Waldorf Education was developed by Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925). Born in Austria, Steiner was known early in his career primarily as a scientist and philosopher concerned with scientific and epistemological questions. From around the age of forty, though, Steiner began to speak publicly as a spiritual teacher. Drawing from his own profound spiritual experiences, he examined such basic questions as the origin, nature and destiny of the human being, the evolution of human consciousness, and the religious history of mankind.

In April 1919, just months after the end of WWI, Steiner visited Stuttgart, Germany. There, a man named Emil Molt asked Rudolf Steiner two remarkable questions: Is there a way to educate children that will help them develop into human beings who will be capable of bringing peace to the world? And if there is, will you start such a school?

Steiner’s answer to both questions was yes. Within a few months, he had selected and recruited teacher for the school and had delivered a series of lectures on the curriculum and pedagogy that was to be the basis of this new type of education. The first Waldorf school opened in Stuttgart, Germany in September 1919 with 175 children and eight teachers. Most of the students were children of workers at the Waldorf-Astoria cigarette factory, of which Molt was the director.

Its task and that of all the Waldorf schools that have followed it can be summarized as:

“Accept the children with reverence, educate them with love, send them forth in freedom.”