buildings, which were constructed at the same time as the first Goetheanum, to demonstrate how anthroposophical construction ideas could be implemented down to the smallest detail.

Details

He designed external details such as staircases, banisters, gates, doors, windows, and roofs, as well as interior details such as fireplaces, built-in cupboards, doors, ceilings, and light fittings.

Architects such as Hermann Ranzenberger adopted his ideas and further developed them in a variety of ways.

On New Year’s Eve of 1922/1923, the first Goetheanum fell victim to arson. Just a few days later, Steiner had already developed the concept for a successor building.

Second Goetheanum

In March 1924, Rudolf Steiner designed a plasticine model of the Second Goetheanum building. In it, he captured the outer forms, including the unadorned stage wing on the east side and the striking west extension.

The initial building permit application was submitted to the authorities on May 20, 1924. After reviewing the application, officials requested that the building’s height be reduced and some details be revised. An independent engineer then reviewed the building’s structural integrity.

The construction plans were first approved with conditions on September 9, 1924. A revised second application was submitted on November 11, 1924, but it was not finally approved until December 1. Demolition of the first Goetheanum began in the winter of 1924–1925.

Demolition of the First Goetheanum

Approval of the building plans was granted in November 1924. Demolition of the first Goetheanum began in the winter of 1924/1925.

Steiner died shortly after construction began in March 1925, so the contributing architects and artists were left to further elaborate on the plans.

The topping-out ceremony was celebrated on September 29, 1926, and the building opened on September 29, 1928.

The spatial conception was essentially the same as the original building’s.

Second Goetheanum

The center was a large hall with about a thousand seats, a stage for plays such as Faust by Goethe and dramas by Rudolf Steiner, as well as eurythmy and lecture performances.

The complex contained conference and work rooms, studios, administrative offices, and a technical stage that was considered the largest in Europe for a long time.

The Goetheanum is one of the first large 20th-century buildings designed with reinforced concrete, whose free forms transcend pure functionality.

With its base substructure, the building extends ninety meters east-west and eighty-five meters north-south.

The superstructure is 72 meters long, 64 meters wide, and 37 meters high.

The occupied floor area is 3,200 square meters; the base’s surface area is 3,300 square meters; and the superstructure’s surface area is 5,500 square meters.

Construction

The engineer behind the structure was Ole Falk Ebbell from Norway. He moved to Basel in 1913 and joined the firm founded in 1907 in 1919. The firm subsequently operated under the name “Leuprecht & Ebbell.”

Unlike the first Goetheanum, which was made entirely of wood and burned down, Steiner chose reinforced concrete for the successor building.

The reasons for this were greater fire safety and the material’s potential for free shaping.

Financing

Initially, the financing for the building came from the insurance proceeds for the first Goetheanum, but donations were needed to supplement it during the construction process.

At the Goetheanum construction site, workers carried prepared concrete up the scaffolding stairs in large vessels on their backs.

It was finally compacted between the wooden formwork with long wooden poles.

Heinrich Liedvogel, a carpenter with shipbuilding experience, bent thin battens while they were wet in order to nail them over frames.

These created the necessary forms that could later be filled with concrete.

Similar concrete structures had only previously been realized at the Centennial Hall in Wrocław, Poland (1911-1913) and the Orly airship hangars in France (1922-1924).

Interior

The interior was gradually constructed over the following decades. Carl Kemper completed the south staircase up to the hall floor in 1930. It was extended to the fifth floor in 1951 and finally to the seventh floor in 1993.

The Goetheanum’s expansion took place over such a long period of time because the necessary work was financed by donations and grants, not loans.

The east side of the building appears as a strict cube, with only corner pilasters and roof cornices softening the overall impression.

In contrast, the west side, which has the main entrance, is dominated by dynamic, flowing forms.

The hall with its high windows is recognizable from the outside on the west side. The stage wing with dressing rooms and storage rooms is on the east side.

Staircases and Terraces

The staircases, conference rooms, and auxiliary stages are located in the two connecting wings.

A circumferential terrace connects these spaces.

The Goetheanum construction site attracted much attention both nationally and internationally, and was visited by architects and politicians.

Among the visitors were Imai Kenji, who came as early as 1926; Le Corbusier; and the then Swiss President, Giuseppe Motta, who viewed the site in 1927.

The general public also took an increasing interest in the building. Thousands of people inquired about guided tours of the unfinished building.

On July 1, 1928, a tour was held for this purpose, with more than a thousand people participating.

Renovation

Construction and concrete renovation work on the Second Goetheanum is ongoing because the steel reinforcement is not covered with a thick enough layer of concrete and has begun to rust.

Until the 1970s, the exposed concrete facade required no additional maintenance. The first small-scale repairs were made in 1972: to the roof overhang in the northwest and to parts of the west façade.

Until the early 1960s, the west entrance and staircase were unfinished. Rex Raab and Arne Klingborn designed the interior as an exposed concrete solution.

Redesign

Albert von Baravalle redesigned the former rehearsal hall twice, in 1952 and again in 1990.

Johannes Schöpfer expanded the Great Hall from 1956 to 1957, and Christian Hitsch redesigned it from 1996 to 1998.

From 1984 to 1988, the parapet of the terrace floor in the south and southwest was reprofiled. The base floor was painted.

In 1993, the Goetheanum was listed as a historical monument.

From 1993 to 1996, wall surfaces on the northeast, east, and southeast sides were removed up to four centimeters to make way for new pre-cast concrete.

The west and south facades were renovated in 2014, and the north and east facades were renovated in 2015.