Martina Maria Sam has written seven books on Rudolf Steiner, his art, and his language. Wolfgang Held invited her for a conversation about her research.
Wolfgang Held: Which book brought you closest to Rudolf Steiner?
Martina Maria Sam Each book is a different exploration of the Rudolf Steiner continent. I’m always discovering new and interesting aspects. But I could say my experiences with three projects in particular have been the most profound: First, working through his personal library over many years—this look into his “workshop,” the way he handled his books from back in his school days up to the time just before his death; Second, commenting on his letters—one gets so close to him in his real-life, personal contexts, his joys, his sufferings; And last, writing the biography of his early years—delving into the details, the circumstances of his life, his work, the biographies of his friends and acquaintances. His life took on a more sculptural dimension, certain connections started to become more visible, whole other levels opened up, and specific life signatures appeared that I was not aware of before.
Who has most inspired you in your research on Rudolf Steiner?
I’ve been privileged to know a number of different people who met Rudolf Steiner personally: Else Klink, Edwin Froböse, Elena Zuccoli, Wolfgang Greiner, and Maria Jenny. The way they spoke about him, what they experienced in him, each so differently—that was inspiring for me. But, most of all, the very early biographers of Rudolf Steiner, who tried with incredible ardor to find the tangible traces of his life and save them for posterity. I’d like to point to Emil Bock in particular, but also, Carlo Septimus Picht and Werner Teichert. Meeting with Heinz Zimmermann and Johannes Kiersch was fundamental for my research into Rudolf Steiner’s language.
How have your studies in eurythmy and work on the stage been of help in your research?
The study of eurythmy opened the world to me in an entirely new way and gave me the foundation for my work. It struck me in such a way that I started to realize how deeply our fundamental being as humans is connected to speech, that the speech sounds are true images of the gestures of creation. Eurythmy was a kind of all-embracing soul re-former; it requires the whole person in all the subtle perceptions in the movements of the limbs. That I was able to live in art for a few years as a stage eurythmist and participate in productions directly influenced by Marie Steiner of Faust and the Mystery Dramas—this was a great gift in my life.
How has your image of Rudolf Steiner changed in your soon-to-be thirty years of research?
My attention was initially focused on the work and Rudolf Steiner himself—the rather elusive figure whom we have to thank for it. Only through my work on his conception of Goethe’s Faust, as it developed throughout his life, did I discover him as someone in a process of becoming, as someone struggling. This brought me closer to him as a human being and as a historical personality and awakened my interest in his path. Writing the biography made me more and more distinctively conscious of just how many obstacles, trials, and experiences of failure he had to go through. In 1900, he himself wrote that he had a “hard life.” Despite all this, somehow, he always pursued his task undeterred, a task he sensed early on: to point to ways human beings could experience the spirit. It was because of this perseverance, specifically, that my admiration for him grew. He experienced what we all experience, but by going through these challenges, he was able to develop certain abilities that led to his work, all of which is still so stimulating for us today and which led to this incomprehensible productivity across so many fields. Seeing his life in this way also brought me to a more living and concrete understanding of the anthroposophical path of spiritual development.
What’s something that really touched you deeply in your research? Have you ever been surprised by something?
Actually, I’m constantly surprised! That is the wonderful, enlivening, and refreshing thing about this work. I’m touched, for example, by how often I come across direct relatives or descendants of Rudolf Steiner’s childhood acquaintances who’ve found their way to anthroposophy. It really goes beyond all probabilities. And I often experience that new ideas and documents, in a way, even want to be found! It’s very moving when we receive answers from the world to questions we’ve only asked inwardly. In my work on his letters, I’m constantly surprised at how many and with which people Rudolf Steiner was acquainted, some of whom we only learn about through letters to him. Also, what kind of advice people asked him for—it’s a kaleidoscope of every area of life. He was able to give new suggestions everywhere.
Your conversation on Swiss television, on the program “Sternstunde Philosophie” [Star Hour Philosophy], attracted half a million viewers. What kind of reactions have you received?
I received a lot of feedback, sometimes also from outside the anthroposophical movement. Most people were grateful for this format—which can maybe only exist in Switzerland—and that someone who lived with anthroposophy for such a long time was invited. Some people wished I talked more about this or that, but the program had a clear, predetermined structure.
What projects do you have for the next few years?
This year, I’d like to complete the third volume on the Weimar years first and then move on to the fourth volume on the early Berlin years. I’m especially looking forward to this work because this is the exciting time around 1900. I’m very interested in the question of what Rudolf Steiner had to go through during this time, what trials and challenges he had to face to transform himself from a philosophical writer (that is, one who already clearly stood in the spiritual world) and editor to a spiritual researcher and spiritual teacher. But I also have many ideas for lectures and smaller publications, both on special biographical motifs in Rudolf Steiner’s life and work and on central anthroposophical topics.
Translation Joshua Kelberman
Title image Rudolf Steiner and Marie von Sivers, Crossing to Norway, 1908 or later, Rudolf Steiner Archive.
