Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Waldorf pedagogy, while representing a minority educational approach, has attained international consolidation. This article examines the figure and worldview of Rudolf Steiner, the emergence of the first Waldorf school during the Weimar Republic, and its trajectory under the Third Reich. Particular attention is paid to the possible ideological and institutional connections between Waldorf education and the Nazi Party. Of the eight Waldorf schools active during the National Socialist regime, six were closed due to pressure from local authorities. The two that remained open until 1941–classified as experimental schools–did so by establishing individual alliances with influential members of the Nazi Party. This rapprochement by segments of the Waldorf movement toward the Nazi apparatus calls for a nuanced contextual analysis of the ideological complexities and contradictions that ensued on both sides.
Authors: Eva Garangou Bofill, Jordi Feu Gelis
Language: English
Subfield: Philosophy
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4412384838