The Glass House: Crucible of Biodynamic Agriculture

Summary

The Glass House (1914) at Dornach, Switzerland, in the precinct of the Goetheanum, is the oldest extant building designed by Rudolf Steiner. The building is intimately associated with the development of biodynamic agriculture. It was in the Glass House that Assya Turgeniev produced the remarkable engraved coloured glass windows of both the first and the present Goetheanum building, and hence the name 'Glass House'. In 1919, with Steiner's approval, Ehrenfried Pfeiffer (1899-1961) and Guenther Wachsmuth (1893-1963) set up a research laboratory in the basement of the Glass House. Thus began two decades of research work by Pfeiffer at Dornach, which culminated in the publication of his book 'Bio-Dynamic Farming and Gardening' (1938) in five languages, Dutch, English, French, German and Italian.